COULD CHINA WIN THE NEXT GENERATION 6G RACE?

by Joakim Scheffer

THE RACE FOR LAUNCHING A COMMERCIAL 6G NETWORK IS INTENSIFYING, WITH MORE AND MORE COUNTRIES GETTING INVOLVED. THE BIGGEST QUESTION IS WHETHER CHINA COULD WIN OR FALL BEHIND US ALLY SOUTH KOREA.

China is planning to roll out complete 6G mobile technology by early 2030, said China Unicom Chairman and Chief Executive Liu Liehong in late March. The country’s third-largest wireless network operator company expects to launch early applications early in 2025.

China is home to the world’s largest internet user population and smartphone market. Also, Beijing has been conducting research and development on the technology since 2019. It’s not a surprise that it has preceded its competitors. China was the first country to launch a 6G satellite into space in 2020, a massive technological breakthrough. Moreover, it has already built the world’s largest 5G mobile network. Besides China, several countries – including India, Vietnam and Singapore – took significant steps in developing their own 6G networks.

Obviously, the United States can’t afford to lag behind China in this crucial area of the tech war between the two superpowers. In addition to the fact that Washington began to develop the technology at home, it spends billions of dollars to support its allies – mainly Japan and South Korea – to compete with China.

The author is a foreign policy journalist