With the commercial roll-out of 6G networks and services expected over the next two to three years, US comms provider Verizon has accelerated its 6G development plans with the formal expansion of its 6G Innovation Forum (6GIF), and revealed it has been working with Samsung to take a key 6G technology out of the lab and into a live real-world environment.

Looking at the former, nine new technology industry leaders – Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cisco, Intel, Keysight Technologies, MediaTek, Nvidia, Palo Alto Networks, Rohde & Schwarz, and Viavi Solutions – have officially joined the 6GIF, launched in 2025, to establish what Verizon says will be an open, diversified and resilient 6G ecosystem and develop foundational 6G technologies.

The forum’s founding members include Ericsson, Samsung, Nokia, Meta and Qualcomm Technologies, with the mission of focusing on unlocking the full potential of 6G by trailing new use cases, testing new spectrum bands and bandwidth, and ensuring global alignment with global standards bodies such as the 3GPP.

The arrival of the nine new members will inject critical multi-disciplinary capabilities across cloud services, advanced silicon and accelerated computing, independent automated test emulation, network security, and immersive device graphics simulation.

“By expanding our Innovation Forum and refining live edge-AI trials today, we are ensuring the AI-native 6G network is built from day one to scale 5G Advanced capabilities and translate these next-generation technologies into meaningful, real-world experiences for our customers,” said Verizon chief technology officer and senior vice-president of technology development Yago Tenorio.

“With 6G, our collaborative objective is fundamentally bottom-up and use-case-driven. We are designing the next generation of connectivity with a specific target already in mind: enabling and scaling AI workloads and the massive AI ecosystem – particularly the emerging class of AI-enabled wearables like untethered smart glasses, as well as pioneering integrated sensing and communication [Isac] technologies.”

In a bid to move 6G from theoretical discussion into practical reality, Verizon has completed what it describes as successful recent field trials with founding members Samsung and Qualcomm, targeting Isac use cases.

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Verizon furthers forum for 6G development

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