6G technology, as the focus of the next generation of communication technology, will be widely used to lead the future development trend of the global communications industry and bring earth-shaking technological transformation to the society.
At Mobile World Congress 2024 (MWC 2024), 10 countries**, including the United States, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Japan, South Korea, Sweden and the United Kingdom, publicly expressed their strong support for the 6G principles.
China, as a pioneer of 5G technology, is undoubtedly a global leader in the research and development of 6G technology. This lead has put pressure on the West. So, what is the importance of 6G?
6G, the sixth-generation mobile communication standard, is also known as the sixth-generation mobile network communication technology. The breakthrough of 6G is not limited to increasing network capacity and speeding up transmission speeds, but also to achieve the ambitious goal of "Internet of Everything", which is committed to bridging the digital divide and creating a new dimension of the communication world.
6G communication technology, compared with 5G, will introduce many innovative technologies such as ultra-high frequency bands, quantum communications, and smart materials. The incorporation of these technologies will drive transfer speeds to extremely high 1TBS and reduce network latency to 1 millisecond or even less than 01 millisecond, at the same time, the network capacity will reach 10,000 times that of the 5G system, which will greatly optimize the efficiency and stability of data transmission and communication.
6G will further realize the integration of terrestrial and satellite communications, and build a high-speed intelligent network with global coverage, including air, space, ground and sea. The network will also provide centimeter-level high-precision positioning, breaking the single dimension of traditional communication, realizing the deep integration of communication, computing, perception and energy, and providing strong support for meeting the needs of various intelligent applications in the future.
In China, significant progress and breakthroughs have been made in the 5G era, which undoubtedly provides a solid and solid foundation for the research and development and application of 6G technology.
The number of patent applications for 6G communication technology worldwide reached 780,000 pieces, of which the United States accounted for 352%, China accounts for 398%, in the first place. The 6G market size** shows significant growth by 2040, with the global market expected to exceed $340 billion, with China as one of the main markets. The 6G industry chain is divided into three parts: upstream equipment vendors, midstream network operators and content providers, and downstream end users, which contain abundant investment opportunities.
In the global competition of communication technology, 6G technology has become a key indicator to measure a country's strategic scientific and technological strength. At present, the number of 6G-related patents worldwide has reached 7More than 80,000 pieces, demonstrating the R&D enthusiasm and technical reserves in this field in various countries. Against the backdrop of this huge data, Japan occupies 99% of the application share, while the United States holds 352% of total patent applications worldwide. What is even more noteworthy is that our country has performed well in this international competition, with 39At the top of the list, 8% is a further testament to China's leading position in 6G R&D and its huge potential.
Regarding the future market size of 6G, it is foreseeable that it will have a broad and far-reaching impact. The high speed and low latency of 6G technology will provide strong support for artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, virtual reality and other fields, and promote the rapid development of these industries. According to the analysis of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, by 2040, the popularization of 6G technology may bring about a growth of more than 30 times in the number of terminal connections, and the average monthly traffic will also surge by more than 130 times, indicating that 6G will become the driving force of the market of "hundreds of billions of terminal connections and trillions of GB of average monthly traffic". In terms of economic scale, the global 6G market is expected to exceed $340 billion by 2040, with an expected compound annual growth rate of 581%, while the Chinese market is expected to be one of the largest 6G markets in the world.
For investors, the 6G industry chain provides opportunities from multiple angles. From the perspective of the composition of the industrial chain, upstream equipment manufacturers are involved in the manufacturing and innovation of communication equipment; The midstream includes network operators and content providers, who are responsible for building and maintaining network architectures, as well as creating and distributing a wide variety of content services. The downstream is for end users, including various smart terminals and application scenarios. Each link contains potential value-added space, bringing diversified choices to investors. With the continuous maturity of 6G technology and the acceleration of commercialization, enterprises in the related industry chain are expected to usher in new growth opportunities.
In the field of 6G network equipment and technology, upstream equipment manufacturers play a key role, and their responsibilities cover the provision of advanced base stations, core networks and transmission equipment. Well-known companies such as Huawei, ZTE, Nokia and Ericsson are leading the way in this field and are striving to establish their dominant position in the future 6G market through relentless research and development.
As a major supplier of RF components, Xinwei Communication has initially launched research work on 6G business, which will further strengthen the company's technical reserves and promote scientific and technological progress in the field of 6G.
Yihua Co., Ltd. focuses on the research and development of high-speed communication connectors, especially in the field of 5G, 6G and optical communication modules. The company has successfully developed a series of SFP and SFP+ products, the launch of which marks Yihua's continuous innovation capability in the field of communication technology.
Hengtong Optoelectronics focuses on the high-end research of network communication technology, especially in the field of 6G key technology - terahertz pass, the company has shown forward-looking technical layout capabilities, laying a solid foundation for the development of future communication technology.
For midstream network operators and content providers, they are responsible for the construction and operation of 6G networks, and provide related network services and content. Telecom giants such as China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom, as well as Internet companies such as Tencent and Alibaba, are taking advantage of the high speed, low latency, and large number of connections of 6G networks to bring users richer and more diversified network services and content to meet their changing needs.
As a veteran communications service provider, China Mobile has a significant market leading position in the customer base. As of September 30, 2023, the group's total number of mobile service subscribers has climbed to 99 billion households, of which the number of users of 5G services is as high as 75 billion households, and the number of customers connected to the 5G network reached 42.5 billion households.
In the first three quarters of this year, China Mobile's data traffic business continued to grow steadily, and mobile Internet data usage increased by 16% compared to the same period last year2%, and the average monthly mobile data usage (DOU) of users is 156gb。In addition, China Mobile's average revenue per user (ARPU) is 512 yuan, compared with the same period last year, achieved 10% growth.
In terms of the research and development of the next-generation communication technology 6G, China Mobile has been actively investing in it since 2018, with "wireless communication", "wireless networking" and "network architecture" as the core areas of strategic technology research and development layout, and focusing on ten key scientific and technological directions, including: new network architecture, endogenous AI (artificial intelligence), communication perception fusion, heterogeneous network integration, digital twin network, ultra-large-scale multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology, innovative wireless transmission technology, Built-in security features, space-ground-air integrated networking, and innovative passive IoT technology.
In particular, it is worth mentioning that in its 6G system design, China Mobile pioneered the systematic "three-body, four-layer and five-side" network architecture concept, which is the key foundation for building the future 6G system, reflecting the company's in-depth understanding of future communication technology and the pursuit of innovation capabilities.
In the professional field, China Mobile has completed a series of technical studies on 6G full service, distributed autonomous network, digital twin network and internal generated network. Recently, the company has successfully launched two test satellites integrating 5G and 6G technologies, including the world's first on-board signal processing test satellite "China Mobile 01 satellite" that can verify the 5G space-ground integrated evolution technology, and the world's first 6G architecture verification satellite "Star Core" verification satellite.
For downstream end users, they are mainly users of 6G networks, which are divided into individual users and enterprise users. Individual users can experience faster and more stable network services and rich content; Enterprise users can rely on the characteristics of 6G to improve production and operation efficiency and innovate and develop.
Hotspot Engine Project Overall, the development of the 6G industry chain requires all links to work together to promote the research and application of 6G technology. With the progress of 6G technology, the entire industry chain will face more opportunities and challenges. In view of the fact that 6G technology is still in the research and development stage, its industrial structure and company layout may change, so it is necessary to continue to pay attention to the development of 6G technology in order to accurately grasp the trend of the industrial chain.