AT&T and Ericsson head up US 6G effort

The Next G Alliance has picked execs from AT&T and Ericsson to be its Chair and Vice Chair, respectively.

‘Setting the stage for the eventual commercialization of 6G, the work of the Next G Alliance will influence and encompass the full lifecycle of research and development, manufacturing, standardization and market readiness,’ says the press release, which reveals the strategic aim of the group is to achieve North American 6G leadership.

The alliance is itself part of an alliance: the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions. ATIS has been banging on about this project for at least a year. Even then 6G was framed as a strategic geopolitical matter and that feeling has persisted into the Biden Presidency. Only this week China did some 6G chest thumping of its own, so it only seems fair for the US to have a turn.

“While innovation frequently occurs in response to market needs, long-term technology leadership takes strategic foresight and critical stakeholders committed to reaching the desired future state,” said ATIS CEO, Susan M. Miller. “With its leadership set and work on both sustainability and the 6G Roadmap launched, the Next G Alliance is well positioned to create a national vision for the next decade.”

Let’s see. The full leadership team consists of Andre Fuetsch,  AT&T’s CTO; Jan Söderström, Ericsson’s Head of Technology Office in Silicon Valley; AT&T Assistant of Standards & Industry Alliances, Brian Daly; Head of North American Standardization at Nokia, Devaki Chandramouli; and VMware Director, Edge & AI Ecosystems, Benoit Pelletier. No sign of Verizon or T-Mobile then – great alliance.