At MWC Barcelona 2024, the GSMA backed Post Quantum Telco Network task force is publishing the Post Quantum Guidelines for Telecom Use Cases, representing “first of its kind” guidance for the telecommunications industry.
The guidelines are the latest in a series of practical advice published by task force since it was established in 2022. With the goal of uniting the ecosystem to prepare telcos for the quantum era, it continues to gain momentum and currently includes over 55 company members and 23+ operators globally.
This latest deliverable, which will be presented at the Third Post Quantum Network Seminar taking place during MWC, provides detailed insights for preparing a cryptographic migration in the context of telecommunication networks, with an emphasis on actionable advice and implementation.
Use Cases
The paper analyses telecom use cases and architectures which highlight dependencies on standardisation, solution alignment, performance testing, and related aspects such as zero trust architecture. The objective is to build a set of best practice guidelines to support an executable journey to quantum safe. It leverages learnings and evolving a collective view of solutions and standards that support interoperability, backward compatibility, and telco use case performance requirements.
Telecommunications networks are the backbone of digitalisation, underpinning many essential services and sectors through trusted and secure communication systems that impact society. For this reason, ongoing data security and integrity must be at the forefront of telecommunication preparedness. This includes planning for the quantum era not only by maximising the potential opportunities of quantum technology, but also by proactively addressing threats of misuse by bad actors, which could put telecommunications networks, customer data and devices at risk.
Risks and Choices
Analysis has been provided to inform both business risk and subsequent technology choices related to a number of use cases and deployment scenarios, including physical and virtual SIM cards, devices and firmware upgrade, authentication and transport security, cloud infrastructure, virtualized network functions, virtual private network (VPN) services, IoT, lawful intercept, and privacy.
The transition to new post-quantum cybersecurity standards and practices will be a multi-year process, and it will require continued industry cooperation through initiatives such as the GSMA Post Quantum Telco Network task force.
Start Now
Whilst every organisation will approach the quantum risk assessment process in its own way, starting now to build and educate the right teams who understand the threats, impacts, and responses, and can formulate timely mitigation plans, is key to preparing for the quantum future.
Authors: Lory Thorpe (IBM), Luke Ibbetson (Vodafone), Yolanda Sanz (GSMA)
MWC Barcelona
MWC Barcelona 2024 3rd Post Quantum Seminar