The Quantum Communication Fieldlab Rotterdam, a testing environment for quantum-secure communication, is now operational in Eurofiber’s data center. Loodswezen and Royal IHC have expressed interest, and an initial intake session will take place within two weeks. The lab’s goal is to lower the barrier to testing quantum key distribution (QKD).
Organizations that want to try out quantum encryption do not need to purchase expensive hardware or consulting services themselves. Arthur Dallau, manager of the Quantum Communication Fieldlab Rotterdam (QCFR), explained this during a presentation at the International Quantum Press Tour, which visited the South Holland quantum sector in late October. The field lab is a testing environment on Eurofiber’s existing fiber-optic network. Organizations can connect their own locations to it or have a mobile unit visit their site, allowing them to see in practice what a quantum-secure connection can do for them.
The impetus for the field lab is Q-day, the day when a quantum computer will be able to crack the current encryption on which most data traffic now relies. According to Marc Hulzebos, Business Innovation Officer at Eurofiber, malicious parties are already collecting encrypted data to decrypt it later. “But whoever has such a quantum computer isn’t going to shout it from the rooftops,” he says. “So you won’t read anything about it.” According to Dallau, organizations must therefore start asking themselves now which data still needs to remain confidential in ten or twenty years.
In the field lab, they’re investigating whether quantum key distribution can help with this. For example, they can test a secure connection between two of an organization’s own locations. They’re examining how the technology works with the encryption and key management systems they already have in place. And they’re assessing the costs and benefits. “The lab is a stepping stone,” says Dallau, “to get to know the technology and translate it into business decisions.”
Testing financial feasibility
Just before the presentation, Hulzebos received word that the equipment had been connected at Eurofiber’s data center. “The lights are on,” he said, “everything is running.” But that’s about all for now. Organizations aren’t testing there yet. “No, not yet,” says Dallau. “But they will soon. Nederlands Loodswezen and Royal IHC have shown interest, and we’ll start the first intake with them within two weeks.” A third project, with the European Space Agency, is also set to begin this year, according to him. That organization wants to know how to secure the connections between satellites and ground stations in a different way.
The initiative isn’t entirely new. The field lab builds on a pilot that began in 2022 with the Port of Rotterdam Authority. According to Dallau, the port handles a great deal of confidential information and wanted to know how to keep it secure in the future. Eurofiber had already been exploring for some time what quantum technology could mean for its network. The company began this work in 2020, together with Delft University of Technology and a number of spin-offs. In the pilot, the port authority and logistics partners exchanged messages over a quantum-secure connection. Nederlands Loodswezen was also involved at that time.
That initial trial actually revolved around a single question: Is it even possible to build such a network? “It turned out to be possible fairly quickly,” says Hulzebos. “Now we want to know if it’s financially viable.” To do so, the initiators didn’t have to start from scratch. The equipment, the fiber-optic network, and the experience gained at the port were all brought to the field lab. There, the focus is now on determining whether multiple organizations can share the expensive technology, making it affordable for each of them.
Keys via light particles
Encrypted communication stands or falls on a secret key that both the sender and receiver possess. That key is currently exchanged using mathematical methods that a quantum computer will eventually be able to crack. There are two solutions to this problem. Post-quantum cryptography (PQC) is essentially a new lock on an existing door. It involves new computational methods based on mathematical problems for which, as far as we know, even a quantum computer has no fast solution. Because it is software, PQC is relatively easy to implement. The difficulty lies in identifying all those “doors” within an organization.
QKD takes a different approach and secures the key exchange itself, using physics instead of mathematics. The key is generated simultaneously on both ends via light particles traveling through the fiber-optic cable. These particles have a unique property: observing them changes them. If someone tries to eavesdrop along the way, they disrupt the particles, and the system detects this immediately. As a result, intercepting a key without being detected is, in principle, impossible. QKD does, however, require specialized equipment and fiber-optic cables, which makes it significantly more expensive.
