Views on the Quantum Act Call for Evidence

Connect Europe, representing the leading providers of connectivity networks and services in Europe, would like to take this opportunity to share our initial views on the upcoming Quantum Act initiative.

The telecommunications sector is set to be a key player in quantum, and there are several areas that offer strong potential for our members, including secure communications, new capabilities for network transmission and management and service delivery enabled by the higher processing power of quantum computing, and advanced sensing technologies.

Our members are already active in the area of quantum communication technology and are part of the existing ecosystem, from involvement in European initiatives, startups and industry consortia to quantum test infrastructures and research centres or have even deployed actual commercial networks.

Quantum also poses significant security threats, most notably its potential to break the existing digital trust chain, including cases like encryption, signature, and authentication, among other things. This is why our sector maintains a strong focus on different quantum-safe cryptographic solutions, ensuring we are ready for these technological changes.

The EU can further support European telecom operators to reap the benefits of quantum technology with the upcoming Quantum Act, preserving its first-mover advantage beyond the competitiveness of its innovation, while developing synergies with AI that could generate other opportunities (e.g. complex systems’ simulation or cyberthreat intelligence) with a lower environmental impact.