On July 27th, according to the Russian Kommersant report, Russia decided to bypass the 5G stage and directly develop the 6G network. By 2025, the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology and the Institute of Radio Manufacturing Science, which is part of the Ministry of Digital Development, may receive more than 30 billion rubles (about 3.42 billion yuan) for research on the new 6G communication standard.

According to reports, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko instructed the Ministry of Digital Development, the Ministry of Education and Science, and the Ministry of Finance to provide additional funds for research and development in the field of 6G communications before August 1. The Deputy Prime Minister’s Office confirmed to Kommersant that the order has been issued.

This work will include device development from prototype to production, component fundamental issues, and development of regulatory frameworks and electromagnetic safety studies for new networks.

As part of this project, the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology and the Institute of Radio Manufacturing Sciences proposed to revise the roadmap for the development of fifth-generation mobile communication networks. The document was formulated by Rostec and approved in November 2020 at a cost of 208.15 billion rubles (about 23.729 billion yuan) to implement.

The commercial operation of 5G in Russia is still in its infancy. According to the report, operator VimpelCom said that before talking about 6G, it needs to focus on the gradual expansion of LTE frequency bands and is skeptical about the prospects of 6G.

Kommersant’s interlocutors in the telecommunications industry believe that it is necessary to study the direction of 6G, but before allocating a large budget for this, it is necessary to determine which countries and equipment manufacturers Russia will coordinate on technical standards and frequencies.