As 6G research accelerates, Taiwan’s tech sector and policymakers are shaping how next-generation networks will connect industries and people.
Ask Saviah Technologies, a Taipei-based provider of 5G core network software, what the industry’s shift from fifth- to sixth-generation wireless technology means for its product roadmap, and the company shows you a backpack.
Resembling an ultra-modern update of a Vietnam War-era man-pack combat radio, the Private 5G Network Backpack 3.0 — developed by Chunghwa Telecom and Askey, integrating a Saviah 5G core — can be deployed within minutes to establish wide-area 5G coverage. It is designed for disaster response and military operations, as well as for vertical applications. The latter includes real-time drone surveillance, autonomous robotics, and automated inspection of industrial facilities.
The backpack houses 5G central control and data management components, but its satellite link pushes into the realm of “beyond 5G” and the emerging 6G concept. Sixth-generation networks aim to integrate terrestrial and satellite systems to deliver seamless connectivity, extending coverage to oceans and remote areas where base stations are scarce.
“6G is described as an evolutionary process, not a sudden leap, moving forward step by step, and the standards have not yet been defined,” says Vicky Sun, business development manager at Saviah Technologies.
Sun adds that close collaboration with partners — including RAN (radio access network) vendors and system integrators — will be crucial to meeting the diverse needs of enterprises and delivering hyper-reliable, AI-driven networks as the industry transitions to 6G.
The shift from 4G to 5G brought faster speeds, lower latency, and greater network capacity, laying the foundation for the Industrial Internet of Things and vehicle-to-everything communications (exchanges of real-time data with other road users and infrastructure). Standardization talks for 6G are set to begin next year. Current research is centered on integrated sensing and communication combined with AI-native capabilities, while tackling the challenge of uniting satellite constellations high-altitude platforms and terrestrial networks to provide truly global coverage.
“Factories will perform real-time, large-scale data analysis, enabling more accurate predictive maintenance to minimize equipment failures, significantly reducing downtime and maintenance costs,” says Kay Chung, senior industry analyst at the semi-governmental Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC). “Managers will be able to simulate various scenarios in a virtual environment to optimize physical production processes in advance.”
Chung notes that in terms of 6G communication technology, Taiwan’s existing information and communications technology (ICT) upstream and downstream players are expected to see some positive impact. The semiconductor industry will in particular be a clear beneficiary.
Another Taiwanese telecom tech company already investing in critical areas for 6G is Rapidtek. The company’s product portfolio spans active phased-array antennas, antenna-in-package modules (miniaturized antennas embedded directly into chips), and satellite communication payloads.
Rapidtek’s 3U CubeSat Nightjar — a small satellite developed in collaboration with the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) and launched into orbit in August 2024 aboard a SpaceX transporter rocket — serves as Rapidtek’s platform for validating new radio frequency (RF) technologies that can later be applied to 6G-related use cases.
“We must ensure that RF modules and satellite systems can operate reliably in very different environments and do so in a way that is scalable and cost-effective,” says Arthur Wang, chairman of Rapidtek. “This is where we see our role not just as a provider of individual products but as a partner helping to bridge the gap between terrestrial 5G and 6G infrastructure and satellite-enabled global coverage.”
Wang predicts that the benefits of 6G will cut across industries. Agriculture, for example, could deploy high-resolution sensors and drones to improve crop management and conserve resources. Healthcare may gain from ultra-reliable connections that support remote surgery, diagnostics, and mobile health services, extending care to rural communities. Logistics and transportation stand to improve operational efficiency through real-time tracking, dynamic routing, and more precise scheduling. And in the energy sector, smart grids could use continuous monitoring and data analysis to boost efficiency and stability.
Policy tailwinds
With Taiwan’s ICT sector expected to benefit from the transition to 6G, the government has moved early to offer support. Beginning in 2023, it launched the 6G Industry Preliminary Development Program to fund universities and companies engaged in early-stage research, followed by the 6G Next-Generation Communications Program and the Chip-Driven 6G Communications Industry Innovation Project, aimed at building long-term research and development capacity.
In July 2025, these efforts were consolidated under the Next-Generation Communication Technology Development Plan, a six-year initiative running through 2030 with NT$27 billion (US$888 million) in funding. The plan seeks to accelerate the rollout of 6G and satellite communications, boost self-sufficiency by raising the local content rate to 80%, and attract at least three international satellite companies to Taiwan.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Economic Affairs is promoting industry participation in international organizations such as the standard-setting 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) and GSOA (Global Satellite Operator’s Association).
“This effort helps Taiwanese companies align with global 6G satellite communication standards and foster international partnerships to drive next-generation technology innovation,” says Kei Hasegawa, partner and office manager for Hong Kong and Taiwan at tech consultancy YCP.
