As the project celebrates the 25th anniversary of the signing of the 3GPP Project Agreement, the 3GPP Organizational Partners have today issued the following joint press release.

December 4, 2023 

With its work on 3G, 4G and 5G specifications used by billions of communications services consumers globally, 3GPP stands ready to create the 6G future.

3GPP Organizational Partners: ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSDSI, TTA and TTC today announced that 3GPP will develop the next generation of global communications specifications.  Based on its success over several technology generations — from 3G to 5G — 3GPP is uniquely positioned to develop the standard for the sixth generation of mobile systems or “6G”. The organization’s consensus-based process delivers the critical technical specifications that provide a complete system description for the mobile networks that billions of users depend on.

3GPP is currently at work on Release 18 and will soon begin development of Release 19 of its specifications, which relate to 5G-Advanced. However, delivery of a new mobile generation is a multi-year process. That is why the work for the 6G specifications is being planned well in advance. 5G brought increased interest in 3GPP, with the organization growing to meet the demands of more sectors and new services. Further growth may be expected as the needs of 6G use cases are considered in the standards development process.

Since its inception, 3GPP has successfully delivered on the promise of cellular communications. The Organizational Partners in the project now stand ready to embark on the planning for the next generation, 6G.

3GPP Partner Quotes

“Mobile communication systems have been positioned as an essential platform for our society and economy, and we believe this trend will further increase with 6G. For mobile communication systems from 3G to 5G, 3GPP has also worked with ITU to strongly promote standardization development all over the world. Through this commitment, the 3GPP organizational partners will work together to develop 6G which will bring more values to all of us with global standard.”

Seiji Nishioka, Executive Director, ARIB

“Mobile technology uniquely underpins innovation in many parts of society and the global economy. 3GPP’s ongoing 5G work delivers valuable technology for global customers. Further improvements through the 5G Advanced lifecycle will help ensure 5G’s operational importance. Looking forward, industry, users and government have expressed growing interest in 6G’s potential to not only deliver new services but to optimize existing ones. ATIS’ Next G Alliance has developed a comprehensive 6G roadmap for North America that will serve as a basis for our input to 3GPP global 6G standardization.”

Susan Miller, ATIS President and CEO

“Global harmonization of standards is the foundation to the success of the mobile communication industry. 3GPP has developed international standards from 3G to 5G，creating significant economical and societal values to the world. With strong commitment from partners, 3GPP will continuously drive the successful development of 6G global harmonized standards.”

Wen Ku，CCSA Board Chair

“Success is something that we must work to maintain. Our future success is best served by the partner’s commitment to making 3GPP fit-for-purpose for the next phase of the system’s development. Our early commitment to this cause is a strong marker for the exciting road ahead – towards 6G.”

Luis Jorge Romero, ETSI Director General

“With 5G networks rapidly rolling out, global research into technologies that will support emerging use cases for the next generation of mobile communications is already underway. Over its two-and-a-half-decade journey, 3GPP has seen an ever-growing number of stakeholders consistently expressing high confidence in its ability to deliver impeccable mobile communication standards across multiple generations. Consequently, 3GPP stands as the natural choice for all stakeholders to come together and collaborate on the development of 6G standards.”

N. G. Subramaniam, Chair, TSDSI

“Today signifies a historic milestone in the journey towards 6G for digital transformation. With the release of this unified commitment, we, the 3GPP partners, reaffirm our dedication to driving the advancement of 6G standardization, which will pave the way for a new era of sustainability and technological innovation. Let's come together with 3GPP to shape the 6G standard.”

KyoungCheol Koo, TTA Vice President

“Mobile communications technology underpins people's lives and social and economic activities around the world. By developing the international standards for mobile communications, from one generation to the next, 3GPP has made enormous contributions to global mobile networks, helping to create better societies and improve people's welfare.

Moving towards 6G, we the 3GPP partners, reassert our commitment to developing 6G standards that will enable wider uses of more innovative technologies in various aspects of the society. We hope that stakeholders across the globe will join 3GPP’s 6G standardization activities.” 

Hideyuki Iwata, President, Director General, TTC

Notes to editors

The Partners - Organizational Partners are the seven regional and national standards development organizations that determine the general policy and strategy of 3GPP and perform the necessary tasks to keep the project on track (See https://www.3gpp.org/about-us/partners).

Industry members join the project via their membership of one or more of these OPs.