Ericsson is setting up a 6G-focused research unit in the United Kingdom as part of a 10-year, multi-million-dollar investment into that country’s wireless technology future, which has been gaining significant attention.

The Swedish vendor said it will employ 20 dedicated researchers and support additional doctoral students to work on the project. Their work will focus on network resilience, security, artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive networks, and energy efficiency.

“Ericsson is at the forefront of global research, innovation, and developing open standards that will underpin a future of limitless connectivity and new technologies,” Magnus Frodigh, VP and head of Ericsson Research, said in a statement. “Establishing a research program in the U.K. means the country will be well positioned to utilize its existing high international level of knowledge in wireless systems and technologies to produce ground-breaking 6G research that not only can help shape the future of global standards but also deliver a more connected, efficient, and sustainable society.”

The move could be important for Ericsson, which has so far been quiet on pushing 6G initiatives. The vendor has been a leading player in the 5G space, but it continues to struggle with cloud and virtualization innovation that analysts note are key to 6G technologies.

Ericsson CFO Carl Mellander during the vendor’s most recent earnings call acknowledged that Ericsson has “underperformed in this area for a long time,” and “we’re not happy at this level.”

“We need to fix this. It should be a profitable business. With our market position and the technology we offer, this has all the potential to be profitable,” Mellander said.

6G remains a nebulous concept as standards work has yet to officially begin. However, many expect the technology will include increased reliance on distributed cloud and edge computing resources, and a further push up the spectrum scale.

Japan’s NTT DoCoMo, for instance, recently aligned equipment vendors Nokia, NEC, and Fujitsu to develop 6G technologies that tap into advanced networking and transmission capabilities. The work is targeted at networks that are expected to roll out beginning around 2030.

Ericsson’s 6G efforts in the U.K. follow on the heels of that government looking to push technology innovation that does not include Chinese vendors. The government in mid-2020 mandated that all network equipment from China-based vendor Huawei be removed by 2027.

Vendors have since been establishing innovation centers in that country.

Rakuten Mobile this week said it was building an open radio access network (RAN) “experience center” in the United Kingdom that is scheduled to open early next year. The carrier earlier this year signed a deal with NEC and U.K. operator Virgin Media O2 to conduct a joint open RAN field trial across a handful of live sites on the carrier’s commercial network.