The Media & Entertainment (M&E) sector is undergoing a profound technological and structural transformation. Audiences are shifting towards on-demand, immersive, and interactive content; AI and generative media are becoming integral to production and distribution; and live events increasingly rely on digital augmentation. Against this backdrop, 6G technologies—supported by innovations in AI, edge computing, nonterrestrial networks, sensing, and distributed intelligence—are poised to redefine how media is created, delivered, and experienced.
Within this evolving landscape, the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) plays a central role in shaping Europe’s technological leadership. Through 22 dedicated projects and 46 use cases, SNS JU is developing and validating the network capabilities, architectural enablers, and experimental platforms that will make 6G-enabled M&E applications technically feasible, economically sustainable, and societally acceptable.
SNS JU projects collectively address the stringent performance needs of next-generation M&E services—ultra-high bandwidth, sub-millisecond latency, massive device density, distributed compute, precise positioning, integrated sensing, and advanced security. Contributions in several critical M&E aspects are highlighted in this paper:
- Immersive Media and XR including end-to-end XR architectures, indoor interactive gaming, and multi-camera 360° capture used to validate the delivery of real-time, high-resolution volumetric content to large audiences.
- Live Broadcasting, Remote Production, and Cloud Media using Ultra-high-quality video streaming (4K/8K/360°) and real-time multi-screen experiences show how 6G capabilities will enable agile remote production and rich in-venue experiences.
- Holographic and Volumetric Communications including delivery of realistic multiuser holographic interactions, combining multi-sensor capture, semantic communication and remote rendering, used to define the backbone for next generation communications, virtual production, and collaborative industrial design.
- Sustainability and Energy/Carbon Transparency measuring and exposing the carbon footprint of media sessions to end users and service providers and as such establishing a foundation for environmental accountability in digital media.
- Metaverse and Distributed Collaborative Spaces through the exploration of crossMNO federated services, trust-by-design architectures, explainable AI, and intent based interfaces supporting secure, interoperable, and scalable metaverse scenarios across culture, industry, and education.
- Smart Advertising and User-Centric Applications via trustworthy, privacy preserving data use, self-sovereign identity, and dynamic pricing, anticipating new business models aligned with societal values and digital sovereignty goals.
This white paper provides an extensive analysis of the current status of the M&E sector, based on SNS JU experts and an extensive research of the industrial M&E domain, and the promising technologies and features of 6G that stand to bring M&E services to the 2030s. Based on the presented analysis a few key findings may be highlighted:
- End-user devices remain a bottleneck. Despite network progress, device limitations—processing, battery, display, and sensing—currently constrain the quality of immersive applications.
- 6G is indispensable for next-generation media formats such as holographic telepresence, real-time volumetric video, and fully immersive XR experiences. These require capabilities beyond 5G, especially in uplink bandwidth, jitter control, synchronized multi-stream delivery, and precise positioning.
- Edge computing and distributed intelligence are foundational. Most advanced media applications depend on computation close to the user—reducing latency and enabling complex real-time rendering, AI inference, and sensor fusion.
- AI becomes pervasive across the entire media chain, from capture to distribution to user experience personalization. This includes rate adaptation, traffic prediction, security, and automated content creation.
- Sustainability emerges as a core requirement. Energy-efficient architectures, carbon-aware service orchestration, and user-visible environmental metrics are essential for future networks and media workflows.
- Interoperability and standards will determine adoption speed. Diverse capture technologies, heterogeneous XR devices, and multi-provider network infrastructures require global standards formats, QoS, interfaces, and orchestration frameworks.
Despite strong progress from SNS JU projects, significant challenges remain for large-scale 6G adoption in the M&E sector. Achieving the advanced infrastructure required for sub-THz communications, distributed MIMO, and edge-centric architectures demands high investment, while uplink limitations still constrain volumetric capture and remote production. Immersive and metaverse applications also heighten privacy and security risks due to their dependence on sensitive biometric and behavioural data. Interoperability gaps between devices, platforms, and formats threaten ecosystem fragmentation, and today’s end-user devices—limited in battery, processing, display, and cost—continue to restrict the quality of immersive experiences.
At the same time, 6G offers major opportunities to transform M&E through hybrid digitalphysical events, immersive broadcasting, holographic telepresence, and cloud-native collaborative production. Ultra-high bandwidth, low latency, and distributed AI will support richer, more interactive content and personalized user experiences, while metaverse applications expand into culture, education, tourism, and industry. Sustainability will become a central value driver as carbon-aware streaming and energy-efficient delivery influence both operators and consumers. Early 6G adoption is expected in premium immersive services and professional production environments, broadening as devices mature and standards solidify. With continued investment, coordinated regulation, and leadership in R&I, Europe is well positioned to shape the global future of 6G-enabled media.
Danet P.Y., Trevlakis S., Vassiliou V., Montagud M., Viola R., Caratti G., Keung S. L. C. , Koster A., Bailly C., Aseeva A., Kranenburg R. V., Barquero D. G., Castillo A. R., & Trichias K. (2025). 6G for Media and Entertainment. Zenodo.