September 23 News – The global 6G standardization process has reached a critical milestone.
At the 3GPP Services and Systems Aspects Technical Specification Group (SA) plenary meeting #109, the “Study on 6G System Billing” project, led by the China Telecom Research Institute, was officially approved.
This marks the first international standards project focusing on 6G billing within the 3GPP framework, representing China’s breakthrough in spearheading core 6G standard development.
As the first 6G billing project in 3GPP, this initiative will design new billing models for 6G’s novel services. This includes exploring new 6G billing business models and metrics, researching cross-network, cross-service, and cross-resource billing architectures and mechanisms for 6G, and developing feasible billing solutions for key 6G services like AI, Integrated Sensing and Communication, and space-terrestrial integration.
China Telecom highlighted that 2025 will be the inaugural year for 6G standards, with 3GPP fully entering the 6G technology research phase. Globally unified technical standards are fundamental for building the 6G ecosystem, achieving large-scale industrial application, and ensuring sustainable development.
Reportedly, 6G is a future-oriented mobile communication system, not merely a linear upgrade from 5G.
Compared to 5G, 6G will enhance three traditional capabilities—communication speed, connection density, and reliability—while also enabling innovative integration with three new elements: satellites, sensing (similar to radar), and AI.
This will break through the boundaries of traditional communications, expanding 5G’s “triangle of capabilities” into a “hexagon of capabilities.”