QTI – Quantum Telecommunications Italy, together with the CNR, has been awarded a 7 million project to develop quantum repeaters.
QTI is the technology partner and will work with the National Institute of Optics of the CNR and reserachers from the University of Florence.
This project represents a strategic milestone for the future of global cybersecurity. By being assigned this initiative, QTI and its partners are tasked with overcoming the most significant barrier in quantum communications: distance.
The Distance Challenge
Current fiber optic infrastructures already support Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) with high efficiency over metropolitan and regional distances. In these networks, signals travel securely across existing links, providing a robust defense for high-value data.
To further extend this reach across continental distances, the project focuses on the implementation of Quantum Repeaters.
These are not mere amplifiers, but sophisticated nodes that will allow quantum keys to travel across entire national and continental backbones without losing their quantum properties or security.
The core of this project is to develop and deploy Quantum Repeaters. These are not mere amplifiers, but sophisticated nodes that will allow quantum keys to travel across entire national and continental backbones without losing their quantum properties or security.
How Quantum Repeaters Will Revolutionize the Field
The successful realization of these devices will be a “game changer” for the global telecommunications industry:
- National and International Scalability: They will enable the interconnection of secure quantum networks between distant metropolitan areas, moving from local “islands” to a truly global secure network.
- The Foundation of the Quantum Internet: Quantum repeaters are the essential building blocks for the future Quantum Internet, enabling the transmission of quantum bits (qubits) between remote quantum computers.
- Ultimate Data Protection: This technology will allow governments, financial institutions, and critical infrastructures to share ultra-secure data over thousands of kilometers, immune to future quantum computing threats.
QTI’s Industrial Leadership in Quantum Infrastructure
As the industrial partner and institutional spin-off of CNR-INO, QTI is responsible for the design and supply of the quantum hardware and management protocols. Our role is to transform high-level scientific research into robust, market-ready industrial systems. QTI will ensure that the quantum repeaters are fully compatible with existing commercial fiber optic infrastructures, such as those operated by TIM.
Looking Ahead: Building the Secure Backbone of the Future
Being awarded this project confirms QTI’s position at the forefront of the “Quantum Race.” Through this synergy of academic excellence and industrial innovation, we are turning the vision of a nationwide secure quantum network into a reality.
Related links
link al comunicato stampa: https://www.cnr.it/it/nota-stampa/n-14038/al-via-la-rivoluzione-dei-ripetitori-quantistici-grazie-alla-sinergia-tra-tim-cnr-e-universita-di-firenze
