Ericsson Conducts First Live 6G Trial
Ericsson conducted the world's first live 6G trial in Texas, demonstrating the technology's ability to power AI robotics and real-time video streaming. The test utilized new 6G centimeter wave spectrum and a cloud-native infrastructure. This milestone positions the U.S. at the forefront of developing AI-native 6G capabilities.
The over-the-air 6G trial, announced on February 27, 2026, was conducted at Ericsson's North American headquarters in Plano, Texas. This milestone in pre-standard 6G system development showcased an end-to-end architecture that is both cloud-native and designed for artificial intelligence from the ground up. The demonstration utilized the centimeter wave (cmWave) spectrum, specifically within the 7GHz range, with a carrier bandwidth of 400 MHz. This part of the spectrum is seen as a key component for 6G, offering a balance of wide-area coverage and high data capacity, which will be essential for future applications. "6G will be foundational to how artificial intelligence scales across society and will be critical to the national security, economic prosperity, and global competitiveness of the United States," said Börje Ekholm, President and CEO of Ericsson. He emphasized that completing the trial in the U.S. is tangible proof of the nation's leadership in advanced wireless innovation. While this trial represents a significant step, the commercial deployment of 6G networks is anticipated to occur around 2030. The development of 6G is seen by industry leaders not as a complete replacement of 5G, but rather as a gradual evolution of the existing cloud-based architecture of 5G and 5G Advanced. The trial specifically demonstrated the network's ability to support cloud-hosted AI-powered robotics requiring instantaneous and highly reliable connections for real-time control. This points to a future where complex AI processing for autonomous systems and industrial automation happens in the network, rather than entirely on the device itself. Ericsson is also collaborating with other major tech companies to advance the 6G ecosystem. Joint efforts with partners like Apple and MediaTek are focused on demonstrating capabilities such as spectrum sharing between 5G and 6G. Additionally, collaborations with Qualcomm are centered on prototyping AI and augmented reality experiences on new device types. The move towards 6G includes a focus on Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC), a technology that allows the network to "sense" its surroundings. In a separate proof of concept in Plano, Ericsson demonstrated how this could be used for drone detection, showcasing how future networks could provide wide-area awareness for safety and industrial applications. Future 6G network equipment developed from these trials will be manufactured at Ericsson's USA 5G Smart Factory in Lewisville, Texas. This facility, a $150 million investment, already produces 5G radios and supports a resilient domestic supply chain for critical telecommunications infrastructure.
