Despite ongoing 5G challenges, 6G is not as far-off as you think. The next mobile technology evolution to 6G is actually edging closer and we are expected to see the first commercial deployment around 2030, with the caveat that research and development is still in its early stages and standards still being determined.
Can 6G help solve existing 5G pain points and make technologies such as the use of autonomous vehicles and AR/VR truly immersive, seamless and responsive. 6G, however, is still a giant leap. The mobile technology is likely to facilitate massive change and require extensive infrastructure development, positive country and regulatory support, as well as collaboration between key global and regional players across the industries and the tech ecosystem.
iTNews Asia sits exclusively with Simon Trend, Wireless Logic’s Group Managing Director – Americas, APAC and MENA, to find out more about what 6G can deliver, industry issues and challenges that are essential to overcome, as well as the outlook and the roadmap ahead in Asia Pacific. He also discusses what the different stakeholders across various sectors need to do to really make 6G work.
iTNews Asia: While more countries are moving to 5G, at the enterprise level, we’ve not seen many examples of real-world applications that are generating revenue-generating opportunities. Why do you think this is so?
There’s often a misconception that the rollout of a new generation of mobile technology will immediately translate into widespread commercial success. The reality is that network transitions—especially ones as technically ambitious as 5G—take time to mature both technologically and economically.
For enterprises, adopting 5G isn’t just about faster speeds. It’s about rethinking business models, operations, and infrastructure to leverage low latency, edge computing, and massive device connectivity. This kind of transformation requires more than just network availability; it requires confidence in use cases, interoperable ecosystems, regulatory clarity, and often, internal digital maturity that many organisations are still building toward.
We’re at the stage where the foundational infrastructure is becoming more robust. What comes next is the layering of applications, platforms, and enterprise innovation that will start to unlock 5G’s true commercial potential—particularly in sectors like manufacturing, logistics, and retail, and mission critical applications in healthcare and security, where real-time responsiveness and high device density can create measurable value.
iTNews Asia: Based on history, we’ve seen each new generation of networks take off every decade. Can this trend continue?
Yes, we can expect that cadence to hold, driven less by the calendar and more by the increasing demand for computing at the edge, massive data volumes, lower latency, and more complex applications that today’s networks weren’t built to handle. Each generation evolves to accommodate a fundamentally different set of capabilities and user behaviours, and 6G will be no exception.
iTNews Asia: How transformative will be the impact of 6G, and what limitations in 5G networks can 6G address? What will be the growth drivers for 6G adoption?
If 5G laid the groundwork for low latency and high throughput, 6G will expand the boundaries of what’s possible, particularly in machine-to-machine communication.
6G is expected to deliver sub-millisecond latency and throughput speeds orders of magnitude greater than 5G, supporting use cases like fully immersive AR/VR, autonomous systems coordination, and edge-based AI decision-making.
- Simon Trend, Managing Director, Americas, APAC and MENA, Wireless Logic Group
What 6G also addresses is the need for a more harmonised network fabric—one that integrates terrestrial and non-terrestrial connectivity (such as LEO satellites), supports ubiquitous coverage, and provides seamless service across physical and digital environments. This “everywhere infrastructure” will be foundational to the next wave of digital transformation across sectors.
Key growth drivers will include increasing data traffic from connected devices, the maturation of Industry 4.0 ecosystems, investment in smart city projects, and rising expectations around real-time services - from autonomous transport to remote medical care.
iTNews Asia: With 5G, the industry has had to contend with pain points like fragmented user experiences, costly implementation, and inconsistent coverage. Rolling out 6G will require extensive infrastructure development across both wireless and wireline domains, which can be complex and expensive to plan, deploy, and manage. How can the industry and CSPs overcome these challenges? What advice and recommendations can you give?
The rollout of 6G will be an enormously complex endeavour—but complexity doesn’t make it unmanageable. It simply calls for a smarter, more collaborative approach across the ecosystem.
One key lesson from 5G is the importance of modularity and flexibility. Infrastructure deployment for 6G needs to be smarter, not just bigger. We’ll need more dynamic spectrum sharing, adaptive network slicing, and AI-driven orchestration to make deployment more efficient and context-specific.
To avoid fragmentation, we also need to better align standards across regions and industries early in the process. Operators, governments, and industry coalitions must start aligning now on not just technical specifications, but deployment incentives, funding models, and cross-border collaboration.
