Finland’s 6G playbook
As major powers race to define 6G standards, Finland’s roadmap shows how a small nation can lead through focus, trust, and technical depth rather than scale. The document positions Finland as a place where networks of the future are first proven in practice.
The Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Transport and Communications were among those contributing, yet the document belongs to the scientists and engineers who built Finland’s wireless legacy. Shared ownership is one of the country’s quiet strengths.
Finland launched the world’s first organised 6G research programme in 2018 at the University of Oulu’s 6G Flagship. Since then Business Finland, VTT, Nokia Bell Labs, and defence research bodies have joined the wider 6G Finland collaboration.
The roadmap sets clear milestones: a baseline 6G specification by 2027, pilot deployments before 2030, and commercial systems early in the next decade. For developers and businesses it signals where to invest and when.
The Mission Lead from Business Finland and co-chair of 6G Finland Janne Järvinen says the roadmap builds on a foundation already in place.
“Business Finland has already invested greatly to the road to 6G. It is the intention that this program will continue towards the inception of 6G in practice.”
His words land as regions compete to define the standards to shape the next generation of connectivity. Finland’s move is to turn competition into joint work.
Jaakko Sauvola, Ecosystem Director at 6G Flagship and co-chair of 6G Finland, says the roadmap’s strength is making cooperation concrete.
“The 6G Finland is positioned as a national level effort focusing on important joint actions in strategic areas and sectors that makes collaboration real and practical to each member of our ecosystem. So its’ all about the contents of the agenda and how we execute it with our partners; right setting of level, importance, upside and impact turns to active participation and commitment.”
The roadmap looks beyond speed to networks that learn, repair, and balance themselves. Networks that use energy and spectrum with care and adapt to the environments they serve. It reflects a Finnish instinct for durability, built on deep research, close cooperation, and the view that reliability is a competitive edge.
From vision to implementation
Three shifts will shape Finland’s path toward 6G. Networks will learn and adapt on their own. Computing will move closer to where data is created. Spectrum will be shared more intelligently across systems. Together these priorities build on Finland’s experience in radio engineering and systems research, turning that legacy into the backbone of a new digital infrastructure. Each area is guided by the same long-term goals of sustainability, security, and resilience that run through the roadmap.
The roadmap also identifies four priority fronts: sustainable ICT, microelectronics, AI-native software, and dual-use defence technologies, which together form the foundation for Finland’s long-term competitiveness.
AI-native networks come first. Systems will manage themselves, learn from performance data, and adapt in real time. Radio and core functions will include machine learning that predicts and corrects before faults occur. Sauvola calls this a natural evolution. “6G is actually a large family of many technologies, forming a generational step to next level of performance, features and quality. Some areas in 6G family are already out of the labs and can be integrated, tested and deployed, some come with standardization timeline, some mature much later. Those technologies closer to e.g., software as implementation comes first form and the more deep in the stack (close or withing hardware) or manufacturing driven technologies are the longer it takes. So, good news is that 6G capabilities are already moving towards production, in waves. Software and AI oriented first, hardware and chip/radio oriented later. This will also create a co-existence path with earlier e.g., 5G technologies and other technology areas.”
The second shift, edge-first computing, meets the need to process data near its source. The roadmap highlights this as one of 6G’s most transformative changes. It brings faster response, lower energy use, and stronger privacy. By distributing computation across many small sites rather than a few large data centres, Finland aims to build services that keep working even when wider connections are strained. The model supports resilience, a theme that runs through the roadmap.
The third shift is spectrum coexistence. The roadmap calls for flexible, dynamic use of frequencies as new sub-terahertz bands open. In practice, radios must switch bands on demand and schedulers must coordinate satellites, Wi-Fi, and existing mobile networks. Spectrum is finite, and within Europe its shared use is both an engineering and a policy challenge.
Taken together, the three directions show Finland’s method. Progress is coordinated across many fields. Each layer of research builds on another. In Sauvola’s words, “6G capabilities are already moving towards production, in waves.”
Sauvola says that bridge from lab to market is already visible. “We host hundreds of co-creation projects with partners from basic research to applications,” he explains. “Open 6G test networks and pilot environments, such as the 5G Test Network and NATO DIANA-approved centres like 6G Test Centre, let researchers and start-ups validate and commercialise ideas early.” For Finland, impact is more than publications. It is deployment.
