Despite the increasing aversion of technology media towards 5G and their futuristic love for 6G, Fierce reminds everyone that 6G is still six years away. The next generation of cellular standards will rely on an important part of 5G Independent Networking (5G SA) technology to operate.

You may remember that operators have been complaining about the cost of implementing 5G SA for several years. Telecom executives have told Fierce that they do not want 6G to bring the same capital expenditure burden, so the new standard will use the 5G core network to route traffic in the network and handle user authentication and other transactions.

Pete Linder, Head of Thought Leadership for Ericsson North America, told Fierce at a company event in Boston last week, “5G and 6G will be the same core network, and 6G will only appear as the 5G SA option, without any other options. The earlier you achieve 5G SA for the core network, the earlier you can reach 6G.”

5G core is the foundation of 6G

But there is one problem. Except for China, not many operators have yet switched to nationwide 5G SA. In fact, China is the only country that has completely shifted to 5G SA.

Mobile Experts’ Chief Analyst Joe Madden pointed out at the same Ericsson event that in the United States, only T-Mobile provides “nationwide” 5G SA services, while AT&T and Verizon are still deploying 5G SA in limited areas. On the contrary, many operators rely on the 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) with a 4G Non Independent Networking (NSA) core network to create data sessions and manage users. Therefore, they are unable to transition directly from their current position to 6G or the next 5G standard.

This reliance on NSA 5G based on 4G core network is more common in some regions of Europe and Asia (excluding China).

5G slicing

Key 5G services, including network slicing, allow operators to dedicate specific bandwidth areas to a particular task, which would not be possible without a 5G core network.

It is worth noting that T-Mobile has started deploying network slicing in some sports events. Verizon is also conducting network slicing tests for emergency personnel in Arizona.

Despite the many discussions surrounding 6G, there is still a lot of work to be done on 5G SA before 6G truly arrives.