Photonic Inc. & TELUS Achieve World-First Quantum Teleportation Over Existing Fibre Network

In a landmark achievement, Photonic Inc. and TELUS have jointly demonstrated the world’s first quantum teleportation over an existing metropolitan fibre network. The companies successfully transferred quantum information over 30km of TELUS’ installed commercial fibre using Photonic’s Entanglement First™ architecture, a system capable of retaining and processing the teleported data – a leap beyond previous demonstrations. This breakthrough proves that today’s infrastructure can reliably carry quantum information, paving the way for a quantum secure internet. “The successful demonstration of Photonic’s quantum teleportation on TELUS’ PureFibre is groundbreaking,” said Paul Terry, Photonic Inc. CEO, highlighting the potential of this collaboration to accelerate Canada’s leadership in quantum computing and networking.

TELUS PureFibre Enables 30km Quantum Teleportation

A 30-kilometre quantum teleportation feat, achieved using existing fibre optic infrastructure, signals a pivotal step towards a quantum-secured future. Photonic Inc. and TELUS have demonstrated the successful transfer of quantum information over 30 km of TELUS’ PureFibre network, a distance previously unattained with a fully functional quantum system. This isn’t simply about moving data; it’s about teleporting the state of a qubit, enabling secure communication protocols impossible with classical methods. Unlike prior demonstrations relying on photonic qubits that could only be measured, Photonic’s system transferred information into a matter-based quantum processor capable of retaining and utilizing it. This breakthrough leverages Photonic’s Entanglement First™ architecture, combining silicon-based qubits with telecom-band photonic connectivity, to achieve a critical capability for long-distance quantum networks. CEO. The collaboration, building on a 2024 partnership, is poised to deliver commercial quantum solutions, ranging from secure data centres to nationwide encrypted networks. Nazim Benhadid, Chief Technology Officer at TELUS, affirmed, “These results demonstrate the quantum-potential of TELUS’ PureFibre network.”

The achievement highlights the potential of leveraging established telecommunications infrastructure for scalable quantum computing and networking, a significant advantage of Photonic’s modular system design. Terry Doyle, Managing Partner at TELUS Global Ventures, noted, “It is exciting to have the opportunity to support the technologies that will shape tomorrow.” This demonstration isn’t just a technical success; it’s a validation of a pathway towards a commercially viable quantum internet.

Entanglement First™ Architecture & Silicon-Based Qubits

Photonic Inc. is pioneering a distinctive approach to quantum computing with its Entanglement First™ architecture, diverging from conventional qubit technologies. This system uniquely integrates silicon-based qubits with native telecom band photonic connectivity, a combination that proved instrumental in the recent quantum teleportation demonstration over TELUS’ fibre optic network. This achievement underscores the benefits of Photonic’s modular system design, allowing it to leverage existing telecommunications infrastructure for scalability. The company’s silicon spin qubits, optically linked, offer a pathway to powerful computation and efficient error correction, while also facilitating integration with current data center and telecom environments. CEO.

Ongoing access to TELUS’ PureFibre network provides a valuable real-world testing ground as Photonic advances scalable distributed quantum computing and networking. The company, with a team exceeding 150 experts, is focused on delivering performance at scale through its unmatched distributed quantum computing capabilities, targeting challenges in fields like materials science and drug discovery.

Photonic-TELUS Partnership Advances Quantum Networking

At its core, quantum teleportation relies on a shared entangled quantum state—specifically, entangled photon pairs—which act as a pristine link between two distant points. This process does not involve physically sending the qubit state itself across the fiber; rather, it uses the established entanglement bond and a classical communication channel to effectively ‘reconstruct’ the unknown quantum state at the receiver end. This necessitates Bell-state measurements, a crucial operation that collapses the superposition and allows for the faithful transfer of quantum information without degradation.

Over metropolitan distances, the primary technical hurdles are photon attenuation and decoherence, where quantum states lose their information due to environmental interactions. To counteract these effects, Photonic’s system integrates efficient quantum memory and sophisticated photonically induced entanglement distribution. By utilizing silicon chip photonics, the system can robustly convert fragile traveling photons into trapped, high-fidelity qubit states, enabling the preservation of quantum information required for continuous transmission across existing fiber optic media.

This demonstration marks a significant departure from simple Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), which only transmits secure cryptographic keys. By demonstrating the reliable processing of the teleported state, the system paves the way for a true quantum internet capable of supporting complex quantum computing protocols, such as distributed quantum computation and entanglement swapping. This capability ensures that network nodes can interact with the quantum data directly, moving beyond mere secure transmission.

Despite this impressive milestone, scaling the technology requires addressing complex challenges like integrating multiple quantum repeaters and establishing quantum networking synchronization. Current systems are still constrained by the fidelity and efficiency of quantum repeaters—components that must amplify quantum signals without measuring and thus destroying the delicate quantum state—representing the next frontier for commercial viability and widespread network deployment.

Photonic Inc. is rapidly translating quantum theory into practical applications, recently partnering with TELUS to achieve a landmark in quantum communication. The companies successfully demonstrated quantum teleportation over a 30-kilometer stretch of TELUS’ existing PureFibre network, a feat previously unattained with the capacity for further processing. CEO. The collaboration, expanded from an initial 2024 agreement, isn’t merely about theoretical possibility, but about leveraging existing infrastructure for commercial viability.