Quantum computing use cases in telecom

Where quantum technology could apply in telecom

Operator announcements and standards documents fall into three groups: network optimization, security for networks and subscribers, and quantum networking. Evidence differs by group. Optimization has operator-reported pilots and production claims on narrow problems, security has standards and deadlines, and quantum networking is at the field-test stage. Trade press counted 75 quantum deployments announced by telecom operators through June 2025 across 29 operators, citing the STL Partners tracker: 35 percent announced, 25 percent launched and 28 percent in trial or proof of concept.

Network optimization: operators report results on narrow problems

NTT DOCOMO has reported two applications of D-Wave’s hybrid solver, both on how a network sends signals to find devices. In an August 2024 release, a pilot on tracking areas in the Tokai, Chugoku and Kyushu regions cut paging signals at peak calling times by 15 percent and finished in 40 seconds a task that took a general-purpose solver 27 hours. A release published by The Quantum Insider on August 18, 2026 says a second application, on tracking area lists, is in production. It reports a 65.3 percent lower daily peak of location registration signals and 7.0 percent fewer paging signals, with a representative 333-base-station problem solved in about five minutes. Both are joint releases. They do not name the baseline solver or say how the effect on the whole network was measured.

SoftBank reported on July 29, 2025 a proof of concept that used an Ising machine to choose which base stations to link for carrier aggregation. Ten base stations alone allow about 35 trillion link patterns. Applied to 5G base stations in an area of Tokyo, the chosen configuration raised average downlink speed by about 10 percent and raised carrier aggregation use and secondary cell data by up to 50 percent. SoftBank’s note says an Ising machine can be classical, quantum or quantum-inspired, and the release does not say which type it used.

On June 10, 2025 Vodafone and ORCA Computing announced a collaboration to run Vodafone’s network layout software on ORCA’s PT-2 photonic system, starting with optical fiber cable design. The release reports no results. On February 17, 2026 AMD published a technical write-up of work with Comcast and the software firm Classiq on resilient routing: choosing a primary and a backup path for each site that share no links or sites and that limit latency and the risk of two correlated links failing together. The write-up calls the problem NP-hard. Its results come from a quantum algorithm run on a GPU-based simulator, on a small example network, not on quantum hardware at network scale.

Security: trials, guidance and standards for post-quantum cryptography

On December 19, 2023 SK Telecom and Thales announced a test of post-quantum cryptography on a 5G standalone trial network, using Thales 5G SIM cards and the CRYSTALS-Kyber algorithm to protect subscriber identity. The release gives no performance figures. In July 2023 Vodafone and SandboxAQ reported a test of a quantum-safe VPN on standard smartphones adapted with NIST-selected algorithms, using synthetic traffic and real sessions from internal volunteers in several countries. Vodafone says hybrid schemes combining classical and post-quantum algorithms had minimal effect on quality of service. The release gives no figures for the effect.

The GSMA’s Post Quantum Telco Network task force was set up at MWC Las Vegas in 2022, initiated by IBM and Vodafone. In September 2023 it published guidelines for quantum risk management, whose first step is a cryptographic inventory of where algorithms are used in systems and third-party products. In February 2024 it published guidelines for telecom use cases covering SIM cards, devices and firmware upgrades, authentication and transport security, cloud, virtualized network functions, VPNs, IoT, lawful intercept and privacy, and called the migration a multi-year process. The task force then counted over 55 company members and 23 or more operators.

On the standards side, NIST released three post-quantum standards on August 13, 2024 and encouraged administrators to begin the transition at once. ETSI’s TS 103 744, in its February 2026 version, specifies ways to derive keys from several shared secrets established with schemes such as elliptic curve Diffie-Hellman and quantum-safe key encapsulation mechanisms. Deadlines have started to attach to these tools: the UK NCSC sets steps for 2028, 2031 and 2035, and the European Commission asks Member States to begin transitioning by the end of 2026 and to move critical infrastructure no later than the end of 2030.

Quantum key distribution: commercial services and an agency that advises against relying on it

On June 11, 2025 Orange Business and Toshiba announced Orange Quantum Defender, available commercially in greater Paris. It runs over Orange’s existing fiber network, combining quantum key distribution with post-quantum cryptography, and the release says a French financial services company has connected multiple sites. It names no customer and gives no performance figures. On August 4, 2026 Quantum Corridor, Ciena and Toshiba reported a trial on Quantum Corridor’s live network between data centers in Chicago and Hammond, Indiana. It validated 1.6 terabits per second of encrypted connectivity, with Ciena’s optical encryption supporting NIST post-quantum algorithms and interworking with quantum key distribution servers. The release does not report key rates or latency.

Standards work exists for the technique. ETSI’s quantum key distribution group specifies interfaces, implementation security requirements and optical characterization, and describes it as a possible layer in a layered strategy. ITU-T Recommendation Y.3800, in force since October 2019, gives an overview of networks supporting it. The European Commission’s EuroQCI says its 2023 to 2025 phase made it possible to take first steps toward services offering operational quantum key distribution.

