Russian Railways will complete the main quantum network to Kazan and Rostov-on-Don

Russian Railways by the end of 2023, it plans to build new sections of the backbone quantum network (ISS) between Moscow, Voronezh and Rostov-on-Don, as well as from Nizhny Novgorod to Arzamas and Kazan. This was stated by Deputy General Director of Russian Railways Anatoly Khramtsov, speaking with a report on the implementation of the Quantum Communications roadmap at the Future Technologies Forum. Thus, by the end of the year, the total length of the ISS should exceed 2500 km.

“According to the results of the first half of the year, design survey work was completed and working documentation was approved for new sections of the network. Completion of construction and installation works is scheduled for 2023,” Khramtsov said. The total length of the sections will be more than 1,400 km, according to the presentation of the top manager.

In 2021-2022 sections between Moscow and St. Petersburg and Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod have already been built, the total length of the quantum network is currently 1147 km. As follows from the presentation, in 2024 cities such as Sochi, Volgograd, Samara, Ufa, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, etc. should also be connected to the quantum network. In 2025, a section from Ufa to Magnitogorsk should be built.

Quantum communications is a technology for encoding and transmitting data in the quantum states of photons. The laws of physics do not allow defining a quantum state in such a way that it does not change, so it is impossible to intercept a quantum communication channel without being noticed by the addressees. Therefore, the technology allows data to be transmitted over long distances in an absolutely secure manner.

For the development of quantum technologies, the government has formed two “road maps” – “Quantum Communications” and “Quantum Computing”. Until 2026, 41 billion rubles are provided for the implementation of measures in the road maps.

From a business point of view, quantum networks make it possible to bring the technology of quantum key distribution closer to end users, explained Alexander Priyutov, development director of the research and production company QRate. For example, traditional telecom operators have the opportunity to test models for the provision of quantum-secured communications services, he added. In the future, the created networks can become the infrastructure basis for the quantum Internet, where, in addition to protecting the transmission of information, quantum states of light will be used to connect remote quantum computers to each other, Priyutov added.

Primarily responsible for building quantum networks and providing quantum communication services Russian Railwaysamong the main customersRosatom“, Gazprombank and a number of other large Russian companies, Pavel Korostelev, head of the security code company’s product promotion department, said. According to him, the construction of 1400 km of new sections of quantum networks could cost from 1.5 billion to 3 billion rubles.

In addition to Russian Railways, the construction of the ISS is financed by regional authorities and regional commercial structures, noted Sergey Kulik, scientific director of the Quantum Technologies NTI Competence Center based at Moscow State University. Moreover, funding for local quantum networks is provided within the framework of the Interuniversity Quantum Network project funded by the Ministry of Education and Science, he added.

Khramtsov also said that by the end of the year, as part of the roadmap, 9 scientific and technical works will be carried out to create domestic quantum communications equipment, and 7 more to create a domestic component base. Representative Russian Railways in a conversation with Vedomosti, he clarified that, based on the results of the work, he expects to receive 10 experimental and 12 experimental samples of quantum communications equipment and more than 80 patents by the end of 2024.

Now in Russia there are three vendors of quantum equipment – Infotex, SMARTS-Quanttelecom and QRate, Kulik listed. They develop solutions that allow sending short messages over optical communication channels in a certain way and at the same time control their integrity, that is, ensure that the message was not intercepted during transmission, Korostelev explained. So far, the main consumer of quantum equipment in Russia is itself Russian Railwayswhich deploys the main lines of quantum communication, but pilot projects with such technology are also being conducted “Gazprom“, Gazprombank, Sberbank, etc., notes Kulik. First of all, the equipment is in demand among state organizations and large companies with state participation, there is no active demand on the commercial market yet, Korostelev agreed with him.

The volume of the global quantum communications market in 2022 amounted to $378 million, and by 2030 it may exceed $1.8 billion, according to a study by Innopraktika. Investments are directed primarily to the creation of a basic key distribution infrastructure, said Alexey Odinokov, head of the Intellectual Property Management Department at Innopraktika.

Domestic projects in the field of creation and piloting of backbone quantum networks, according to Odinokov, are among the first in the world. He estimated the size of the quantum communications market in Russia in 2022 at 2.5 billion rubles.

Similar projects for the development of quantum communications infrastructure are being implemented abroad, says Odinokov. For example, in 2022, a backbone fiber-optic network of quantum key distribution was launched in South Korea with a length of 800 km, to which 48 government organizations are connected.