Sparkle completes another quantum-safe network PoC

The project was completed alongside Adtran, Arqit Quantum,and Intel as well as Telsy, another TIM Group company specialising in cybersecurity.

The trial was carried out on Sparkle’s metropolitan fibre optic network in Athens and demonstrated ‘the agile and fully automated implementation of an on-demand MEF Internet Access Service secured by post-quantum cryptography.’ Try saying that three times fast.  

It involved integrating connectivity functions with Arqit quantum-safe encryption into an Intel-powered NetSec accelerator card. Sparkle then tested the NaaS solution using Adtran’s Ensemble cloud-based orchestration and automation software. 

Now the testing is complete, a commercial launch of Sparkle’s NaaS/Quantum-Safe Internet (NaaS/QSI) is planned for later this year, and will be followed by other use cases, we’re told.

“Our NaaS vision is rooted in the belief that connectivity should be seamless, ubiquitous, secure and adaptable” said Daniele Mancuso, Chief Marketing & Product Management at Sparkle. “We envision a world where businesses can effortlessly scale their Wide Area Networks, adapting to changing demands with agility and precision.

“NaaS enables this by offering flexible, on-demand network services that are easily customizable to meet the unique needs of each customer. Whether it’s expanding bandwidth during peak times, ensuring low latency for critical applications, or providing secure connections for sensitive data, Sparkle’s NaaS solutions are designed to deliver unparalleled performance and reliability.”

This follows another trial carried out by Sparkle in May, in which it said it had successfully completed the first test of an international VPN protected with quantum encryption. The purpose of that one was to showcase the integration of Quantum Arqit's technology using SKA into Sparkle's network infrastructure, in order to create ‘enhanced encryption methods’ for data transmission across geographical borders.