By Caio Castro
The governments of India and the United States will collaborate on 5G and 6G research and partner on Open RAN development.
Both administrations made the agreement public during the G20 summit – the event that assembled the 20 biggest economies in the world, held in India.
According to the White House, “further collaboration includes establishing two joint Task Forces on advanced telecommunications, focused on Open RAN and research and development in 5G/6G technologies.”
This public-private cooperation between vendors and operators will be led by India’s Bharat 6G Alliance and the US Next G Alliance led by ATIS. Both countries have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to partner on Open RAN field trials and rollouts, including scaled deployments, with operators and vendors of both markets.
“The work will encompass aligning research and development priorities that support a common 6G vision and creating secure and trusted telecommunications as well as resilient supply chains,” a joint statement released by the Bharat 6G Alliance and the Next G Alliance reads.
“Defining what it takes to deliver the next generation of wireless leadership is an audacious undertaking,” said ATIS President and CEO Susan Miller. “We see the agreement with Bharat 6G Alliance as a critical link in advancing both organisations’ objectives in developing the global 6G mobile wireless ecosystem,” she added.
Chair of the Indian initiative, N. G. Subramaniam also celebrated the signing of the memorandum.
“India has a vision for the empowerment of the society at large with sustainability as its core, and 6G will further enhance the quality of life on this planet. This would entail focused, open, and collaborative research amongst nations, dedicating resources to contribute to national, regional and global standards and developing products meeting those exacting standards. The MoU with Next G Alliance is an important step in this direction,” he stated.
The 6G Partnership Race
With China reportedly making strides in 6G research, the US government has been establishing agreements with several countries to advance the development of the next generation of mobile networks.
In July, President Joe Biden committed to widening the cooperation on future networks among Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
In June, the US and the European Union announced “accelerated cooperation to develop a common vision and industry roadmap on research and development for 6G wireless communication systems.”
Japan is another country to have partnered with the US. In 2021, both administrations secured US$4 billion in research.
