India begins 6G development, roll out likely by 2023-end or 2024: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Minister for Communication Ashwini Vaishnaw said that India has started working on indigenously developed 6G technology and is mulling to launch it either by 2023-end or early 2024. 

Vaishnaw was addressing a webinar hosted by the Financial Express and The Indian Express.

The minister informed the publication that those scientists and engineers working on the 6G technology have already been given the approval.  

“6G development has already started. That will be seen somewhere in the time frame 2024 or 2023-end. That is the direction in which we are going. We will have designed in India telecom software for running the networks, manufactured in India telecom equipment, served in India telecom networks which can go global,” he said.  

6G is the sixth-generation standard currently under development for wireless communications technologies supporting cellular data networks.  

Various media reports have claimed that telecom giants like Nokia, Ericsson, Huawei, Samsung, LG, Apple, Xiaomi, as well as several countries like US, India, China, Japan, Singapore, among others, have showed their interests in this network.

“Apart from 6G, the launch of indigenous 5G is also on the cards. The auctions for 5G spectrum is also likely to happen in the second quarter of 2022," Vaishnaw added.