NEW DELHI: Nokia has opened a new ‘6G Lab’ India, which was virtually inaugurated by union telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Thursday. “The first-of-its-kind project aims to accelerate the development of fundamental technologies and innovative use cases underpinned by 6G technology that will address the future needs of both industry and society,” Nokia said in a statement.

Nokia said its 6G lab supports the government of India’s ‘Bharat 6G Vision,’ introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which envisions a key global role for India in the standardisation, development, and implementation of 6G technology.

Experts working with the vendor at its Bengaluru center will support India’s ambition to make “notable contributions towards global 6G technology standards”, as per the statement. Nokia is also in the process of building research collaborations with premier research institutes in the country such as IISc/IITs to further scale up the 6G research initiative here.

The Lab includes a setup to research ‘Network as a Sensor’ technology that enables the network to sense objects, people and movement without the need for on-board sensors.

Nokia noted in its statement that in the sixth-generation or 6G-era, ’Network as a Sensor’ has been identified as a key enabling technology that supports the vision of bringing the digital and physical worlds together. Sensing will be fully integrated into the wireless network and operate simultaneously with communication services.

Nokia said its 6G Lab in India will also provide an experimental platform for researching algorithms, privacy, and sustainable system design.

Nokia is already engaged in several global projects and regional initiatives with industry peers, customers, academia, and research institutions for 6G development. This work aims to form a common view and direction for 6G, including 6G Hexa-X and Hexa-X-II, the first and second phase of the European 6G Flagship.

Nokia is also a founding member of the Next G Alliance which is helping to drive the 6G ecosystem in North America and coordinating the German Lighthouse project 6G ANNA.

“The inauguration of the Nokia 6G research lab in Bengaluru today is another step towards PM Narendra Modi’s vision of making India an innovation hub. Interesting use cases coming out of this lab will be related to transportation safety, health care and education which will be another big contribution in the entire Digital India suite,” said Vaishnaw.

Nokia noted in its statement that in the sixth-generation or 6G-era, ’Network as a Sensor’ has been identified as a key enabling technology that supports the vision of bringing the digital and physical worlds together. Sensing will be fully integrated into the wireless network and operate simultaneously with communication services.

Nokia said its 6G Lab in India will also provide an experimental platform for researching algorithms, privacy, and sustainable system design.

Nokia is already engaged in several global projects and regional initiatives with industry peers, customers, academia, and research institutions for 6G development. This work aims to form a common view and direction for 6G, including 6G Hexa-X and Hexa-X-II, the first and second phase of the European 6G Flagship.

Nokia is also a founding member of the Next G Alliance which is helping to drive the 6G ecosystem in North America and coordinating the German Lighthouse project 6

G ANNA.

“This has been one of the fastest telecom network roll-outs ever and means India now has the second largest 5G installed base in the world, with 5G download speeds beating those found in many advanced markets. We are satisfied with this work so far but there is still more to do. We will continue to support India’s digital transformation across industry, society and public services," Pekka Lundmark, President & CEO, Nokia said.

“We look forward to collaborating with key stakeholders to help India become a major player in 6G technology development and adoption; and take its place in the global arena as a leading developer and supplier of advanced telecom technologies and solutions,” said Nishant Batra, Chief Strategy and Technology Officer, Nokia.