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The recently introduced 5G New Radio is the first wireless standard natively designed to support critical and massive machine type communications (MTC). However, it is already becoming evident that some of the more demanding requirements for MTC cannot be fully supported by 5G networks. Alongside, emerging use cases and applications towards 2030 will give rise to new and more stringent requirements on wireless connectivity in general and MTC in particular. Next generation wireless networks, namely 6G, should therefore be an agile and efficient convergent network designed to meet the diverse and challenging requirements anticipated by 2030. This paper explores the main drivers and requirements of MTC towards 6G, and discusses a wide variety of enabling technologies. More specifically, we first explore the emerging key performance indicators for MTC in 6G. Thereafter, we present a vision for an MTC-optimized holistic end-to-end network architecture. Finally, key enablers towards (1) ultra-low power MTC, (2) massively scalable global connectivity, (3) critical and dependable MTC, and (4) security and privacy preserving schemes for MTC are detailed. Our main objective is to present a set of research directions considering different aspects for an MTC-optimized 6G network in the 2030-era.

Executive Summary By 2030, our societies will become digitalized and data-driven, enabled through the key verticals like connected industries, intelligent transport systems and smart cities. Machine Type Communication (MTC) encompassing its massive and critical aspects, and near instant unlimited wireless connectivity are among the main enablers of such digitalization at large. The recently introduced 5G New Radio is natively designed to support both aspects of MTC to promote the digital transformation of the society and particularly improve the overall efficiency of different vertical sectors. However, it is evident that some of the more demanding requirements of MTC cannot be fully supported by 5G networks. Alongside, further development of the society towards 2030 will give rise to new and more stringent requirements on wireless connectivity in general, and MTC in particular. Driven by the societal trends towards 2030, the next generation (6G) will be an agile and efficient convergent network serving a set of diverse service classes and a wide range of key performance indicators (KPI). This white paper explores the main drivers and requirements of an MTC-optimized 6G network, and presents a set of research directions for different aspects of MTC that can be synthesized through the following six key research questions: Will the main KPIs of 5G, namely reliability-latencyscalability, continue to be the dominant KPIs in 6G; or will emerging metrics such as energy-efficiency, end-to-end (E2E) performance measures and sensing become more important? How can different E2E service mandates with different KPI requirements be delivered through a multidisciplinary approach jointly considering optimization at the physical up to the application layer? What are the key enablers towards designing ultralow power receivers and highly efficient sleep modes to support ultra-low-cost ultra-low-power or even passive MTC devices? How can a disruptive rather than incremental joint