The company has made “considerable efforts” towards 6G realisation by conducting research and developing international standards for the ecosystem. According to experts, 6G will bring about much faster data speed – estimated to be 100x faster than 5G, as well as lower latency and higher reliability than 5G. The introduction of new features, capabilities and use of millimetre frequencies seen in 5G is expected to be complemented with terahertz spectrum in 6G. The achievements by Etisalat today in 5G coverage, cloud native, slicing, multi-access edge computing (MEC) development, AI and automation platforms, as well as high fibre penetration which stands at more than 99 per cent of UAE populated area coverage, is a result of the long-term strategy paving the way towards 6G.
Etisalat is upgrading tools and capabilities of its R&D centre to enhance the contribution towards 6G global standardisation within the international fora and alliances. The 6G network will see the transformation of use cases targeted by 5G into a fully integrated autonomy, enabling “robotic humans’ operation, sophisticated human-to-human, human-to-machine and machine-to-machine relationships”. However, 6G technology will require communications governance and increased collaboration across multisector stakeholders. The technology is seen as an enabler of new coverage dimensions in space and maritime in addition to the terrestrial dimension.