The UK NCSC takes a more cautious view. In August 2025 it wrote that quantum key distribution does not provide authentication, that it recommends post-quantum cryptography as the primary mitigation, that it will not support the technique for government or military applications, and that other sectors should not rely on it alone for generating and distributing keys. The paper adds that combining quantum and classical components makes systems harder to secure. For an operator, the two positions can be read together: the services exist, and one national agency says to treat the technique as an addition to post-quantum migration and not a replacement.

Quantum networking: a field test, reported secondhand

RCR Wireless reported in April 2026 that Deutsche Telekom’s T-Labs and Qunnect, in a test announced in early 2026, teleported qubits across a 30 km commercial fiber loop in Berlin. This comes from a single trade press report. The same article says Telstra’s 12-month quantum machine learning trial with Silicon Quantum Computing ended with the quantum model matching the performance of Telstra’s deep learning models with much shorter training time, again as reported by the outlet.

What the value estimates say, and what they do not

The McKinsey Quantum Technology Monitor, April 2026, rates the economic value of quantum computing for telecom as low for 2025 to 2030 and medium for 2030 to 2035, lower than its ratings for finance, pharmaceuticals and travel, transport and logistics in the later period. The Monitor’s map of quantum communication companies includes telecom operators such as BT, Deutsche Telekom, SK Telecom, KT and China Telecom, and it admits operators that are investing with the ambition to run quantum networks. TQI reads that as a list of players, not a market size for operators.

How to read a quantum telecom claim

1. Who measured it? The DOCOMO and SoftBank figures come from the companies’ own releases, and the Comcast results come from a simulator.
2. What is the baseline? DOCOMO’s 27 hours versus 40 seconds is against a general-purpose solver, not necessarily the operator’s best classical tool.
3. What kind of machine? SoftBank’s Ising machine may be classical, quantum or quantum-inspired, and the release does not say which.
4. What does the standard cover? ETSI TS 103 744 and NIST’s standards cover cryptography in software. ETSI’s quantum key distribution group covers hardware.
5. Does the service include authentication? Quantum key distribution does not provide it, so post-quantum cryptography or pre-shared symmetric keys must.
6. Production or announcement? DOCOMO says two applications are in production and Orange sells a service. Most other items are trials or announcements.

What a telecom operator can do now

• Build a cryptographic inventory that covers SIM cards, devices, firmware updates and third-party products, as the GSMA recommends, and plan against the 2028, 2031 and 2035 NCSC steps and the 2030 EU date.
• For optimization, pick a narrow combinatorial problem, such as tracking areas or link configuration, and compare any vendor solver with the best classical solver on the same data before buying.
• Treat quantum key distribution as an optional layer. Check how authentication is handled and what the NCSC’s position means for government customers.

Questions

Sources

1. NTT DOCOMO and D-Wave Improve Mobile Network Performance by 15% with Quantum Optimization Technology, D-Wave press release, August 20, 2024.
2. NTT DOCOMO Deploys Second D-Wave Quantum Application for Network Optimization, D-Wave and NTT DOCOMO release published by The Quantum Insider, August 18, 2026.
3. SoftBank Corp. press release on optimizing radio base station settings with an Ising machine, SoftBank, July 29, 2025.
4. Vodafone Partners With ORCA Computing to Model Future Networks in Minutes Using Quantum technology, joint release published by The Quantum Insider, June 10, 2025.
5. Designing Resilient Routing using Quantum Algorithms with Classiq and Comcast on AMD GPUs, AMD technical article, February 17, 2026.
6. SK Telecom and Thales Collaborate on Post-Quantum Cryptography to Enhance Users’ Protection on 5G Network, SK Telecom, December 19, 2023.
7. Vodafone tests quantum-safe business network and upgraded smartphones, Vodafone, July 5, 2023.
8. Readying the mobile industry for a post-quantum future, GSMA, September 27, 2023.
9. Securing the Telecoms Industry in a Post-Quantum Future, GSMA, February 22, 2024.
10. ETSI TS 103 744 V1.2.2, Quantum-safe Hybrid Key Establishment, ETSI, February 2026.
11. NIST Releases First 3 Finalized Post-Quantum Encryption Standards, NIST, August 13, 2024.
12. Orange Business and Toshiba partner to launch first commercial quantum-safe network service in France, Orange, June 11, 2025.
13. Quantum Corridor, Ciena, and Toshiba Complete World’s First 1.6 Tb/s Quantum-Safe Optical Encryption Milestone on Live Commercial Network, joint news release, August 4, 2026.
14. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), ETSI Industry Specification Group page.
15. Y.3800, Overview on networks supporting quantum key distribution, ITU-T, October 2019.
16. European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI), European Commission.
17. Quantum networking technologies, UK National Cyber Security Centre, August 5, 2025.
18. Timelines for migration to post-quantum cryptography, UK National Cyber Security Centre, March 20, 2025.
19. EU reinforces its cybersecurity with post-quantum cryptography, European Commission, June 23, 2025.
20. The quantum race in telecom is heating up, RCR Wireless, April 9, 2026 (trade press source for the STL Partners count, the Deutsche Telekom and the Telstra items).
21. McKinsey Quantum Technology Monitor 2026, April 2026 (telecom ratings and player map read from the report text).