T-Mobile discusses its 6G ambitions

In September, T-Mobile announced partnerships with NVIDIA, Ericsson and Nokia to invest in its AI-RAN (radio access network) Innovation Center to transform network experiences and lay the groundwork for the future. The company has now revealed more about how it will work with NVIDIA to be at the forefront of 6G development and innovation.T-Mobile  doesn’t just want to utilize AI to advance its 5G leadership position but also to stay ahead of the curve in 6G. The company had previously said that AI-RAN would improve real-world network experiences and help bring faster speeds and reduced latency to customers. AI-RAN would do this, the company explained, by leveraging data points to create algorithms to come up with optimal network adjustments for the best performance.The AI-RAN Innovation Center aims to work with the AI-RAN Alliance, of which NVIDIA, Ericsson, Nokia and T-Mobile are founding members. The consortium wants to use AI to enhance RAN performance and “propel the telecom industry towards 6G.”

During the company’s quarterly conference call, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said that its AI partnership would disproportionately benefit its customers. He explained that AI would help with the efficient rollout of 6G and the company would work with Nvidia and other partners on the sixth generation of wireless networks.

At Nvidia’s AI Summit which was recently held in Washington, DC, T-Mobile‘s CTO John Saw said that AI is going to be critical for 6G development, and with its partners, the company will figure out how to get there.

He also said that the AI-RAN Alliance may also work with 3GPP, which develops protocols for cellular communication, in the future.

Saw expects AI-RAN Alliance’s efforts to be ready in time for 6G deployment, which is expected around 2030.

T-Mobile is going to put Nvidia’s GPUs into its cell sites and this could allow it to run AI applications directly on its network, opening up the opportunity to sell AI-fueled services.

NVIDIA’s GPU may also help the company bypass the computational limitations in the CPUs it’s currently using, supercharging the network.

Whether the use of NVIDIA’s GPU will lead to an increase in price for customers remains to be seen. After all, NVIDIA has positioned the initiative as a way to not only boost wireless network operations but also to make more money. The answer lies years in the future.

Mike Sievert, T-Mobile CEO, October 2024