The Quantum Internet Alliance (QIA), a consortium of more than 50 institutions led by TU Delft, has secured \u20ac47.5 million from the European Commission for the next phase of its attempt to build a programmable, full-stack quantum Internet prototype.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 42-month programme will push technologies developed in laboratories towards an integrated network capable of running quantum applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The challenge is formidable. Quantum networks are designed to distribute quantum information and entanglement between remote nodes, potentially enabling new forms of secure communication, distributed quantum computing and networked quantum sensing. But creating individual components is only part of the problem. Those components must operate together across hardware, control electronics, software and conventional fibre infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
QIA\u2019s second phase, known as SGA2, will focus on that integration. One of its defining targets is to connect two metropolitan-scale quantum networks over a long-distance fibre link using quantum repeaters. Repeaters are considered essential to extending quantum communications beyond metropolitan distances because quantum states cannot simply be amplified like signals travelling through today\u2019s Internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Qblox, one of the alliance\u2019s industrial partners, will develop control-stack technology and hardware interfaces for connecting the long-distance networks. The Dutch quantum control specialist previously supplied control hardware for quantum network nodes during QIA\u2019s first phase, which ran from October 2022 to March 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOver the past years, we have developed the core building blocks of a quantum internet,\u201d said QIA director Stephanie Wehner. \u201cOur mission in this next phase is to integrate these components into a full stack quantum internet prototype.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project also signals a shift from proving physics to building infrastructure. QIA plans early preparations for pilot facilities and open-access infrastructure where researchers, developers and companies could test quantum networking technologies and applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That transition matters commercially. Quantum networking remains an emerging field without the mature standards, infrastructure or application ecosystem of classical networking. QIA is attempting to create not only technology but also an environment in which European companies can turn research into products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of that transfer has already begun. Qblox\u2019s Qubit Timetag Module, which combines digital signal generation, time tagging and readout in one instrument, emerged from QIA research and won the alliance\u2019s Innovation Award in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wider consortium spans research institutes, telecom operators and technology companies across 12 European member states, including QuTech, Fraunhofer ILT, ICFO, CEA, Telef\u00f3nica, Telecom Italia, Cellnex, Thales and SAP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The immediate goal is not a replacement for classical Internet. Instead, quantum links would complement existing networks, providing capabilities exploiting entanglement while classical channels continue carrying ordinary data. That makes interoperability, programmability and reliable control as important as advances in the underlying quantum hardware itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Europe is therefore betting \u20ac47.5 million on integration rather than another isolated quantum breakthrough. If QIA can make repeaters, nodes, control systems and software behave as one programmable network, the quantum Internet will move a significant step closer to becoming infrastructure rather than an experiment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Quantum Internet Alliance (QIA), a consortium of more than 50 institutions led by TU Delft, has secured \u20ac47.5 million from the European Commission for the next phase of its attempt to build a programmable, full-stack quantum Internet prototype. The 42-month programme will push technologies developed in laboratories towards an integrated network capable of running […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":171472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18793,21942,93],"tags":[7194,26785,26783,23696,26782,26780,23639,26781,25361,26784],"class_list":["post-171471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","category-quantum","category-top-stories","tag-european-commission","tag-qblox","tag-qia","tag-quantum-communications","tag-quantum-internet","tag-quantum-internet-alliance","tag-quantum-networking","tag-quantum-repeaters","tag-quantum-technology","tag-tu-delft"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171471"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":171473,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171471\/revisions\/171473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}