Investment, sovereignty, and scale
About one billion euros of national investment is expected by 2030. The focus now shifts from fundamental science to applied pilots that link labs with industry. At the centre of this transition is Business Finland, the national innovation funding agency.
“Business Finland has already invested greatly on the road to 6G through its 6G Bridge programme,” says Järvinen. “It is the intention that this programme will continue towards the inception of 6G in practice.”
New funding models are being prepared to accelerate that journey. “One example is the Rise to Challenge call, which supports projects that lay the foundations for tomorrow’s business,” Järvinen says. “We also have flexible instruments for national and international collaboration, from use-inspired research to applied projects. Finland welcomes highly ambitious global partnerships.”
One example is the VINES collaboration with the US National Science Foundation, a programme exceeding 100 million euros. It links Finnish research to pilots in sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, and health technology.
The roadmap also emphasises start-ups and small enterprises. Järvinen says open testbeds lower barriers and help newcomers grow alongside major players. “The 6G testbed is a fundamental vehicle for attracting smaller companies,” he says. “We should expand its definition to include as many actors as possible, even testing new business models within the testbed itself.”
Openness extends to Europe. Finland is closely aligned with the EU’s Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking, where national expertise in radio, sensing, and energy-efficient systems is visible. “Finland certainly punches above its weight in EU programmes,” says Järvinen. “We are a trusted partner and have a long history in telecommunications. As a small country we need to pick our battles carefully. 6G is one of them.”
He adds that sovereignty here means more than patents or production lines. “True sovereignty means that the core of the 6G value chain is designed and partly manufactured in Europe,” Järvinen says. “It also means securing our STEM talent and ensuring long-term public and private investment. Ultimately, it is about protecting our values, privacy, and security without compromise.”
Balancing openness and independence is part of Finland’s playbook. The roadmap links competitiveness with the resilience of digital society and sets the stage for pilots and skills that carry the work into the next decade. The next chapter will test whether Finland’s methodical approach can hold its lead as 6G moves from lab to life.
The roadmap itself notes that Finland’s early lead will only hold if research results translate into pilots and large-scale deployment. Other regions with faster commercial ecosystems are already moving to test real 6G use cases, which means staying ahead will demand both speed and discipline.
Coordination and continuity
Coordinating a national roadmap that brings together universities, ministries, companies, and research institutes might sound like a logistical maze. Postdoctoral Researcher and coordinator of 6G Finland Jarkko Hyysalo, who helped coordinate the process, reflects it went smoothly. “A few joint meetings were enough to define the focus and scope,” he recalls. “After that, careful planning and clear division of responsibilities kept the work on track.”
His description mirrors Finland’s wider approach to innovation. Plan carefully, involve everyone, move steadily.
Hyysalo notes the key decisions came through open discussion. “We wanted to limit the number of themes,” he explains. “Through dialogue we reached consensus on what to highlight.” The result is a concise, measurable strategy, clear enough to track and flexible enough to evolve as the field advances.
The next phase will test that clarity in practice. Hyysalo points to sectors already preparing for pilot projects, including manufacturing, defence, and energy. “These areas have well-defined environments and urgent needs,” he says. “Test factories, robotics, digital twins, and smart grids all stand to gain from 6G capabilities such as real-time control and reliability.” These pilots will mark Finland’s shift from research leadership to implementation. That is the point where strategy meets reality.
Hyysalo adds that Finland’s technological sovereignty may depend less on hardware than on people. It may depend on how many engineers, researchers, and innovators the country can educate and retain to build the networks it envisions.
“Industry needs trained experts, and we should increase the number of doctoral candidates,” he says. “The question for the future is whether our curricula meet the needs of the field.”
That question carries weight as the roadmap moves into action. The next decade will depend as much on Finland’s capacity to educate and retain talent as on its technical progress. How Finland answers it will decide whether its early lead in 6G becomes a lasting advantage — or an investment realised elsewhere.
6G Finland is an active coalition of Finnish 6G R&D organizations to advance the impact of Finnish 6G expertise globally, build new international partnerships, and intensify national 6G development efforts towards sustainable and data-driven society enabled by instant and unlimited wireless connectivity.
The English edition of Finland’s Next Step Toward the 6G Era (2025–2028) is now available. Discover Finland’s 6G strategy, key tech focus areas, and action roadmap — download the full report for free.