KDDI Research and Nokia Bell Labs Sign Joint Research Agreement for Future 6G Deployment

November 6, 2025
KDDI Research, Inc.
Nokia Bell Labs

KDDI Research Inc. ("KDDI Research"), and Nokia Bell Labs have entered into a joint research agreement (hereinafter referred to as "the Agreement") to conduct research and demonstration experiments aimed at the real-world deployment of 6G. The agreement was signed on November 5, 2025.

As discussions on 6G standardization have started, led by 3GPP, and technological development is accelerating worldwide, KDDI Research, which advances cutting-edge research and development centered on communications, and Nokia Bell Labs, a global leader in telecommunications innovation, have agreed to leverage their respective strengths to jointly develop new technologies toward the realization of 6G.

Both companies will conduct research on: (1) innovative techniques to reduce base station energy consumption while enhancing communication quality, targeting the new frequency candidate FR3 (Note 1); and (2) highly resilient mobile core technologies (Note 2) that ensure continuous communication during failures or disasters (Note 3).

Satoshi Konishi, President and CEO of KDDI Research, stated, "Through our strategic and close collaboration with Nokia Bell Labs, we aim to accelerate R&D initiatives and further strengthen the 'Power to Connect' toward 6G. We strive to continuously deliver new value to our customers and make meaningful contributions to societal progress."

Peter Vetter, President of Bell Labs Core Research at Nokia, also commented, " Tackling the inherent challenges in a new generation of networking requires close collaboration in the industry. Working side by side, KDDI Research and Nokia Bell Labs can advance the state of the art in networking thanks to different perspectives on the problems and possible solutions. Ultimately, the joint outcomes will make 6G a more resilient, efficient and intelligent technology."

Additionally, KDDI Research and Nokia Bell Labs will demonstrate their initial work in energy consumption reduction technology on the new frequency candidate FR3 at the "Brooklyn 6G Summit 2025," held in New York from November 5 to 7, 2025.

(Note1) A frequency band ranging from 6 GHz to 24 GHz, attracting worldwide attention as a candidate for 6G due to its capacity to achieve high capacity over a relatively wide area.
(Note2) The robustness and flexibility to maintain communication services even in the event of obstacles or disasters. The system aims to be resilient enough to quickly recover services when parts of the network fail.
(Note3) The central part of a mobile communication system that manages user registration, mobility, data routing, and service delivery.

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