On Tuesday, the network equipment manufacturer Ericsson said it would invest millions of pounds in 6G mobile research in Britain, collaborating with universities on hardware security, AI and cognitive networks, and quantum computing.
The 10-year plan, according to the Swedish company, will help to push the development of next-generation 6G networks, which are expected to be commercially accessible around 2030. The Swedish company now sells 5G gear to all four British mobile networks.
According to Katherine Ainley, CEO of Ericsson UK and Ireland, British universities are leading the globe in some technologies that will support next-generation networks.
“We will establish a team of 20 experienced researchers here in the UK, and we will also look to sponsor students as well,” she stated. “Our initial focus will be 6G networking and hardware security.”
She added that the new group would complement Ericsson’s 17 current research centers across 12 countries.
She mentioned Surrey, Bristol, and Manchester as potential partner universities and noted that it usually takes 8 to 10 years to engage with researchers to create commercial technologies.
The British government said Ericsson’s investment was a “huge vote of confidence” in the country’s telecoms industry and added that it would soon announce a policy on 6G technology. The British government has been seeking to secure funding for scientific research after Brexit.
According to a statement made by Ericsson earlier this year, increased adoption of 5G in China and North America would enable the total number of 5G mobile subscriptions worldwide to surpass 1 billion in 2022.
The business said in its biannual Mobility Report that its forecast for 2022 has been reduced by about 100 million due to a weaker global economy and the uncertainty raised by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The adoption of 5G has been helped by telecom companies’ drive to introduce the technology and lower device costs to as little as $120.
According to Peter Jonsson, the report’s executive editor at the time. Compared to North America, which had 65 million users in 2021, “China added about 270 million users.”
