Toshiba Europe has won a contract from Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), to develop technology that could make quantum networks cheaper and easier to roll out across the country.
The Cambridge-based firm will build and test prototype subsystems for long-distance quantum links and networks that serve many users at once. It will validate the technology with UK network operators BT and Colt Technology Services under realistic operating conditions.
The contract was awarded through Innovate UK’s Enabling Commercial Quantum Networking competition, a combined £20 million investment. The competition supports UK businesses developing components and subsystems for quantum networks, with the aim of strengthening the country’s place in the global quantum supply chain.
The project will look at running quantum networks over the UK’s existing fibre infrastructure in a way that keeps them cost-effective. Toshiba will investigate how to use network resources more efficiently and how to manage connectivity as the number of users and sites grows. The goal is to make better use of existing assets and reduce capital expenditure.
Andrew Shields, Vice President of Toshiba Europe and Head of its Quantum Technology Division, said: “Building quantum networks at scale requires cost-effective subsystems that can be readily integrated into today’s data communications infrastructure.
“By working with UK network operators BT and Colt Technology Services, we will develop and validate the technology needed to connect cities and broaden access to quantum networking for more users and customers.”
The work supports the UK’s National Quantum Strategy. One of the strategy’s missions is to deploy advanced quantum networks at scale by 2035 and lay the foundations for a future quantum internet.
A longer-term aim is to link quantum processors in different data centres so they can work together on computing tasks. That could increase the quantum computing power available and help speed up breakthroughs in areas such as drug discovery and new materials.
Toshiba has more than 25 years of quantum research and development behind it. It recently launched its Quantum-Safe Networking (QSN) Platform, which helps organisations add quantum-safe protection to their existing networks at lower cost and complexity.
