Finnish company Nokia announced it will invest €360 million in software, hardware, and chip design for 5G-Advanced and 6G technologies. The project will happen in its Ulm and Nuremberg sites in Germany.
According to Nokia, the R&D effort will focus on the integrated development of software, hardware and high-performance systems-on-chips based on a digital twin.
Another priority is the energy efficiency of the systems to support European climate targets under the European Green Deal. Nokia is cooperating with research institutes and universities to achieve this, and it is expecting to strengthen this relationship with the new investments.
“This important funding will support our efforts to advance the telecommunications industry in Germany and Europe, helping to drive innovation and strengthen competitiveness,” said Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, in a press statement.
“In particular, it will help our research into microelectronics that will power future technologies such as 6G, artificial intelligence and the metaverse, as well as develop networks that are more energy-efficient and powerful. Germany is an important market for Nokia, and we look forward to working with the government to produce cutting-edge technology that is ‘Made in Germany’.”
The program is a four-year European IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest) project, which is being funded by Nokia, the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK), and the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.
A 6G Shift
The announcement is part of a movement to position Nokia as a leader in future communications.
At last year’s MWC Barcelona, Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO of Nokia, unveiled that 6G is one of the company’s priorities for the coming decade.
Petter Vetter, President of Nokia Bell Labs Core Research, was another one to voice the will to take early leadership in 6G.
“As a company, we very much bet on 6G. I mean, it’s the core of our business. We have 5G, but let’s admit it: we were late with the 5G. We caught up well, and we are now ahead in several performance angles. But we don’t want to lose out on 6G,” he said in an interview with 6GWorld in 2023.
“So already now, our research is in sync with the business group, and the business group is already working with us, ten years ahead.”
