Verizon: 5G Independent Networking—the Cornerstone for Advancing towards 6G

At the Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas, Verizon is actively promoting the benefits of its 5G independent networking and has now opened up its 5G SA network to consumers.

Similar to AT&T, Verizon has launched a 5G SA network to consumers with the release of Apple’s 5G smartwatch, as the watch’s 5G RedCap specification can only be supported on 5G SA networks. Unlike T-Mobile, which was deployed many years ago, Verizon and AT&T still need to wait for consumers to replace their phones or at least enable independent networking on their iOS or Android phones.

In addition to the advantages of 5G SA such as low network latency and network slicing, Verizon has set its sights on 6G after 5G Advanced. As Fierce previously stated, operators will not be able to transition to 6G without deploying the 5G SA core network first. For those operators who are still using the 4G LTE core network to manage 5G wireless access network calls and data, the situation is not optimistic if they hope to start moving towards 6G between 2028 and 2030. The Global Mobile Suppliers Association announced in April that 163 operators from 65 countries are investing in the construction of public 5G SA networks, with 73 operators from approximately 39 countries having already launched their 5G SA networks. According to GSA data, there are approximately 833 mobile operators worldwide.

Verizon’s 5G SA Perspective

Danny Johnson, Assistant Vice President of IoT and Managed Connectivity Platforms at Verizon, praised the “universal core” between 5G SA and 6G, stating, “I do believe that because of this, the transition from 5G to 6G will be smoother. ”Like other operators that have communicated with Fierce, such as NTT DoCoMo, Verizon does not anticipate the need for a completely new core network for 6G, although some equipment vendors may wish for it. Johnson pointed out that the cost of deploying a completely new core network has to some extent hindered the development of pure 5G. He hopes that 6G will not face the same situation.

GSMA research director Tim Hatt told Fierce at the exhibition that 5G SA is a prelude to 6G. This is because 5G SA will support software upgrades to 6G over the air without the need for physical replacement of core network hardware. You are essentially pre investing some capital expenditures, “he said,” because this way you can achieve it through OTA software updates without having to deploy all hardware replacements. ”

All of this is still in the future. 6G is expected to be officially commercialized by 2030, but operators need to start preparing before then. Therefore, if operators who are lagging behind in 5G SA deployment do not want to fall behind, they need to shift to the 5G SA core network in the next few years.