What mobile networks standardize today, what the next generation keeps, and which ideas are still being argued over.
Current evidence window
June 2026 plenaries
This edition is based on the June 2026 evidence set and states its source maturity explicitly.
Two generations, two maturity models
A meeting can adopt a 6G study result without creating a normative 6G standard. The monitor keeps those states separate.
01 · In service
Standardized and evolving
5G is a deployed standards family, not a finished one. Its radio and core baseline is stable; current work concentrates on AI-assisted radio, Ambient IoT, satellite access, energy use and operational refinement.
02 · In development
Study agreements, not yet a normative standard
6G is taking shape through explicit choices about what to reuse from 5G, what to extend and what complexity not to carry forward. The current picture is a study baseline with unresolved branches, not a finished specification.
Comparable definitions only
| Parameter | 5G standard | 6G study baseline |
|---|---|---|
| Theoretical peak data rate | 20 / 10 Gbit/s Downlink / uplink target under the evaluation assumptions in TR 38.913. | 36 / 18 Gbit/s Downlink / uplink requirement in the current 6G scenarios report. |
| Connection density | 10⁶ devices/km² Massive machine-type communication target; this is not user density. | 10⁶ devices/km² Massive IoT requirement; this is device density, not a typical number of people. |
| Radio latency target | 1 ms User-plane URLLC target under defined radio conditions, not general end-to-end latency. | 1 ms A service-specific radio target under defined assumptions, not end-to-end latency. |
| Basic waveform | CP-OFDM · CP-OFDM or DFT-s-OFDM Downlink · uplink. The uplink can trade flexibility for lower peak-to-average power. | CP-OFDM · CP-OFDM or DFT-s-OFDM Downlink · uplink. The basic waveform remains an evolution of 5G NR. |
Latest evidence window
The scenarios report now carries scenario-specific minimum values rather than only broad ambitions.
CP-OFDM stays in the downlink and CP-OFDM or DFT-s-OFDM stays in the uplink. More elaborate uplink variants need further evidence.
LDPC and Polar remain the baseline. A new LDPC graph survives only as a conditional option for higher data rates.
The meeting received opposing proposals and did not settle whether a narrowed shaping study should continue.
Phones entering connected mode will receive the early CSI configuration through SIB1; dynamic MSG4 parameters were rejected.
The monitor combines frozen specifications, active work and meeting decisions. Outcome and standard maturity are deliberately separate: “adopted” does not always mean “normative specification”.
Commercial deployment is not tracked in this version. Every factual row links to a specification or meeting document so the editorial interpretation can be checked.