The European Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking has tapped Finnish telecommunications solutions provider Nokia to lead the SUSTAIN-6G lighthouse project, a European Commission-funded initiative to identify ways 6G could provide a better future.
Under the deal, the Espoo, Finland-based firm will lead a group of innovators to explore potential uses of the next-generation telecom technology to meet the project’s three main goals:
- explore the viability of 6G to create microgrids that manage electricity demand,
- use 6G in efforts aimed at making digital health more inclusive, and
- identify possible uses of 6G to enable smart agricultural applications.
Nokia Standards Vice President Peter Merz highlighted the initiative’s contribution to the UN Paris Agreement’s work addressing climate change. “SUSTAIN-6G will show how the communications industry will apply the next generation of networking to creating that sustainable future, overcoming not just environmental challenges but societal and economic challenges,” he said.
Nokia has been focusing on producing energy-efficient software and hardware. In January, the Finnish company disclosed plans to increase its investments in two German facilities to boost European microelectronics manufacturing.