The 6GHz band is the “only opportunity” for the development of the new 6G in Europe

A pilot driven by Telefónica, Nokia and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) Regarding future use cases of new generation networks, 6G has certified the usefulness of the 6 GHz band for mobile communications, opening the door to complement or replace the 3.5 GHz band.

This technological milestone has taken place in the 5G holographic laboratory, co-created by Telefónica, Nokia and the iTEAM research institute of the UPV at the Vera Campus, a pioneering environment in Europe for the experimentation of advanced wireless technologies and their applications. The laboratory acts as a test bed for 6G use cases including immersive communications such as extended reality and holography.

During the test, carried out in the upper part of the 6GHz (6.425-7.125 GHz, 3GPP n104), state-of-the-art equipment was used, including a active antenna with massive MIMO capabilities from Nokia. The results demonstrated that the 6GHz band can provide a coverage similar to the 3.5 GHz band, taking advantage of the current base station locations, allowing traffic density to be significantly increased with efficient network deployment and offering the performance required for the next generation services of the future.

The deployment of active antennas with higher order massive MIMO (i.e. a greater number of transmit and receive antennas) will allow concentrate signal and maintain coverage in urban and suburban environments, in addition to significantly increasing network capacity. This compensates for the higher propagation loss due to the use of a higher frequency.

To Telefónica, Nokia and the UPV, this combination of greater capacity and efficient coverage makes the 6 GHz band the “only chance” to throw 6G in the future in Europe in one band that is not being used by previous generation mobile systems.