NTT DoCoMo and SKT align on 6G while 5G SA picks up pace

Japan’s NTT Docomo and SK Telecom (SKT) from South Korea have unveiled plans to collaborate during the early stages of 6G, even as most mobile network operators (MNO) around the world are still getting to grips with 5G rollouts both in standalone (SA) and non-standalone form.

The two Asian MNOs are also targeting an “early deployment of 6G”, which they hope to achieve by working together on research and development projects as well as standardisation initiatives. They are already flagging that joint testing could start as soon as next year. Docomo also noted that these efforts are expected to support the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) concept being promoted by parent company NTT.

The 6G partnership between Docomo and SKT is part of a wider agreement which, among other aspects, will also seek to address another thorny problem: how to advance 5G commercial services. Specific areas of focus will include 5G SA, the use of millimetre-wave spectrum, energy-efficient networks, and open RAN.

For most MNOs, 5G SA is the next challenge that they have to overcome, involving the decoupling of the 5G network from 4G and the launch of a virtualised, cloud-native core.

One European operator has just announced its network partner for 5G SA, meanwhile.

Telecom Italia (TIM) is sticking with 5G partner Ericsson for its new 5G core. According to the Sweden-based vendor, its technology will allow TIM “to modernise its current Evolved Packet Core” and introduce 5G SA “in a single cloud-native solution”.

The agreement also includes network orchestration and automation services, which Ericsson notes underpin the introduction of ultra-reliable, low-latency network slicing and communications (URLLC) solutions.

Telefónica Deutschland (O2), meanwhile, has just announced that it will deploy cloud RAN technology from Nokia in its 5G network to allow parts of the radio access network to be virtualised. The two partners have implemented and tested the technology on the operator’s live network in Potsdam and will now evaluate the next steps for the introduction of the cloud RAN technology.

According to Mallik Rao, Chief Technology & Information Officer at Telefónica Deutschland, “virtualising the RAN is the next logical step in our journey to increasingly move network functions to the cloud … Cloud RAN offers us additional opportunities in terms of automation and flexibility as well as accelerated rollout of innovations”. The operator has also been using open RAN in some of its sites since 2020.

The German operator has previously indicated it is “technically” in a position to launch 5G SA and would do so once the technology offers “real added value for customers”.

Uptick in 5G SA deployments

It’s fair to say that 5G SA progress has been slow, with few deployments of public 5G SA on a global basis to date. However, recent figures from the Global mobile Suppliers’ Association (GSA) suggest that deployments are picking up pace.

According to the GSA’s November 2022 update, at least 36 operators in 21 countries and territories are now understood to have launched public 5G SA networks. That compares to just 20 operators at the end of 2021.

The association also found that at least 20 operators are deploying or piloting 5G SA for public networks, while 32 are planning to deploy the technology. A further 20 operators are understood to be involved in evaluations, tests or trials of 5G SA.

Overall, the GSA has identified 111 operators in 52 countries and territories worldwide that have been investing in public 5G SA networks in the form of trials, planned or actual deployments.