'6G Will Be A Network That Thinks': Ashwini Vaishnaw At NDTV World Summit

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared India's 6G plans and what this next-generation technology can do in an interaction with NDTV's Vishnu Som at the NDTV World Summit in Delhi today.

The Union IT Minister said 6G will be a totally different network from 5G and 4G, or any previous generation networks, so to look at 6G from a traditional point of view will not be accurate.

"... Till 2G there was a totally different architecture, then 3G was built upon that. 4G was a significantly different architecture, and 5G was built upon 4G. 6G will be absolutely totally a new way of thinking where the network is thinking on itself," Vaishnaw said on Day 2 of the NDTV World Summit.

"6G becomes a software-defined network which is persistently available in the entire system. Today, if you think of a network then there is a tower and there is a mobile device. Tomorrow, anything which you hold in your hand will be part of that network," he added.

India has taken a good lead in 6G research, Vaishnaw said, and cited the formation of the 6G Council in close coordination with the industry and the academia.

"It is absolutely driven by industry and academia, and I think by now we would have - I'm no longer in charge of the telecom ministry - some 60 odd patents for 6G and that number is growing very rapidly," Vaishnaw said.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently met Qualcomm chief Cristiano R Amon and discussed, among other topics, India's transition to 6G. The semiconductor giant chief, too, had said 6G will deploy "sensing networks" which is going to be incredibly important for the age of AI, apart from providing faster and cheaper communication.

The Bharat 6G Alliance is a partnership of domestic industry, academia, national research institutions and standards organisations facilitated by the government. The B6GA is expected to chart its own course of action based on some of these matters: to help grow 5G advanced/6G IPs and essential patents from India; design and build Indian 5G advanced/6G products and solutions, and help build consortia of Indian startups and companies, among others.

About NDTV World Summit 2025

NDTV World Summit 2025 is centred around the theme 'Edge of the Unknown: Risk. Resolve. Renewal.' The two-day gathering is an invitation to venture beyond boundaries and borders - to explore the unfamiliar in pursuit of a more conscious, collective future.

The 2025 edition of the NDTV World Summit brings together an extraordinary gathering of minds - heads of state, cultural icons, business architects, innovators, and voices of moral imagination to engage in a new kind of dialogue. One rooted in courageous questioning, in thoughtful exploration of what it means to navigate complexity with clarity and conscience.