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On 11 September 2026, a test mast was commissioned on the TU Delft campus operating in the 600 MHz frequency band and running on 5G-Advanced Release 18, the standard from which 6G is expected to evolve. It is one of the first antennas in Europe to operate to these specifications.
The mast is an initiative of the Future Network Services (FNS) programme, a Dutch 6G research consortium led by TNO that brings together approximately sixty ICT companies, semiconductor firms and research institutions. The installation in Delft forms part of the broader National 6G Testbed, which FNS has established at five locations across the Netherlands. The other sites are The Hague (TNO), Eindhoven (BDF), Groningen (ICCS) and Amersfoort (RDI). All locations are connected to the central 6G infrastructure at TNO in The Hague.
Commercial 6G networks are expected worldwide around 2030. The test mast in Delft is intended to build hands-on experience with equipment, applications and associated challenges well before that date.
The choice of the 600 MHz band is driven by the physical properties of this frequency. Low frequencies travel greater distances and penetrate walls and other obstacles more easily than the higher bands commonly used in existing 5G networks. For applications in rural areas, or in situations where reliable coverage outweighs maximum speed, that is a relevant advantage.
The 5G-Advanced Release 18 specifications on which the mast is based were functionally finalised in June 2024. The technical encoding (ASN.1) was completed in December 2024. The first chipsets compatible with Release 18 are expected by the end of 2025; commercial devices are anticipated to reach the market in 2026. The Delft test mast therefore runs ahead of the broader availability of compatible end-user equipment.
One outstanding issue is the co-existence of 600 MHz with existing users of this spectrum, including wireless microphones and public broadcasters. How this will be regulated has not yet been determined.
The first concrete application being trialled at the Delft test site falls within the FNS work package Grid Interactive Building. In this package, TNO, TU Delft, Nokia, Comforest, AIMZ, Integer Technologies and the Do IoT Fieldlab are collaborating on the real-time control and optimisation of the electricity grid.
The infrastructure has been designed with resilience as a core principle. Local data exchange remains possible for up to 72 hours, even in the event of a central power outage or failure of the main network. This makes the setup suitable for testing how 6G connections behave in situations where continuity is critical.
Muhammet Bilgic, Innovation Manager at TU Delft's Do IoT Fieldlab, is involved on behalf of FNS in bringing together companies, knowledge institutions and public-sector parties to accelerate wireless innovation within this programme.
In addition to the electricity grid, the FNS consortium is examining two further application areas. The first concerns the rapid and reliable dissemination of information to citizens in emergency situations, where a network that continues to function during power outages offers a clear added value. The second focuses on critical IoT applications in the healthcare sector, where network latency and availability can have direct consequences for the end user.
Both areas place different demands on the network than consumer services such as video streaming or mobile internet. By involving these applications early in the research process, the consortium aims to ensure that network requirements are identified before standards have been finalised.
The TU Delft campus provides a suitable environment for this type of testing: alongside the Do IoT Fieldlab, the campus also hosts The Green Village and RoboValley, each offering test facilities for AI and IoT applications in a broadly realistic setting.
For the Dutch and European AI and technology sector, the Delft test setup demonstrates how public-private consortia with research agendas established relatively early can influence standards and application areas before commercial networks are available. Other countries and consortia in Europe working on 6G face comparable questions regarding spectrum use and application priorities. How the Netherlands manages the allocation of the 600 MHz spectrum in the coming years, and the policy choices made in that process, will partly determine the extent to which the knowledge now being gathered in Delft can be leveraged during the commercial phase.
This article draws in part on the following sources.
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