Automakers pledge support for 6G

For 6G adoption, automakers are currently pledging their support for the standard but have not made announcements regarding when they will deploy 6G modules in cars (either in TCUs or other in-vehicle systems). Qualcomm made a major announcement during Mobile World Congress detailing commercial rollouts of 6G-enabled devices “from 2029 onward”. In Counterpoint’s view, automakers are unlikely to start deploying cars with 6G-enabled modules that year, but OEMs are getting involved early to ensure they are up to date on related hardware and software requirements and involved in developing the standard.

Automakers noted in the Qualcomm press release include Chery Automobile, Geely Auto, Great Wall Motors (GWM), Hyundai, Leap Motor, Li Auto, NIO, SAIC Motor, Stellantis and Xpeng.

Companies Pledging Support for 6G at MWC 2026

As many of these automakers are based in China, this is an indication that China will be one of the earlier locations for automotive 6G deployment. This is not to say that other regions will not deploy vehicles with 6G connectivity but that, except for Hyundai and Stellantis, other automakers were not listed in the announcement.

Despite the automakers listing support for 6G, it is worth keeping in mind the phrase “from 2029 onward”. 5G is still being rolled out in the automotive industry, and the word “onward” means that 6G-enabled systems in cars will take years to roll out across the industry. Automakers support vehicles for up to 15 years and want to ensure that any hardware in vehicles will function for that long. That is one incentive to upgrade, but automakers always consider whether the use cases, and costs, justify upgrading.

New automotive NTN connectivity solutions indicate near-term adoption

Another major automotive connectivity-related theme at the event was the integration of satellite-based connectivity. Several companies introduced solutions to enable satellite connectivity in cars or showed demonstrations, including Cubic3, Harman, LG Electronics, Qualcomm, MediaTek, Skylo and Viasat.

The demonstrations at MWC 2026 indicate growing interest, building on past demonstrations and announcements. For example, at the 5GAA F2F event in mid-2025, BMW showed satellite connectivity demonstrations in partnership with Deutsche Telekom and Skylo. Skylo’s solution can already be integrated with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Auto 5G Modem-RF Gen 2.

Announcements at MWC 2026 related to automotive NTN connectivity included the following:

• NTN voice calling: Several companies demonstrated how NTN connectivity can provide voice calling functionality. These included Cubic3, which showcased its connectivity management platform and hybrid eSIM, NTN service provider Skylo, whose solution works with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Auto 5G Modem-RF Gen 2, satellite connectivity solution provider Viasat, Fraunhofer IIS (with its NESC voice codec), and Amarisoft, which provided related technical support.
• Harman: Separately, Harman also featured a demonstration with Viasat for NTN-based voice calling, enabled by Viasat’s network and Harman’s Ready Connect Telematics Control Unit, which supports 4G, 5G and Narrowband Non-Terrestrial Network (NB-NTN) satellite connectivity.
• LG Electronics: LG introduced a new TCU at MWC. The TCU not only provides 5G cellular and C-V2X functionality but also provides NTN connectivity. It is worth noting that LG worked with Skylo to showcase emergency calling using satellite connectivity at the 5GAA event held in Paris in 2025.
• MediaTek: MediaTek demonstrated 5G NR NTN video calling at the event. The company also announced a new automotive chipset for telematics that supports the 5G-Advanced Release 17 and Release 18 standards. Release 17 introduced NTN support in the 5G Advanced standard.

Analyst takes

Of the major announcements at MWC 2026, NTN integration is more imminent, with semiconductor companies, satellite connectivity providers, and Tier 1 suppliers (including Harman and LG) announcing related products. Satellite connectivity can provide redundancy in cases since people drive cars in areas with poor cellular network connectivity. This will be important as the industry launches more robotaxi services and looks to ensure that passengers have access to emergency communications if required. MediaTek was quoted in Android Authority as saying it expects NTN integration in cars in 2027 or 2028.

6G connectivity is further away, given that the specification won’t be completed until 3GPP Release 21, which is expected to be finalized by Q4 2028. As indicated by Qualcomm’s and its partners’ announcements at MWC, the first commercial 6G network deployments are likely to occur late in 2029. The automotive industry isn't likely to start equipping vehicles with 6G modems in 2029, given current timelines, and certainly won’t start scaling up until the mid-2030s. Automakers need a reason to upgrade to 6G, and given that 5G adoption is still underway, mass-market adoption will take several years.

It is worth noting, though, that as the robotaxi market scales up, service providers will want access to detailed data and AI capabilities to better manage those services. 6G promises integration of AI at the edge and core of the radio access network, with companies such as NVIDIA pledging their commitment to helping the telecommunications industry ensure that 6G networks are “AI native”. Although the robotaxi market will still be scaling up by the early-to-mid-2030s, this will coincide with the automotive industry’s adoption of 6G.