Asia-Pacific bets on upper 6 GHz for 6G, but uplink may not keep up

Asia-Pacific mobile traffic could grow from 90 exabytes a month in 2025 to between 420 and 720 exabytes a month by 2040, according to three new reports from the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) that map the region's preparations for 6G. The reports, published by the APT Wireless Group, cover potential IMT-2030/6G use cases, mobile traffic trends and the technical characteristics of IMT in the 6425–7125 MHz band. Together they show regulators across the region issuing trial frequencies, amending national allocation tables and setting pilot-service dates.

The report on the 6425–7125 MHz band notes that "interest has been growing among APT Members in the possible use of this frequency band, or portions thereof". It concludes that the band "is expected to play an important role in supporting the evolution of IMT systems, especially when 6G is on the horizon".

Why is the uplink a bottleneck?

The traffic report flags a structural problem. Networks have long been dimensioned for heavy downloads, but the report says "this historical asymmetry is beginning to change". Citing Ericsson, it reports that 43 of 55 operators saw uplink traffic grow faster than downlink in 2025. It estimates that AI could push uplink traffic in 2031 to between two and five times its 2025 level.

"Future mobile devices may increasingly act not only as consumers of network content, but also as continuous producers of data describing their physical environment," the report says.

The APT stresses this "does not imply that overall mobile networks will become uplink-dominated", but that uplink "may increasingly become a limiting factor for new services". Spectrum planning and network dimensioning, it argues, "should increasingly consider uplink capacity, coverage and flexibility".

That warning sits uneasily beside the channel arrangements agreed in 3GPP. The APT report states that "all 3GPP technical specifications for the upper 6 GHz have been standardized and are ready for commercialization". In March 2026, 3GPP agreed on a maximum channel of 400 MHz in the downlink and 200 MHz in the uplink at 6-7 GHz. The APT recommends "a block of 200-400 MHz per mobile network operator".

How fast is traffic actually growing?

The traffic report gives detailed national figures:

• Japan's mobile traffic grew about 2.6-fold in the five years after 5G launched in March 2020.
• South Korea's traffic reached about 1.53 exabytes in June 2026, roughly 2.2 times the December 2020 level, with 5G having taken over from 4G as the dominant generation.
• China's mobile internet traffic hit 395.8 billion gigabytes in 2025, up 17.3% year on year.
• Thailand's growth was slower, at about 5.5% per year between 2022 and 2025.

The report concludes that national traffic "has increased at annual rates ranging from approximately 5% to 15-20%".

A regional patchwork at upper 6 GHz

Despite the growing interest, the band's regulatory status remains uneven. At WRC-23, the full 6425-7125 MHz band was identified for mobile in Region 1, covering Europe, Africa and parts of the Middle East. In Asia-Pacific, only the top 100 MHz (7025-7125 MHz) was identified region-wide. The lower part of the band was identified in just three countries: Cambodia, Laos and the Maldives. The report notes that other countries in the region "could propose adding their names" to that list.

Several have not waited for WRC-27. China added a national footnote to its 2023 frequency allocation table identifying the whole band for "IMT 5G/6G". The report says this "stabilized 5G/6G industry expectations" and promoted harmonisation of "the most valuable 5G/6G necessary mid-band spectrum". Vietnam followed suit in 2025, identifying the band "or a portion thereof" for mobile.

Australia split the band in December 2024. It reserved 6585-7100 MHz for mobile, gave 6425-6585 MHz to wifi and other radio local area networks, and kept 7100-7125 MHz for TV outside broadcast. The Australian regulator plans a consultation on the licensing approach in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Test evidence is accumulating. "Up until the beginning of 2026, the IMT industry has conducted field trials in at least 9 countries in collaboration with local operators, with more than 20 macro-cellular trials completed," the report says.

Who has trial licences and pilot dates?

In May 2026, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology granted the country's IMT-2030 (6G) Group a licence to use 6 GHz trial frequencies in certain regions. The 6G report says "the approval of these 6G trial frequencies will strongly propel the high-quality development of China's 6G".

China is now in the second phase of a three-phase trial programme, with tests of "6G pre-commercial equipment" due between 2027 and 2030. Its research effort "has resulted in a reserve of over 300 key 6G technologies". A 2025 trial in the 6 GHz band reached "a 10Gbps downlink peak rate" using 400 MHz of spectrum.

In June 2026, the ministry also launched a joint pilot programme with provincial governments. By 2029, it aims at "forming a batch of self-innovated 6G technological solutions, cultivating a group of promising new business application scenarios, and bringing forth a variety of novel terminal products".

South Korea has set out the most precise timetable. Its Ministry of Science and ICT plans "to hold the 'Pre-6G Vision Fest' in 2026, pursue a 6G pilot service at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, and target full commercialization around 2030". It also intends to deploy more than 500 AI-enabled radio network nodes at major industrial and service hubs by 2030. South Korea's research programme is planning for very large antenna arrays in the 7-24 GHz range.

In Japan, SoftBank has been running an outdoor trial of the 7 GHz band in Ginza, central Tokyo, since June 2025, comparing it with commercial 5G base stations at 3.9 GHz. The results "indicate that the 7 GHz band can help meet 6G requirements in dense urban environments by supporting both high-capacity transmission and wide-area coverage". Japan has also put rules in place for high-altitude platform stations, with two companies planning commercial services "in a phased manner from 2026 onward".

The first 6G standards are due in 3GPP Release 21 in March 2029, while the adjacent 7125-8400 MHz band is being studied for possible mobile identification at WRC-27. Whether uplink capacity gets the same attention as downlink bandwidth by then may decide how much of the region's 6G traffic forecast the upper 6 GHz band can actually carry.