The Verizon 6G Innovation Forum includes Ericsson, Meta, Nokia, Samsung, and Qualcomm
Verizon today officially kicked-off its 6G ecosystem and technology development program, the Verizon 6G Innovation Froum, with launch partners Ericsson, Meta, Nokia, Samsung, and Qualcomm. Verizon’s Chief Technology Officer Yago Tenorio talked RCR Wireless News through the forum’s goals and priorities ahead of the announcement.
“I think there is a lot of work that we need to do,” Tenorio bluntly acknowledged. But, he said, the big goal for Verizon — and for the United States — is “to be first in 6G.” He teased potential activity around the 2026 FIFA World Cup which is jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the U.S., and the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, set for July 2028 in Los Angeles. In fact, Verizon plans to establish dedicated 6G lab facilities starting in Los Angeles.
Tenorio stressed focus on delivering meaningful new use cases, then letting that inform the trajectory of technology development. He called out the uncertainty around spectrum availability, target channel widths, and the need for more uplink capacity. Tenorio, referencing the participation of Meta and Qualcomm, also alluded to the diversification in connected device form factors.
“We need to think how do we conceive 6G in the U.S. to make sure that we are competitive globally.” He called the spectrum-focused directions contained in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act a “phenomenal step forward.” In terms of 6G channelization which is being discussed as up to 400 megahertz, “I’m not sure if we have line-of-sight with that kind of allocation in the U.S. bands that still have good propagation.”
Asked about the spectrum pipeline and what that might suggest for future spectrum sharing paradigms, Tenorio said he hasn’t “seen a single technical solution on sharing that gives uncompromised use of spectrum to everybody … We may be fooling ourselves if we think we’re going to find a compromise solution that satisfies everybody through leveraging a technology that’s unclear … We may just be postponing a difficult decision that nobody wants to make.” He also said this lack of clarity makes investment efforts difficult given the cost of both spectrum auction participation and subsequent infrastructure deployment.
Tenorio also talked about a recurring 6G topic — infrastructure re-use; specifically, he considered the idea of future antenna solutions supporting upper-mid band spectrum deployments and providing comparable coverage areas to what C-Band delivers with 5G. “I think that’s going to surface in this forum…[But], I think it’s important that we think of it with a use case in mind.” He reiterated that the forum partners need to focus on what service is being enabled with 6G before figuring out how 6G needs to be built.
Asked about the potential use of 6G-enabled Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) for national defense purposes, Tenorio said the concept “has a fundamental national security angle that we cannot miss. If we create the right incentives and the right spectrum for operators to roll out 6G nationwide, we are at the same time building a network that is pervasive, is everywhere, that gives you sensing capabilities…We can’t be left behind.”
Of course AI is a key piece of what 6G will be. From the announcement: “Verizon’s networks form the backbone of the emerging artificial intelligence economy, delivering the infrastructure and expertise essential for businesses to fully harness AI’s potential. For over a decade, Verizon has integrated AI into its operations to optimize network performance and infrastructure, a commitment that will continue with the evolution of 6G. This will accelerate Verizon’s AI Connect strategy and intelligent edge capabilities, enabling businesses to manage real-time AI workloads at scale by leveraging Verizon’s comprehensive suite of solutions with its award-winning network.”
In 2015, well ahead of 5G commercialization, Verizon established the Verizon 5G Technical Forum alongside Cisco, Ericsson, Intel, LG, Nokia, Qualcomm, and Samsung. This work led to the pre-standard launch of a millimeter wave-based fixed wireless access service. Will history repeat as 6G comes into focus?
“I don’t think so,” Tenorio said. “The difference is we definitely want a single standard. We don’t want to deviate from the standards. One of the outcomes of this forum will be together we can drive the standard … If we identify changes that we need to make, we can drive them through 3GPP…I think it’s in everybody’s interest to keep the standard global and single. We will not deviate from that.”
He continued: “The good things that we would still want to do are be first like we were last time, to find a use case or two that excites the customer, and to put this in commercial service that means something for the customer.” Tenorio said showing a 6G icon for the sake of showing a 6G icon wouldn’t be enough.
For more on the outlook for the next generation of cellular, check out this new report, “Will 6G be an evolution or a revolution.”
