Officials at the White House are scheduled to meet on April 28 with business leaders and academics to discuss strategies for building out sixth generation %6GWirelessNetworks.
While 6G technology remains years away from reaching consumers, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has said it wants to re-establish America as a leader in wireless internet connectivity and beat rival China when it comes to the rollout of next generation networks.
The White House has said that wireless internet capabilities are increasingly important to national security and the U.S. economy.
The upcoming meeting at the White House will look at lessons learned from the rollout of current 5G wireless networks and apply those learnings to the development of a national 6G network.
Current 5G wireless technologies offer better speeds, reliability, and less lag time than previous generations of internet connectivity, paving the way for everything from new surgical procedures and more immersive video games to the rise of %ArtificialIntelligence (A.I.).
Although the 5G rollout in the U.S. is mostly complete, consumer adoption lags behind 4G internet in the country.
Data from ABI Research shows that more than 270 million subscribers still use 4G connectivity in the U.S. compared to 170 million 5G subscribers.
The low adoption rate stems from the fact that 5G network infrastructure developed slower than expected, and consumers have been reluctant to pay a premium for better internet service.
White House officials have said that they expect 6G wireless to combine elements such as A.I., advanced software, cloud computing and advanced semiconductors to support faster and more efficient applications in healthcare, energy and agriculture.