Nokia to lead German 6G lighthouse project

Nokia will collaborate with the 29 partners in 6G-ANNA to lead and drive 6G research and standardization.

Funding for 6G-ANNA will come from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF), with an aim of strengthening and pushing German and European 6G agendas and driving global pre-standardization activities from a German and European perspective. 6G-ANNA is part of the larger “6G Platform German” national initiative and has a total volume of €38.4 million with a duration of three years.

Nokia will work closely with the consortium, which includes partners from industry, subject matter experts, start-ups, research institutes and distinguished universities in Germany.

Nokia will play an instrumental role in both 6G-ANNA and Germany’s wider 6G ecosystem. Within 6G-ANNA, Nokia will focus on designing an end-to-end 6G architecture and work with other project partners on three key technology areas: 6G access, network of networks, and automation and simplification. Selected topics such as sub-networks, XR, and real-time digital twinning will be implemented and presented as proof of concepts.

In addition, Nokia will interact with the German ecosystem, including four academic “6G Hubs” with more than 60 university chairs. Beyond Germany, 6G-ANNA aims to interact with other major 6G flagship projects in Europe and the U.S. to shape global 6G standards.

Peter Merz, Head of Nokia Standards, said: “We are honored to lead 6G-ANNA, the most important government-funded 6G lighthouse project in Germany. While the first 6G networks are not expected to be commercially available before 2030, we are already laying the technical foundation with 5G-Advanced, as well as long-term innovation that will drive 6G developments.”