With the commercial roll-out of 6G networks and services expected over the next two to three years, US comms provider Verizon has accelerated its 6G development plans with the formal expansion of its 6G Innovation Forum (6GIF), and revealed it has been working with Samsung to take a key 6G technology out of the lab and into a live real-world environment.
Looking at the former, nine new technology industry leaders – Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cisco, Intel, Keysight Technologies, MediaTek, Nvidia, Palo Alto Networks, Rohde & Schwarz, and Viavi Solutions – have officially joined the 6GIF, launched in 2025, to establish what Verizon says will be an open, diversified and resilient 6G ecosystem and develop foundational 6G technologies.
The forum’s founding members include Ericsson, Samsung, Nokia, Meta and Qualcomm Technologies, with the mission of focusing on unlocking the full potential of 6G by trailing new use cases, testing new spectrum bands and bandwidth, and ensuring global alignment with global standards bodies such as the 3GPP.
The arrival of the nine new members will inject critical multi-disciplinary capabilities across cloud services, advanced silicon and accelerated computing, independent automated test emulation, network security, and immersive device graphics simulation.
“By expanding our Innovation Forum and refining live edge-AI trials today, we are ensuring the AI-native 6G network is built from day one to scale 5G Advanced capabilities and translate these next-generation technologies into meaningful, real-world experiences for our customers,” said Verizon chief technology officer and senior vice-president of technology development Yago Tenorio.
“With 6G, our collaborative objective is fundamentally bottom-up and use-case-driven. We are designing the next generation of connectivity with a specific target already in mind: enabling and scaling AI workloads and the massive AI ecosystem – particularly the emerging class of AI-enabled wearables like untethered smart glasses, as well as pioneering integrated sensing and communication [Isac] technologies.”
In a bid to move 6G from theoretical discussion into practical reality, Verizon has completed what it describes as successful recent field trials with founding members Samsung and Qualcomm, targeting Isac use cases.
Isac is essentially designed to transform a cellular network into a large, distributed radar-like sensor without the need for physical cameras. Using 5G Advanced capabilities, the companies explored how Isac could support public safety, environmental awareness and event management, creating a path to evolve these capabilities with 6G.
Verizon regards the project with Samsung as fundamentally demonstrating how future mobile networks could simultaneously provide connectivity and sense what is happening around them to improve public safety and visitor experiences.
Taking advantage of an international football fan event in Dallas in August 2026, the companies ran Isac trials over virtualised RAN (vRAN). The trial took place against the backdrop of what was called significant network preparation for the event, with Samsung and Verizon completing macro network upgrades to increase capacity by 3-5x ahead of an expected 80,000 visitors.
Using Samsung’s commercial AI-powered vRAN and vCore, an Isac application integrated into its network in a server edge-AI platform, and a radio unit mounted on Verizon’s COW, the system analysed variations in 5G wireless signals to create a crowd density heat map that changed in near-real time as people moved around the venue.
Among the findings of the trial, attendees could identify less congested facilities and services during the event while organisers were able to understand crowd distribution and deploy resources more effectively where they were needed most. Security and public safety organisations were able to identify emerging overcrowding risks and intervene earlier.
Beyond the use case itself, Verizon said the trial demonstrates the longer-term potential of software-driven networks. That is, Samsung and Verizon were able to introduce Isac using commercial 5G offerings and validate its ability to operate on Verizon’s existing vRAN network foundation. This, said the operator, illustrated how investments in vRAN could provide greater flexibility to introduce emerging technologies on the path toward 6G. In what it said was an important facet, Verizon added that the technology measures overall crowd density, and does not identify individual people or obtain information about their identities.
Drone and vehicle safety tracking
With Qualcomm, Verizon tested drone and vehicle safety tracking. Conducted at Qualcomm’s San Diego campus, the trial demonstrated the network’s ability to seamlessly multitask.
Using 100 to 400MHz of millimetre-wave spectrum and four synchronised transmission and reception points, the system is said to have successfully mapped and tracked the position and velocity of an airborne target and moving ground vehicles.
Notably, the network maintained radar-like tracking of the drone while simultaneously providing uninterrupted, high-speed 5G standalone mobile communications to a phone user on the ground. This highlights 6G’s potential to provide the foundational, secure tracking infrastructure required for future autonomous drone safety.
