The O-RAN Alliance may be only four years old, and may only have released one full set of specifications, but it’s already looking ahead to 6G. The Alliance has set up a research group to kickstart work on next generation mobile networks, aiming to secure an influential role in industry deliberations. This points to a desire to integrate its efforts more clearly with established standards bodies in 5G and 6G, especially with ETSI working on a spec for fronthaul, which is the foundational area of work for O-RAN. The initial 6G work will be carried out by a next-generation research group (nGRG) that will “focus on the research of open and intelligent RAN principles in 6G and other future…