KT proposed quantum internet technology as an international standardization task at the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) SG 13 meeting held in Geneva from March 13 to 24. The proposal was approved on March 27th.
ITU-T is the standardization division of ITU, which oversees policies and standardization in the global telecommunications field. Technologies approved as standardization tasks by affiliated research groups are established as international standards after discussions among member countries. KT is currently the only domestic telecommunications company to enter the ITU chairperson and lead the global standardization of quantum technology.
Quantum Internet is a next-generation Internet technology that connects quantum computers, quantum sensors, and quantum cryptographic devices in the form of a quantum network by using the "photonic entanglement" phenomenon, in which photons can transmit each other's states even if they are far apart. As much as it uses quantum technology, it has a high level of security that existing Internet technologies cannot provide.
Accordingly, ITU-T SG 13, led by KT, is a new standardization topic constituting a network between quantum devices, a technology to expand the capacity of a quantum computer by interworking between quantum computers using a quantum network, and interworking between quantum sensors using a quantum network. It plans to develop technologies that enhance measurement precision.
The approval of the international standardization project for quantum internet technology narrows the gap and secures technological leadership in quantum internet, which is considered the final stage of quantum technology, in Korea, which has had difficulties in accelerating technology development due to delays in large-scale investment in quantum technology compared to advanced countries. It is meaningful in that it did.
In addition, the convergence technology between Quantum key distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) proposed by KT was newly adopted as a standardization task. This technology presents a global regulation that fuses QKD technology that provides absolute security physically to increase the security of the PQC algorithm based on mathematical complexity.
By using this technology, security can be increased by using the quantum cryptographic key provided by QKD even when small and mobile devices such as smartphones or micro-drones move rapidly in random directions.
KT has recently secured commercialization technology for wired and wireless QKD, laying the groundwork for strengthening national security with our technology in the field of aviation and space communication in the future. It is also building an ecosystem for the domestic quantum industry by transferring about 10 self-developed quantum technologies to domestic companies.
