Swedish telecom gear-maker Ericsson on Saturday announced setting up a 6G research and development (R&D) centre in Chennai. 

Ericsson is also looking to partner with other premier engineering institutes in India for 6G-related research. 

“This R&D centre in India is a small unit which will become bigger. We only have three in the world – one in Sweden, second in the US and the third one in India. They are all cooperating in 6G-based research,” Ericsson’s Head of Market Area Southeast Asia, Oceania, and India Nunzio Mirtillo said at India Mobile Congress. 

Ericsson’s rival Nokia has already set up a 6G lab in Bengaluru about two weeks ago. 

India’s vision to have ubiquitous coverage under 6G technology has been accepted by UN body ITU’s Study Group in its meeting held in Geneva – a move that is expected to reduce the cost of deployment of the next-generation technology. 

ITU is responsible for developing international mobile telecommunication standards. 

During his inaugural address of India Mobile Congress 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that India was not only expanding the 5G network in the country but would also take the lead in 6G technology.