The European Commission (EC) selected Nokia to lead the second phase of a flagship 6G project to create a pre-standardised platform and overall system view.

Nokia stated Hexa-X-II is due to begin in January 2023 and run for two-and-a-half years.

The second-phase of the EC-funded research project represents “the full value chain for future connectivity solutions”. Nokia will lead a consortium of 44 companies and organisations including network equipment vendors, operators, vertical and technology providers, which will work along with prominent European communications research institutes.

Nokia explained the goal of both rounds of Hexa research is ““to establish Europe as a leader in 6G”.

The vendor also led the first-phase of the programme, which was unveiled in 2020 with a focus on use cases, developing underlying technologies and defining the potential architecture for 6G technology.

Ericsson was named technical manager for Hexa-X-II.

Orange, Telecom Italia, Technische Universitat Dresden, the University of Oulu, and IT companies Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre and Atos will coordinate various work packages including radio evolution and innovation, future devices and flexible infrastructure, smart network management and values, and requirements and ecosystem.

Peter Vetter, president of Nokia’s Bell Labs core research, stated the “digital, physical and human worlds will become far more integrated” in the 6G era and its “goals must reflect this level of integration and inter-dependency”.

The Hexa-X-II consortium plans to focus on sustainability, inclusion and trustworthiness.