IEEE Spectrum’s Top Telecom Stories of 2025

Telecommunications networks, originally built to carry phone calls and data packets, are undergoing dramatic changes. Last year saw the first steps towards transforming networks into a more integrated data structure that can measure the world, process and sense data together, and even reach outer space.

The following list of key IEEE spectrum Telecom news for 2025 highlights the evolution the connected (and wireless) world is experiencing today. In other words, a larger story is emerging about how networks are becoming tools and mechanisms rather than just passive channels.

And if there is a clear starting point for observing this shift, it is early reflection. 6G.

1. 5G Capacity Limits Prompts Focus on 6G Infrastructure

Original image: Nokia

Unlike previous incremental changes in telecommunications development (especially increases in capacity with 3G To 4G and 4G for 5G), the key equation for 6G is not “5G plus faster downloads.” Nokia Bell Laboratorieswhose President of Basic Research Peter Vetter took over conversation with Spectrum in Novemberbegins testing and testing the deployment of key 6G infrastructure elements five years before 6G devices are expected to come online. And time is running out. Because, as Vetter explains, downlinks for the necessary consumer technologies of the coming decade may not be the key to networking for a long time. The ability of your phone (and future smart glasses) to download streaming video and other content is no longer the biggest challenge in telecommunications. Rather, if Internet of Things scales as predicted, and smart home And smart city technology is gaining popularity and soon everything everywhere will be connected to the 6G infrastructure for more and more significant uplinks. And such a surge in traffic can lead to the destruction of modern telecommunications networks. That's why smart money, starting with, but not limited to, Nokia Bell Laboratoriesis addressing this huge uplink problem before it can happen.

2. Terahertz technology sets the stage for 'wireless wired' chips

Oliver Killig/HZDR

There is a range of the electromagnetic spectrum from 0.1 to 10. terahertz historically this has been very difficult to exploit technologically. Radio waves And microwave ovens On the one side”terahertz gap” And infrared light on the other hand, everyone has their own types of electronics and waveguides manipulate photons and translate them back and forth into electrical signals in integrated circuits.

But last year saw progress in closing the terahertz gap. In October history Spectrum participant Mega Rodriguez in the Chronicle how a new generation of chips is being developed to unlock tens and hundreds of gigahertz of bandwidth, well beyond 5G's range and just short of the long-puzzled terahertz gap. It's important to note that the new chips can operate at or near room temperature and on standard semiconductor substrates. To make significant progress in addressing future telecommunications challenges, it is important to scale and expand this type of technology to devices capable of meeting 6G uplink and downlink requirements.

3. Hollow fiber speeds it up and preserves signal transmission

Seyyed Reza Sandohchi and Ghafoor Amuzad Mahdiraji/Microsoft Azure Fiber

While the promise of terahertz data links looms on the horizon, the world today also cannot wait for technologies that, perhaps in 2030 or beyond, will be able to fulfill their long-held promises. Some communications engineers rely on a fundamental rule of physics that fiber optic lines have not yet fully grasped: Light travels through air about 30 percent faster than through glass. In other words, the speed of fiber optic lines could be greatly accelerated if they were not solid glass, but tiny glass tubes covering an air core.

Spectrum participant John Boyd in September reported a study by a Microsoft team and the University of Southampton in England. it is testing the practicality of hollow fiber optic lines for extremely low latency applications such as fintech, cloud, etc. interconnectionsAnd sensor networks. Hollow fiber is not expected to become the new fiber standard anytime soon. But if the manufacturing challenges faced by hollow lines can be overcome, both higher throughput and cleaner signals (with less glass harmonic distortion) could be part of the future of optical fiber.

4. Wireless lasers aim to solve Internet's 'middle mile'

Direct

Some researchers are studying where and when fiber-optic connections are needed at all. To this end Google Alphabet subsidiary Taara is introducing point-to-point laser data communication. Taara's technology isn't designed to solve all the gaps in tomorrow's networks, but laser data links have the potential to solve some of the tough middle-mile problems. Taara CEO Mahesh Krishnaswamy spoke with Spectrum in July about the company's immediate goals. Their technology, Krishnaswamy explained, can provide gigabit-per-second speeds over kilometers.

However, it is sensitive to weather. For example, fog and rain can scatter the beam. So it's not ideal for all applications, but the company currently provides mission-critical connectivity in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Free space optical (FSO) technology is generally characterized by rapid deployment and high throughput. On the other hand, FSO does not work without a direct line of sight between the sender and the recipient. So, where laying fiber optic connections can be expensive (such as rivers and ravines) or where obtaining permits is very difficult, FSO can provide just the solution.

5. A fiber optic network recorded the spacecraft's return to Earth

Eliza McGee

What other capabilities will the networks of tomorrow have beyond simple data transmission? In March Spectrum by Charles Choi explored fiber optic cables serving double duty as sensor networks.. Researchers from Los Alamos State University and Colorado State University reported detecting recognizable acoustic signals in fiber optic cables when NASA OSIRIS-REX The space probe returned to Earth to deliver a capsule with asteroid samples in September 2023. Proof-of-concept research has identified potential for close-to-home applications such as railway intrusion alerts, earthquake early warning and perimeter security. The best part is that there is no need to install new fiber optic cables to realize the acoustic sensing capabilities that the world's high-bandwidth data links can now contain.

6. Quantum messages are transmitted across Germany via regular fiber optic cables

Mirrik Firetag, Come and others.

In April, Choi reported Toshiba team in Germany What transmitted quantum cryptographic keys over a distance of 250 kilometers. This is very important because no one has yet solved the problem of a quantum repeater or quantum signal amplifier. (Tsoi informed us about this topic in 2023!) So any qubits Traveling from point A to point B requires a piece of optical fiber without any technology in between. As the article notes, governments and financial institutions will be among the first customers of high-security quantum cryptographic applications.

7. More complex codes for tracking deep space probes

Christoph Burgstedt / Scientific Photo Library / Alamy

How far are new network technologies ready to go? In September, author Michelle Hampson reported on new and complex deep space communications codes that could extend terrestrial networks to distances of up to 180 million kilometers.. This is equivalent to 1.2 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. NASA, ESAand commercial players such as SpaceX And Blue Origin are considering expanding and strengthening network protocols for harsh environments space communications.

Although you can't expect 6G phones to be quite up to the task of connecting lunar or Mars missions to Earth, today's evolving communications technologies will expand the range of networking capabilities in the coming years. Network technologies are no longer just about connecting people and their devices. They are increasingly seeking to create a sensory and computational data fabric that spans the entire Earth and extends far beyond. solar system.