Recently installed T-Mobile US CEO Srini Gopalan has a lot on his plate in taking over one of the world’s largest mobile network operators with a growing appetite for new broadband ventures, but the executive is also keeping a focus on the carrier’s bread-and-butter cellular network that is set to ingest AI and 6G ingredients.

Gopalan during a session at this week’s UBS Global Media and Communications Conference boldly stated that “we led this industry through 5G, and we will lead it through 6G. … We will drive the ecosystem, and we will be the 6G leaders.”

This will include a strong dose of both AI to help drive operational efficiencies and provide the basis for tight AI integration into the next cellular technology evolution.

Gopalan first lauded Nvidia for its launch earlier this year of its Cosmos “physical AI” system this is designed to bring together different AI platforms to help in the development of physical items like autonomous vehicles and robots. The T-Mobile US CEO noted that this sets the stage for the next iteration of AI in the real world and a specific reliance on 6G network technology.

“I think there's a piece of moving away from ChatGPT as the fundamental form of AI to actually automation and robotics,” Gopolan said. “Now, to make that happen, you need low-latency connections between the robot or the device and the network. Only 6G can give you that.”

Gopalan furthered that notion by stating 6G architecture plans are targeting so-called “edge AI,” which is the deployment of physical infrastructure at a network edge “that's not just capable of processing bits and bytes, but that's also capable of processing tokens.”

“This has been talked about for a while, but with 6G it becomes real,” Gopalan said, adding, “that opens up some fascinating new revenue opportunities. … To have robots actually functioning, to have factories automated … you need a network that can deliver physical AI, a network that's low latency enough, and a network that can process not just bits and bytes, but also tokens.”

Tokens are units of data that are typically a piece of a word, or in the case of non-text modalities, a portion of an image or an audio clip. Tokens have now become the de facto billing metric for AI services, with enterprises paying by the number of tokens that their AI consumes.

T-Mobile US last year partnered with a handful of vendors to construct a test facility in Washington, focused on testing the use of AI to help control radio access network (RAN) functions. Those partners included Nvidia, Ericsson, and Nokia, all of whom are part of the AI-RAN Alliance.

Spectrum efficiency, cybersecurity boost

Gopalan also touched on the spectral efficiency gains expected from 6G standards. This includes the ability to squeeze more capacity from limited spectrum resources, which will become more important if AI-generated traffic on those networks continues to increase.

“Today, most apps are quite hungry, so we end up not optimizing how much bandwidth we get,” Gopalan said. “With 6G and AI, and this is where AI helps optimize our own loads, you will see a lot more being squeezed out of the network.”

Gopalan would not put a number on that spectral improvement but did relent that, “I’ll just say it’s substantial.”

Gopalan’s third’s 6G focus is on bolstering cybersecurity efforts, with a specific mention of integrated sensing and communications (ISAC), “which effectively is the equivalent of a radar in the network.”

“And the applications from a cybersecurity perspective, especially being quantum-safe, are huge,” Gopalan added.

6G fun just getting started

Gopalan’s 6G excitement comes as the broader industry begins to tackle the enormous task of setting standards.

Technology standards body 3GPP is currently working toward having a 6G standard ratified sometime early in the next decade. However, that has not stopped many operators and vendors from trying to publicly steer those efforts.

T-Mobile US is one such operator, having already gained regulatory approval for the testing of pre-standard 6G systems.

Those efforts are also counter to work from rival Verizon, which recently launched the 6G Innovation Forum with partners Ericsson, Samsung, Nokia, Meta, and Qualcomm. That group has tasked itself with the heady goal of establishing “an open, diversified, and resilient 6G ecosystem and develop foundational 6G technologies while ensuring global alignment."

Verizon CTO Yago Tenorio admitted to SDxCentral that while this group is open to all, it’s unlikely other operators will join.

“That's a very interesting one that we have considered,” Tenorio said of potential inclusion of other operators. “I think there is one contention point here, which is one part of the purpose, we want to be first in the world. So how is that compatible with having others? Can we ask them to withdraw from that ambition? That’s probably not fair. I know it sounds a lot, self-centered and selfish, but if the purpose is to be first, we may have to go it alone.”

Analysts have noted that operators are not expected to begin significant 6G investments until at least the beginning of the next decade.