Macau telecom operator Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau (CTM) and Huawei launched an IP network incorporating quantum key distribution (QKD), with plans to offer quantum-secured private lines to government and enterprise customers.

The partners said the network is intended to protect sensitive communications, including financial transactions, government services, and critical infrastructure. They also plan to develop private-line products and accelerate their deployment on live networks.

Huawei’s approach integrates QKD into routers and combines quantum signals, key-negotiation traffic, and ordinary communications on shared fiber infrastructure. The aim is to bring QKD into the communications network while reducing the need for separate equipment and fiber connections.

Bringing QKD into the router

QKD uses quantum signals to establish shared cryptographic keys between endpoints. Those keys can then be used to encrypt data transmitted over conventional communications channels. The quantum channel distributes key material rather than carrying the customer’s business data.

Huawei previously outlined its integration approach when it launched its Xinghe quantum-secure WAN platform at this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC) event in March. That platform includes a built-in QKD board designed to remove the need for standalone QKD devices.

Huawei said its noise-suppression algorithm allows quantum signals – the classical signals used to negotiate keys – and ordinary communications to share a single optical fiber. Combining those functions could simplify deployment for operators seeking to add QKD to existing networks. Quantum signals must coexist with much stronger classical communication signals, making noise management a key part of shared-fiber implementations.

In the CTM announcement, Leon Wang, president of Huawei’s data communication product line, said the vendor’s router with built-in QKD could reduce total cost of ownership by more than 60%. The release did not provide the comparison baseline or supporting measurements.

The partners claimed a world first for the integration but did not specify the criteria or disclose the network’s size, link distances, key-generation rates, or customer-service launch date.

Preparing for future quantum threats

The security concern is that sufficiently powerful future quantum computers could break widely used public-key cryptographic systems. Organizations also face “harvest now, decrypt later” risks, where attackers collect encrypted information today to decrypt later.

QKD addresses key distribution through quantum physics. Another approach is post-quantum cryptography, which uses algorithms designed to resist quantum attacks while running on conventional computing systems.

QKD does not, by itself, guarantee the security of an entire service. Protection also depends on the encryption implementation, authentication, and endpoint security.

For CTM, integrating QKD with its IP infrastructure provides a foundation for the planned private-line offerings. The partners said their wider collaboration would support quantum-security development across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.