At the MWC26 international exhibition held in Doha, tests of a sixth-generation mobile network prototype were conducted. The project was implemented under the coordination of Qatar's Communications Regulatory Authority, with the participation of operators Ooredoo Qatar and Vodafone Qatar and technical support from Huawei. During testing, engineers recorded a peak download speed of 12.23 Gbps — a figure equivalent to approximately 1.53 gigabytes per second. To put it into perspective: a 10 GB file downloads in 6.5 seconds at this speed.
How a Total 600 MHz Bandwidth Delivers 12 Gbps
The key technical solution was the aggregation of six carrier frequencies with a total bandwidth of 600 MHz. Of this volume, 400 MHz came from temporarily licensed spectrum in the U6 GHz band, and another 200 MHz from the commercial C-Band. Data transmission was carried out via a Massive MIMO antenna system in a 256T256R configuration, meaning 256 transmitting and 256 receiving elements. Combining multiple frequency bands expands channel capacity, while the large number of antenna elements increases the efficiency of available radio frequency resource utilization and beamforming accuracy.
From Laboratory Peak to Real Coverage
It is important to consider that the recorded figure is peak and was achieved under controlled test conditions. Real speeds that users will experience in everyday use will depend on a multitude of factors: network coverage density and quality, current load on base stations, hardware capabilities of specific smartphones, and the operator's server infrastructure. Thus, 12.23 Gbps is a demonstration of the technological ceiling rather than a promise of average speed in a commercial network.
When 6G Will Move Beyond Exhibition Stands
According to a forecast by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), commercial 6G applications in China could emerge around 2030, with large-scale deployment expected by 2035. These timelines align with general industry expectations: 3GPP 6G standardization is scheduled to conclude in the early 2030s, after which operators will begin phased network rollouts. Until then, users will operate within evolutionary versions of 5G-Advanced, which already provide a noticeable increase in throughput compared to baseline 5G.
The tests in Doha confirm that key 6G technological building blocks — wideband aggregation, next-generation Massive MIMO, and operation in the U6 band — are already functioning together and capable of delivering results unattainable in existing commercial networks. The question of industrial scaling remains: from a single exhibition stand to millions of base stations in global coverage.
