On May 2nd, 2022, the Beyond 5G Promotion Consortium (President: GONOKAMI Makoto) and 6G Smart Networks and Services Industry Association (Chairperson: Colin Willcock) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Beyond 5G / 6G.

Ⅰ. Background of MoU

The Beyond 5G Promotion Consortium (B5PC) have promoted the appeal of Japanese Beyond 5G / 6G approaches, and its International Committee of the Beyond 5G Promotion Consortium (chaired by NAKAO Akihiro) has been actively working towards collaboration activities with countries and organizations outside of Japan.

The 6G Smart Networks and Services Industry Association (6G-IA) is the voice of European Industry and Research for next generation networks and services. Its primary objective is to contribute to Europe’s leadership on beyond 5G and 6G research and to full 5G deployment according to the 5G Action Plan. The 6G-IA carries out a wide range of activities in strategic areas including standardization, frequency spectrum, R&D projects, technology skills, collaboration with key vertical industry sectors, notably for the development of trials, and international cooperation.

Today, 5GPC and 6G-IA have agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to further promote cooperation on Beyond 5G /6G.

This Memorandum of Understanding is the first to be signed between the Beyond 5G / 6G related organizations from Japan and Europe.

Ⅱ. Areas of Cooperation

Here are the areas of cooperation, following the Memorandum of Understanding.

1. Exchange of information
2. Cooperation in following matters
   • Vision of 6G
   • Technology exploitation and dissemination to ensure awareness, understanding and involvement and finally adoption
   • Requirements on 6G
   • Discussions on basic system concepts, architecture and use cases
   • Support for global regulatory process in identification of Frequency bands and spectrum arrangement for 6G technologies
   • Identification of common interest, building of consensus and collaboration to support development of globally harmonised standards
   • Promoting cooperation among European and Japanese R&D organizations and industries
   • Use cases of 6G and other topics.

Ⅲ. Further steps

Both 5GPC and 6G-IA seek to co-host webinars or investigate joint research projects, based on this MoU. Moreover, both will continue to explore further collaboration opportunities with other countries and organization.