Hasegawa adds that with strategic government planning, strong research and development, and active international collaboration, Taiwan has built a solid base for 6G development. “Looking ahead, Taiwan is expected to deepen cross-industry and cross-border cooperation, working with countries such as the U.S. to build ‘democratic supply chains,’ in alignment with President William Lai’s ‘Taiwan plus one’ strategy,’” he says.
Complementing the government’s 6G initiatives, Taiwan is advancing both domestic and international efforts to secure resilient connectivity. Domestically, TASA is leading the Beyond 5G LEO Satellite program, which will see the launch of the first of six planned low Earth orbit (LEO) communications satellites in 2027. The inaugural satellite, known as B5G-1A, will orbit at around 600 kilometers and carry a payload developed by U.S. company CesiumAstro, while later missions are expected to increase the share of Taiwanese components. The project is designed to strengthen Taiwan’s ability to maintain secure communications and reduce dependence on foreign systems.
At the same time, Taipei is in talks with Amazon’s Project Kuiper to deploy its LEO satellite internet service over Taiwan. This prospective partnership is viewed as a safeguard against vulnerabilities such as undersea cable disruptions, providing a commercial backup while the domestic constellation is still under development. Officials have said the Kuiper discussions also reflect lessons from existing foreign providers, with current services like OneWeb, a UK-based LEO company, unable to meet Taiwan’s bandwidth and capacity needs.
The China factor
According to the MIC, 6G also promises to accelerate the military benefits of 5G, particularly in areas such as offensive and defensive electronic warfare and secure communications, all of which further enhance autonomous operations for unmanned platforms.
Future applications of 6G prioritize resilience, ensuring network continuity even amid force majeure events like natural disasters and wars. Such development hinges on redundancy in system design, self-healing mechanisms, encryption protocols, confidential computing (techniques that protect data even while it is being processed), and AI-driven automated responses. Non-terrestrial networks will also serve as crucial backups, making these technologies integral to national security.
One observer warns that Taiwan’s 6G systems could be a target of Chinese interference.
Before seeking to engage in kinetic operations, the Chinese military will likely “seek to exploit Taiwan’s 6G networks for more insidious cyber operations,” says Rick Fisher, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based International Assessment and Strategy Center. He adds that in the event of military action, Beijing “will seek to deny Taiwan’s access to 6G while deploying their own.”
John Strand, founder of Denmark-based consultancy Strand Consult, sees China as a commercial threat as well. For years, he notes, Beijing has sought a greater role in global standard-setting bodies such as 3GPP and the International Telecommunication Union, while also working to dominate telecom patent portfolios.
Until recently, he says, two countries were competing to host the World Radio Conference in 2027: China and Rwanda. But at an International Telecommunication Union meeting in late June, Rwanda — a close partner of Beijing — withdrew its bid, making it likely that the conference will be held in Shanghai.
“Many delegates cannot travel to China, and many more are wary of going to China for different reasons,” says Strand. “They can’t take their computer to China, where you know that the government is monitoring everything and everyone. It could come to Taiwan’s disadvantage that the [2027 World Radio Conference] will be held in China, as you need to have access to your knowledge and documents when you sit and negotiate standards.”
Remaining headaches
Rapidtek Chairman Wang highlights some significant issues to watch from an industry perspective. At the top of the list is spectrum allocation — the process by which governments decide which companies or sectors can use specific frequency bands of the wireless spectrum. Another challenge is standardization, as non-terrestrial networks must interoperate seamlessly with existing terrestrial infrastructure.
“Finally, there is the matter of performance versus energy efficiency,” Wang says. “Pushing into higher frequencies brings great bandwidth but also demands more power and advanced thermal management, which will be critical for large-scale deployment.”
The reaction to 6G has so far been conspicuously muted among telecom operators, both globally and in Taiwan. Despite several years of 5G rollout, profitability has lagged expectations, and it remains unclear whether 6G’s promised applications will generate meaningful revenue. Ahead of the technology’s projected commercialization around 2030, Taiwanese carriers also face the costly challenge of securing spectrum, having already spent heavily in 5G auctions.
“Currently, even with the relatively mature 5G private network standards, adoption in Taiwan remains limited due to spectrum availability issues and high equipment operation and maintenance costs, with most enterprises still relying primarily on Wi-Fi,” says Yang Chih-chieh, an industry analyst at MIC. “Beyond spectrum challenges, 6G will also require new antenna and chip technologies. The high initial equipment investment will make large-scale deployment costly, meaning that early adoption is likely to be limited to trial implementations by a few large enterprises.”
With Taiwan’s 5G penetration still below 40%, Yang says 6G is unlikely to have much impact on consumers in the near term — unless applications heavily promoted in the 5G era, such as augmented and virtual reality, become deeply embedded in daily life by 2030.
“If telecom operators fail to deliver consumer-facing ‘killer applications’ that people are willing to pay for, 6G’s influence on the general public will remain limited,” he says.
