While 5G continues to evolve, discussions around 6G are progressing towards standards development, sparking ongoing debates.
After the release of the first 5G standard by 3GPP (Release 15), talks about the future of 6G began. At that time, the industry had limited experience with 5G, making it challenging to predict the path forward for 6G. Since then, the landscape of wireless communications has transformed, with 6G conferences kicking off in 2020 and evolving discussions in response to emerging 5G challenges.
Initially, the telecom sector lacked the necessary insights from 5G to guide the development of 6G, as depicted in Figure 1 showcasing the visual representation of 6G discussions.
Figure 1. Conversations around 6G have dropped some topics, added some, and changed one.
6G conference dialogues have shifted towards addressing the shortcomings of 5G. With 5G, 3GPP expanded beyond traditional smartphone applications to include machine-to-machine communications (M2M) and ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC). Over time, 5G standards have expanded to encompass technologies like RedCap for IoT applications not requiring high bandwidth. Additionally, satellite communications and non-terrestrial networks (NTN) have gained prominence in recent discussions, while other topics have faded.
Figure 1 was created by analyzing coverage of 6G conferences, highlighting the evolving timeline. In 2025, holographic images and the metaverse were absent from discussions, indicating a shift towards non-smartphone use cases in 6G, particularly focusing on “vertical” applications.
As the 10-year cycle for introducing a new wireless standard nears, 3GPP is expected to commence defining 6G, starting with Release 20. The industry’s limited understanding of 5G implementations raises questions about the direction for 6G, with skepticism surrounding the necessity of a decade-long cycle driven by marketing hype. The consensus is that 6G will prioritize verticals over consumer applications, with a unanimous agreement on the ubiquitous presence of AI in the network.
What happened to 5G?
