On April 24, LebNet San Diego hosted a thought-provoking webinar on the future of connectivity, exploring the next frontier of wireless technology: 6G. With insights from industry experts Christina Chaccour, Aziz Gholmieh, Diana Maamari, and the moderator, Fram Akiki, the session focused on the advancements, applications, and challenges of 6G, and how it will transform connectivity across various industries.

As 5G continues to shape the present, the conversation is shifting toward 6G, a technology that promises to enhance user experiences, revolutionize sectors like healthcare, transportation, and immersive media, and drive energy efficiency. The panelists discussed the evolution from 5G to 6G, highlighting its potential for lower latency, higher data rates, and a fully integrated AI-native network.

Key Highlights:

• Next-Gen Applications: The discussion explored emerging applications of 6G, including holographic communications, digital twins, and applications related to sensing, with the potential to transform industries and improve quality of life.
  

• Global Collaboration & Sustainability: The panel emphasized the need for global collaboration on 6G standards and sustainable development practices to reduce energy consumption and ensure responsible adoption.
  

• Infrastructure & Spectrum Challenges: Key challenges, including the need for advanced infrastructure, spectrum allocation, and security concerns, were addressed. The panelists acknowledged that 6G’s path to adoption will involve overcoming these significant hurdles.

• Ericsson’s Business Model: Christina Chaccour highlighted Ericsson’s approach to integrating AI into network layers, offering hardware, software, and services that will support the 6G ecosystem.

• Hardware Limitations: While progress has been made in technologies like Gallium Nitride semiconductors, the panel noted that business challenges remain, particularly with millimeter-wave technologies. Advanced technologies like gate-all-around and nanosheet transistors are expected to align with 6G timelines by 2030.

• Business and Technology Trade-offs: The panel discussed the business challenges of densifying networks for adequate coverage and the trade-offs between frequency bands: lower frequencies provide broader coverage, while higher frequencies offer faster data transmission but come with costly deployments.

Closing Remarks:The event concluded with heartfelt appreciation for Intuit’s hosting and special thanks to the LebNet San Diego community and team for their support in making the discussion a success. The panelists, Christina Chaccour, Aziz Gholmieh, and Diana Maamari, and the moderator Fram Akiki, shared a collective enthusiasm for the future of wireless technologies and the collaborative efforts needed to bring 6G to fruition.