Another critical factor is infrastructure co-development, where public-private partnerships play a bigger role, and where industries can shape networks around sector-specific requirements. For CSPs, it will be crucial to move from being infrastructure providers to ecosystem enablers, helping their customers navigate this shift with scalable, interoperable solutions.
iTNews Asia: The Wireless Broadband Alliance says that close collaboration within industry players and the ecosystem, for example private sector alliances like the AI-RAN Alliance, inter-country cooperation, is needed between the stakeholders of 6G if it is to deliver on its promise. How critical is collaboration in the future success of 6G?
Collaboration isn’t just critical—it’s existential for 6G. No single entity can build 6G alone. Unlike previous generations, 6G requires a confluence of advancements in spectrum policy, AI, cloud architecture, semiconductor technologies, and even satellite deployment. It’s inherently multidisciplinary.
Initiatives like AI-RAN and broader inter-country frameworks will be essential in ensuring global interoperability and driving down development costs. And perhaps more importantly, they help build trust—trust in data governance, spectrum fairness, security protocols, and commercial viability.
Successful 6G deployment will also require close engagement with vertical industries, not just telcos and equipment providers. Healthcare, transportation, energy, and manufacturing players must all be at the table from day one to ensure the network evolves in a way that supports real, scalable use cases.
iTNews Asia: 6G commercial deployment is anticipated by 2030, following the completion of ITU’s specifications on the standards and capabilities for 6G. How sanguine are you about the first commercial deployments? Would they be in China, where the government is prioritising development?
The 2030 timeline is a reasonable target—ambitious, but achievable. What we may start seeing even earlier are pilot deployments in high-demand, innovation-friendly environments: smart campuses, private industrial networks, or specific economic zones where the regulatory frameworks can support early adoption.
China is certainly well-positioned. The country recently surpassed one billion 5G users, according to government data released in April 2025, underscoring both its scale and maturity in next-generation network adoption. Its centralised approach to infrastructure development, vast domestic manufacturing base, and state-level backing of 6G R&D give it an advantage in being among the first movers for 6G.
That said, Southeast Asia is showing strong momentum as well—particularly Singapore, which is not only proactively shaping spectrum and infrastructure policies aligned with next-generation needs but also has the potential to be the first market to achieve a 100 percent 6G coverage and therefore ubiquitous, nationwide use.
So while China may lead in first commercial deployments, the success of 6G will ultimately depend on multi-region adoption and alignment—something that’s already underway at the standards level.
iTNews Asia: What do you see as a practical and realistic roadmap and landscape for 6G in the Asia Pacific?
A realistic roadmap for 6G will start with private or semi-private use cases—smart factories, ports, hospitals—where there’s a clear operational need for ultra-low latency, reliability, and precision connectivity. This will be the proving ground before broader public network deployments become viable.
In the Asia Pacific region, the landscape is promising but diverse. Countries like South Korea, Japan, and Singapore are aligning on innovation-first policies, whereas others may follow with more measured rollouts. Infrastructure maturity, spectrum readiness, and regulatory agility will determine the pace of adoption.
iTNews Asia: How critical and what role can satellite-terrestrial integration and networks play in the 6G outlook?
Satellite-terrestrial integration will be foundational to 6G. Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, in particular, will address one of 5G’s biggest blind spots: coverage in remote, hard-to-reach, or disaster-affected areas. But their value isn’t just in bridging coverage—it’s in enabling true global connectivity that is seamless, scalable, and resilient.
For Asia Pacific—with its dispersed geographies and urban-rural digital divide—this integration could be the linchpin for equitable 6G access.
iTNews Asia: What countries or industries globally and in Asia will take off first, and why?
Industries that operate in high-stakes, high-complexity environments will lead the adoption curve - think advanced manufacturing, precision agriculture, remote healthcare, and autonomous transport. These sectors have the most to gain from ultra-reliable, ultra-responsive connectivity and are already investing in foundational digital capabilities.
As for countries, South Korea and Japan are early contenders, given their long-standing leadership in telecommunications innovation and strong industrial policy alignment. Singapore also stands out, not just because of its technological readiness but because of its clear strategic intent—seen in its Digital Connectivity Blueprint—to be at the forefront of global digital infrastructure.
More broadly, countries with an active role in shaping global standards, flexible regulatory environments, and strong public-private collaboration will be the first to translate 6G potential into tangible national advantage.