The Rotterdam lab now features a setup with four endpoints for users and one central node in Eurofiber’s data center, plus the mobile unit. The technology comes from Falqon Systems (formerly Q*Bird) in Delft, which specializes in a variant called MDI-QKD. In this setup, all endpoints send their photons to the central node, rather than transmitting them directly from A to B. The central node simply verifies whether the photons from two endpoints match and relays that information. Only those endpoints themselves know the resulting key. “The central node never has access to a key or any data,” explains Hulzebos. For a network operator like Eurofiber, that is exactly the point. The company can operate such a node for many customers simultaneously, without ever having access to their keys.
Sharing costs per customer
So QKD isn’t cheap. According to Hulzebos, a system costs several hundred thousand euros, which is quite a lot compared to software-based encryption running on existing equipment. The lab therefore wants to spread that cost across multiple customers. “If you connect one customer, that customer pays all the costs,” says Hulzebos. “If you connect ten, the investment remains the same, and you add nine customers for the same amount.” Customers then simply purchase the keys as a service. The lab’s initiators want to determine whether the price will be based on the number of keys or the volume of data traffic. For participants, the low barrier to entry is the main draw. “Anyone doing this on their own has to pay for the hardware and find consultants who aren’t the cheapest,” says Dallau. “Here, you can jump in, test things out, and ask questions.”
Behind the lab are five partners, each contributing their own part. Eurofiber provides the fiber-optic network and the data center, while Falqon Systems supplies the quantum equipment. Cisco is participating as a network provider, CGI as a systems integrator, and INSPIR8ION guides the participants and their use cases. For now, the partners are funding the lab themselves, possibly supplemented by money from regional development funds. The City of Rotterdam, the Province of South Holland, the Port Authority, and InnovationQuarter are strategic partners. According to Dallau, they help the lab, among other things, navigate its way to government ministries and Brussels.
Due to these costs, QKD isn’t immediately appealing to every organization, says Dallau. According to him, it depends on how confidential the information being transmitted is. He anticipates clients in the port and logistics, energy, water, healthcare, banking, and government sectors. This involves information that absolutely must not be leaked, such as what intelligence agencies share with one another or sensitive data from Rijkswaterstaat regarding infrastructure. “Take the harbor master, who sometimes has to share information with the police and customs in the fight against subversion,” says Dallau. “Or hospitals that exchange patient data. There, you want an extra layer of security on top of the standard approach.”
But smaller companies are also reaching out. In the port, large and small entities collaborate within a single supply chain, and if that chain is to be better secured, every link must be able to keep up. “A number of companies are already asking how they can prepare,” says Dallau. “They’re willing to test, but they don’t have the resources to set up such a system on their own.” And that’s exactly what’s possible at the QCFR.
Government and banks are keeping their distance
However, the government, of all entities, is taking a different route for the time being. In the government-wide Quantum Strategy released on October 5, the cabinet is focusing on post-quantum cryptography. QKD is not currently being used for the government’s information security. Dallau does not view QKD and PQC as competitors, however. “For security professionals, PQC is the most logical way to add a new layer of security, I understand that,” he says. “But the government also has a lot of highly classified information, think of the intelligence services or the Department of Defense, that you wouldn’t want to share based solely on PQC. You need both.”
Whether the field lab succeeds ultimately depends on whether organizations actually start using it. According to Hulzebos, this isn’t just a matter of technology. He points out that the agreements on standards and certification for QKD aren’t finalized yet. With certification, an independent body confirms that equipment is secure enough, and the financial sector in particular is waiting for that. “No bank is going to start using this,” he says. “They’ll only get started once it’s certified, or if legislation requires them to.”
Still, Hulzebos expects that in a year’s time, all four endpoints in the lab will be occupied by users. He hopes that by then, the lab will have yielded more than just a few successful tests. “I hope we’ll have demonstrated by then that this is a useful and scalable way to secure data,” he says. “Then a company can say: ‘Great, I’ll just implement it for my payment transactions.’”