Remove the centre from data transport and it easily reappears one level up – in the assembly of knowledge, in certification, in the rules for commissions.

Part Nine of the series on the architecture of open 6G

Note on AI use: AI tools were used in the preparation of this article, including research assistance and translation.

6G links satellite and ground networks so a phone can reach help almost anywhere. The same reach lets the network sense people at home.
There is not a single tower on the mountain trail. The nearest base station stands in the valley, behind the ridge, and its signal does not reach this far. A hiker has twisted an ankle on the way down, the sun is setting, the temperature is dropping. He takes out his phone – an ordinary one, the same phone that lay on his desk in the city – and sends a message. The message goes through.
Not through a tower. Through a satellite that happens to be crossing the ridge at that minute. The phone does not know it has changed networks. The hiker knows even less.
This is what 6G can give people better than anything else. And if a few decisions are not made now, the same property will become its biggest problem. That is what this article is about.