SK Telecom said it has developed technology that allows for integrated management of quantum cryptography network equipment from different vendors using SDN and distributing quantum keys in an automated manner. The move could be an important step toward integrating quantum cryptography network equipment into next-generation telecommunication networks.

The SK Telecom technology, which it’s clearly labeling as “quantum cryptography communication networks of diverse manufacturers,” has completed verification testing at the Korea Advanced Research Network. The South Korea-based telecom operator is also attempting to promote the technology for acceptance into the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) global standards bodies.

That work is around a “control interface of software-defined networks” and an “orchestration interface of software-defined networks for interoperable key management system.”

The first is to provide an abstraction layer that allows an operator to use a common SDN protocol to control the flow of information across a quantum signal or a traditional signal medium. The second provides an orchestration layer for management of quantum encrypted communications across both a full quantum channel and a separate optical transport network channel.

SK Telecom noted ETSI accepted those tasks last month as work items for its quantum key distribution (QKD) industry specification group.

“The two standardization tasks approved as work items by ETSI will boost the expansion of quantum cryptography communication in the global market,” Ha Min-yong, chief development officer at SK Telecom, noted in a statement. “We will work with diverse global players in many different areas to create new business opportunities in the global market.”

Quantum cryptography communication transmits each bit of information as a single photon of light, which encrypts that information against eavesdropping or decryption. Telecom operators and vendors have been working for several years on integrating that level of encryption into networks.

For instance, Toshiba and the Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization at Tohoku University used quantum technology in 2018 to hit one-month-average key distribution speeds exceeding 10 Mb/s over installed optical fiber lines. They also used the technology to monitor the performance of installed optical fiber lines in different environments.

Toshiba later partnered with U.K.-based operator BT on using QKD across to secure a network transmission.

SK Telecom also has a long quantum history, including work with Swiss-based strategic partner ID Quantique, which focuses on quantum cryptography communication technology.

Industry trade group GSMA last year announced its Post-Quantum Telco Network Taskforce focused on supporting the industry’s creation of a roadmap to secure networks, devices and systems across the entire supply chain.” That work was initiated with IBM and Vodafone, and has since gained more than 45 members.

Lory Thorpe, GSMA Post-Quantum Telco Networks chairperson and head of IBM Consulting’s Telco Transformation Offerings, told SDxCentral last month that the core objective of the taskforce is to ensure the implementation of the right requirements and standards in a timely manner to avoid being “late to the party.” Thorpe explained the initial problem statement was “around how do we support the telco ecosystem to navigate the path to quantum safe.”

“When you look at where cryptography is used in telco systems, it impacts basically all of the different systems. But it also then impacts all of the standards that underpin these systems as well,” she said. “We’re advocating that people start planning, not panicking, but at least planning because … this isn’t something that just happens overnight.”