On January 2023, the 6G-NTN project officially started its work. A consortium of leading researchers, mobile and satellite innovators who for the first time come together to address users’ needs in future telecommunication networks.
Growing digitisation and technological progress are transforming how industry develops and delivers new products and services, as well as how we live, work, and learn. To ensure that this transformation benefits everyone while preserving our planet’s resources, researchers and industry players must work together to realise the full potential of future 6G wireless communications and service infrastructure.
In order to accomplish this goal, the 6G-NTN project was launched in January 2023 as one of the winners of the first phase of Horizon Europe’s European Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) funding. The project brings together for the first-time partners from Europe’s mobile communication, satellite and academia with the aim to design and validate key enablers for the complete and seamless integration of the Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) component in future 6G terrestrial telecommunications networks. This will be critical in increasing the coverage, resilience, and sustainability of next-generation mobile networks, as well as better meeting the needs and expectations of both vertical markets and end-users.
Who is on board
The 6G-NTN project is powered by fifteen partners with complementary expertise in the 5G/6G research and innovation scene to effectively contribute to the integration of NTN into future 6G networks. Under the lead of the University of Bologna, the partners include eight major European industrial players, namely Thales Alenia Space (France and UK), Thales DIS AIS, Thales SIX GTS, Ericsson (France and Sweden), SES Techom and Qualcomm Communications, one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators Orange, two dynamic SMEs, namely Greenerwave and Martel Innovate, two top European research organisations, the Centre Tecnologic De Telecomunicacions de Catalun (CTTC) and the German Space Agency (DLR), and a non-profit association that focuses on green technology and sustainable digital development, Digital for Planet.
All partners are looking forward to cooperating and bringing forward the 6G NTN ambition and increasing European industrial leadership in the field.
If you are interested in following the development of the 6G-NTN project, subscribe to the 6G-NTN newsletter or follow the project’s activities on Twitter and LinkedIn.