Ericsson kept the heat on in a bid to be a frontrunner in 6G technology, though separately detailed a move at the recent FIA Formula 1 race in Japan showing it is keeping 5G firmly in its sights.

The vendor stated work to optimise RAN energy consumption under the Intention 6G programme is now at a mid-point. The initiative is a €12 million move contributing to decarbonisation targets set in the France 2030 scheme and is co-funded by domestic bank Bpifrance.

Ericsson explained the project targets delivering optimal RAN energy use while still meeting the needs of 5G and 6G traffic.

AI is playing a central role, driving work involving automating network functions, dynamic energy use and developing infrastructure which can adapt power consumption by itself.

Hitting the mid-point in the development means the focus of Intention 6G is now switching to defining the initial “building blocks”, Ericsson explained.

Christian Leon, head of Ericsson Western Europe, said the project is an example of how its French R&D centre is collaborating with domestic companies to develop networks capable of delivering “tomorrow’s critical use cases and digital transformations”.

French government information explains France 2030 is a €54 billion investment programme covering decarbonisation through technological innovation and promoting companies in key industrial sectors.

Ericsson emphasised the research programme demonstrates the benefits of broad collaboration brought about through public-private partnerships.

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The vendor today (17 June) separately detailed a trial of standalone 5G its Japanese unit completed with SoftBank Corp during the FIA Formula 1 Grand Prix held at the Suzuka Circuit in March.

Ericsson Japan and SoftBank employed five independent network slices, one of which involved mmWave to boost connectivity at the venue, a set-up the vendor explained enabled quality to be optimised for specific use cases.

The pair deployed tri-band Massive MIMO equipment and various mmWave radios, along with conducting “detailed network design”, all of which upped downlink data rates by 4.1-times and uplink 14.6-times over those SoftBank users received at the event in 2025.

Some base stations employed self-tuning to tweak the performance of individual network slices based on a quality measurement taken every minute.

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