President Donald Trump has urged American mobile networks to roll out 5G and ‘6G’ networks as soon as possible, despite that fact that, er, there’s no such thing as 6G.
The 45th President made his declaration through his communications medium of choice, Twitter. On Thursday morning, President Trump tweeted that he wants his imaginary 6G mobile networks rolled out ASAP, as they are “far more powerful, faster, and smarter than the current standard. American companies must step up their efforts, or get left behind.”
He added that he wants the US to “to win through competition, not by blocking out currently more advanced technologies…We must always be the leader in everything we do, especially when it comes to the very exciting world of technology!” We admire the sentiment, but according to experts, the President might be waiting a long time before he can Tweet in 6G.
According to The Washington Post, there are some 6G research groups emerging, but they are in their very early stages. For example, The International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations body that researches global telecom issues, has set up a working group that is studying what a 6G network might look like. However, The Post noted that the group’s name – Network 2030 – suggests that the President may need to rethink his 6G timeline.
That said, American telecoms companies are already hard at work implementing 5G networks in some cities – so they’ve got their hands full for now. For instance, Verizon offers 5G home Internet connections in some states. Furthermore, the company has announced that they’re implementing their 5G network in 30 cities this year. That said, the company hasn’t confirmed when the company is switching from its own technology to a global standard or when 5G phones would be available.
Furthermore, telecoms provider AT&T have found themselves in hot water after deliberately misleading customers by re-branding its 4G LTE network as 5G. Smartphone users in areas with AT&T coverage will see a ‘5G E’ carrier indicator. However, the ‘E’ actually stands for ‘Evolution’, which is nothing more than a 4G network with 256 QAM, 4×4 MIMO, and three-way carrier aggregation. Since the incident, the company has attempted to redeem itself by releasing a 5G-rollout fact sheet (which seems to not mention their ‘5G E’ network at all – curious!).
Considering the backlash, it seems like no matter how much AT&T might be keen to please the President, it might be better if they stick to being transparent with their customers.
