SK Telecom has developed an innovative technology that enables quantum cryptography communication networks of diverse manufacturers and mobile operators to interconnect and co-operate.
Earlier, it was impossible to connect and operate quantum cryptography communication networks of different companies and countries. SK Telecom has been promoting standardization by sharing the case with global telecoms.

SK Telecom, a leading mobile network operator in South Korea, has completed verification of the technology on the Korea Advanced Research Network (KOREN), a non-profit testbed network infrastructure operated by the National Information Society Agency (NIA) to facilitate research, test and verification of future network leading technologies and related equipment.

SK Telecom proposed two standardization tasks – i.e. ‘Control Interface of Software Defined Networks’ and ‘Orchestration Interface of Software Defined Networks for Interoperable Key Management System’ – to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), and they were chosen as work items by the ETSI industry specification group for QKD (ISG-QKD) in March 2023.

If approved as international standards, they will provide a technical basis for creating a large-scale network by interconnecting quantum cryptography communication networks built by many different operators.

SK Telecom presented Quantum Secure Interconnection for Critical Infrastructure, covering use cases for next-generation transmission encryption technology, at this year’s IOWN Global Forum Workshop. The company also showcased its quantum cryptography communication technologies at Mobile World Congress (MWC 2023) in Barcelona.

“The two standardization tasks approved as work items by ETSI will boost the expansion of quantum cryptography communication in the global market,” said Ha Min-yong, Chief Development Officer of SK Telecom.