As with any other great advance in technology, not everything is going to be straightforward, and there remains much uncertainty around the timescale for 6G, with some potential roadblocks to be cleared first. One issue is the lack of available spectrum. Spectrum essentially means the range of radio frequencies allocated to the mobile industry and other sectors for communication over the airwaves. The problem is that there’s only so much of it to go around before it all becomes one big untidy mess where nothing makes sense, and 6G needs a lot more of this spectrum than 5G. Another issue is the sheer expense of creating 6G networks. They’ll have to be designed and built from the ground up, covering land, air and space. Companies are still weighing up whether they’ll be able to monetise 6G enough to recoup their costs and make a decent profit.
A 6G low-latency operated robot that mimics the movements of sensors
5G towers are now a common sight, but 6G will require its own infrastructure