The telecom world is still several years away from the deployment of 6G networks, but expected enhancements to that technology standard will require a significant re-think by operators and vendors in how they move on those deployments.

Two of the big challenges will be in how the industry works through expanded spectrum positions and how they will be able to integrate the cloud and hyperscaler ecosystem more deeply into those deployments, Jeff Wang, global 5G and networks lead at Accenture, noted in a recent interview with SDxCentral.

“That convergence of cellular and cloud in 6G is inevitable and we're excited for it,” Wang said. “5G didn't quite do that fully.”

Wang cautioned that 6G is still years away, with the industry only now even beginning to think of what it might want to include in technical standards with an eye toward an end-of-decade commercial deployment schedule. However, that is just seven years away and the standards work is lining up to be intense.

“When we look at 6G, standards aren’t there yet, but we are looking at new spectrum,” Wang said, pointing toward an increasing focus on the so-called sub-terahertz spectrum range. “One can argue we're still working out the kinks on just the different spectrum diversity that we have in 5G where we're looking at millimeter wave and working with sub-6 GHz.”

Those higher spectrum bands are going to force a complete re-think of deployment models to take into account their more challenging propagation characteristics. “Accenture is working constantly with clients on how do we deploy this because that density is not easy economically,” Wang said.

As an example, he noted that if a sub-1 GHz-based network required 50,000 cell sites to cover the U.S., using sub-6 GHz, which many operators are rolling out as part of their highly touted mid-band updates, or millimeter wave (mmWave) will need hundreds of thousands of sites.

“If you put that much stress on any process you have to be able to build in a new level of automation, a new level of intelligence, a new level of rigor to this and if you even let your mind go toward sub-terahertz [spectrum], it's very hard to imagine,” Wang said. “If we don't figure this out now, how we bring intelligence in, how we automate this, how we self-heal this, it's just an unmanageable, logistical nightmare.”

Operators and vendors are already developing technologies they hope might accelerate the process.

Qualcomm, for instance, recently acquired Cellwize Wireless Technologies, which focused on self-optimized network (SON) technology that automates the instantiation and management of RAN elements, especially at the network edge. This includes open RAN, virtualized RAN (vRAN), and traditional RAN, which is becoming increasing important as 5G network deployments begin to rely on dispersed cloud-native and multi-vendor RAN elements.

“We have to sort of create that scaffolding, whether it's understanding how to open up API's differently, create SDKs, build documentation, and build ecosystems around it, standardize some of those across operators,” Wang said. “What do we do in terms of all that scaffolding, which is what we're working with clients on right now so that when we roll 6G that it's a much more true platform.”

One way to help the process is to tap into the work already done by the cloud and hyperscaler community, which is accustomed to using automation and planning in dealing with large data sets. However, Wang noted that this cooperation remains a challenge.

“We've always talked about or dreamed about these and tried it many times, and Accenture has been a part of so many of these cross-carrier initiatives, I wish I could report back that we’ve crossed this inflection point,” Wang lamented. “But because these companies are so massive and they're dealing with so many customers and so many dollars, it's always going to be hard.”

He does think this challenge will be overcome, “because they may not have a choice.”

“I don't mean they necessarily have to work together, but I think becoming a platform and understanding what you need to do for scaffolding to put up on the side of the building in order to become that, I think is a thesis that everybody's going to have to either come to their own conclusions on or be forced into, because if you look at the different paths, can you become a first-party service provider and invent the next TikTok on 6G? Well, that's gonna be very hard.”