Telia and Ericsson Begin Pre-Standard 6G Over-the-Air Trials in Sweden

Telia and Ericsson announced on 2 November that they have begun over-the-air tests of pre-standard 6G in Sweden, running in the upper 6 GHz band. Ericsson describes the work as one of the Nordic region's first over-the-air demonstrations of pre-standard 6G technology.

The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding alongside the trials. The agreement commits them to developing 6G with industry, academia, startups and public-sector partners, and covers national test environments including Digital Arena Sweden.

What are the trials actually testing?

According to Telia's release, the trials measure coverage, signal performance, uplink capacity, reliability and latency. The choice of the upper 6 GHz band is deliberate: Ericsson says the band is intended to give networks wider channels, room for more traffic and a sturdier uplink.

The uplink focus marks a departure from how mobile networks have been built. Networks have traditionally been designed around downloading, which suited consumers streaming video and scrolling feeds. AI applications and real-time video reverse that pattern, because data must travel from the device to the network first.

Telia lists three candidate applications for the technology:

• self-driving transport
• industrial robotics
• monitoring of critical infrastructure

The operator says 6G will combine connectivity, AI, distributed computing and sensing. These are use cases where a delayed or dropped upload causes real operational problems, not just a buffering icon.

When cell masts double as radar

A separate demonstration showed the second early use case. Modified 5G radios tracked multiple drones in real time, capturing location, velocity and elevation data. The technique is known as integrated sensing and communication: the network carries data as usual while also functioning as a form of radar.

Ericsson treats the drone demonstration as distinct from the 6G field trials, because it ran on 5G hardware. The company says it will support continued development and testing of pre-standard 6G capabilities. The commercial appeal is straightforward. A network that can detect what is flying overhead gives a second job to equipment already carrying calls and data, and it fits the critical-infrastructure monitoring Telia has flagged.

What does this change for the 6G timeline?

Not much yet, and the operators are candid about it. Telia says partners in its NorthStar innovation programme should gain access to initial 6G capabilities from 2029, with commercial rollout anticipated between 2030 and 2032. Ericsson's own announcement gives no commercial date at all. The vendor frames 6G as an evolution built on 5G Standalone, 5G Advanced, network APIs and AI-based automation.

The standard itself is not final, which is the point of pre-standard testing. The trials are designed to produce hard operational performance numbers, giving engineering teams firm ground while specifications are still being written. Nothing on show is a finished product.

Startups and security in from the start

The memorandum names startups explicitly alongside industry, academia and public-sector partners. National test environments such as Digital Arena Sweden are where early ideas for upload-heavy AI tools or network-based sensing can be tried on real equipment before the standard settles.

Security is on the agenda from the outset. The partners will study security, resilience and energy efficiency, and Telia plans to convene stakeholders on a national 6G security architecture, with cybersecurity built in from the start. A network that carries sensitive data while also watching the sky will have plenty to protect.

Telia and Ericsson will also assess future spectrum needs, including the 6 GHz and 600 MHz bands. Those assessments will determine how much room these applications get once they leave the trial sites. Over the coming years, the trials will show which ideas become paid products and which remain in the demonstration room.