The Russian government intends to spend more than 30 billion rubles ($375 million at the pre-war exchange rate, $500 million at the current rate) on an R&D program to deploy 6G until 2025, reports business daily Kommersant.
Skoltech and the Radio Research Institute could conduct the project, which will include the development of equipment prototypes as well as research on electromagnetic compatibility and user safety.
Currently most Russian operators, like their foreign peers, are building networks using equipment that supports the 5G standard. But commercial 5G networks are not operating yet in Russia, since operators cannot receive frequencies in the 3.4–3.8 GHz range.
This range, which has been selected for the 5G standard globally, is occupied in Russia by secret services.
Russian mobile operators would focus on supporting the existing 4G networks — whose capacities are satisfactory for most customers — and deploy 5G rather than anticipating 6G developments, according to industry insiders interviewed by Kommersant.
These networks, however, are affected by equipment shortages due to the sanctions.
While conceding it is necessary to conduct research on 6G, one of these insiders said that, before allocating a significant budget to this, Russia needs to determine with which countries and equipment providers to work with with regards to technical standards and equipments.
“None of the latest communication standards has been implemented without international cooperation, and the further it goes, the more difficult and expensive it will be to do it,” this industry insider believes.
Source: Kommersant
