BT and Toshiba are to build a quantum-secured metro network linking sites in London’s Docklands, the City and the M4 Corridor. The two companies’ initial focus will be to provide trials for enterprise customers who are carrying sensitive traffic (such as database backups) between sites, and to explore potential future offerings such as encrypted links and “quantum keys-as-a-service." A timeline has not been disclosed.
BT will provide data services secured using Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) over Openreach’s Optical Spectrum Access Filter Connect (OSA FC) solution for private fibre networks. The QKD links will be provided using a quantum network that includes both core and access components, and will be integrated into BT’s existing network management operations.
Toshiba will provide quantum key distribution hardware and key management software. The company launched commercial products for QKD, manufactured at its Cambridge site, in the latter half of 2020. Toshiba says it has achieved the highest key rates (1,000’s of keys per second) and longest range of any commercially available fibre QKD system.
While BT and Toshiba have previously installed a point-to-point quantum-secure link between two commercial sites, deploying a full quantum-secured metro network environment with multiple endpoints requires new approaches to integration and management.
Building on the BT and Toshiba point-to-point solution for the Bristol-based NCC (National Composites Centre) and Centre for Modelling and Simulation (CFMS), this new network will extend the solution to serve multiple customers across the London metropolitan area.
Howard Watson, CTO of BT, said: “BT and Toshiba have established a global lead in the development of quantum-secure networks. We’re excited to be taking this collaboration to the next level by building the world’s first commercially operational quantum-secured metro network in London. Secure, robust and trusted data transfer is increasingly crucial to our customers across the globe, so we’re proud of the role our Quantum R&D programme is playing in making the world’s networks safer as we enter the dawn of a new age of quantum computing.”
Taro Shimada, Corporate Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at Toshiba Corporation, said: “Our partnership with BT will allow us to offer organisations quantum-secured network services which protect their data from retrospective attacks with a quantum computer. We are delighted to work with BT, with its long heritage of delivering secure, trusted networks. This network paves the way for commercial QKD services in the UK and eventually beyond.”
ADVA FSP 3000 powers UK’s first quantum network
Toshiba Research, BT and ADVA Test ‘Quantum Leap’ Encryption
