Samsung has reportedly announced the formation of the Advanced Communications Research Centre, which will have the mission of creating a 6G leadership position for Samsung.

5G is barely with us and we’re already talking about 6G. This should come as little surprise, such is the length of time it will take to bring the technology to fruition. According to the Korea Herald, Samsung has begun it’s 6G mission as part of the wider Samsung Research business unit.

A currently un-named official announced the news, stating “the current team on telecommunications technology standards has been expanded to start leading research on the 6G network.”

What 6G actually is remains to be seen, but such are the rewards in leading each generation of mobile technology, it would appear it is never too early to cast an eye on the horizon.

Unfortunately for Samsung, it is not the first to the party. In January, LG Electronics and KAIST announced a joint 6G Research Centre in Daejeon. LG has said it wants to use the research centre to pre-emptively secure technology for 6G.

Work has already started for 6G standards. In March, a small group of scientists gathered in Levi, Finland, to host one of the first global summits on the 6G Wireless standard. This was not the most of complex of meetings, though it was aiming to start work on the most important questions; why does the world need 6G?

The answer is relatively simple for the moment; we don’t know.

The technological and business case for 6G will emerge eventually as 5G gains more traction around the world. As with 5G in the 4G era, forward-thinking engineers predicted the demand for increased speed, more efficient spectrum use and efficiencies to drive profitability. 5G does of course offer more, but you only need a framework to build on to start with.

This is what the initial 6G forays will be based upon, but it is important to understand what the short-comings of 5G are. The problem needs to be understood before a solution can be crafted, otherwise, what’s the point?