- Quantum technology is still in its infancy, but more than two dozen operators are experimenting
- Use cases are focused on network optimization, wave propagation and security
- Quantum will be used with classical computing and AI, rather than replacing those things
BT. Verizon. Orange. Telefonica. Telstra. These operators are among the more than two dozen already experimenting with and deploying quantum technology, by STL Partners’ count. But what, exactly, are they hoping to gain from this still nascent field?
Fierce took that question to Classiq, an Israel-based startup offering development software for quantum environments. The company, which was founded in 2020, recently received financial backing from SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 and has worked with a handful of telcos on a variety of use cases.
Barak Azar, a quantum applications architect at Classiq, told Fierce telco applications in the quantum realm tend to fall into three big buckets: network optimization, wave propagation and cybersecurity.
Telco quantum use cases
On the network optimization side, telcos are looking to use quantum muscle to optimize network design, antenna placement and antenna tilt. Similarly, they’re looking to quantum techniques to simulate antenna wave propagation and hone phased arrays.
Indeed, Ericsson put out a paper in January detailing its experiments with quantum technology. That document highlighted the potential to use quantum computing for things like calculating antenna tilt and peak to average power ratio minimization.
“There are several computationally expensive problems in the radio domain that could potentially benefit from quantum computing in theory,” Ericsson’s team wrote.
Classiq’s Azar said telcos have also been very keen to use the tech for cybersecurity, looking to cryptoanalysis to understand how quantum computers will impact encryption, leveraging quantum to speed anomaly detection and optimizing security update schedules.
Additionally, a slew of operators – including BT, Verizon, Orange and others – have begun experimenting with security tools like quantum key distribution (QKD).
Why quantum?
But we wondered – with the power of AI tools rapidly developing, why eschew CPUs and GPUs for quantum technology? Azar said it’s not an either/or kind of situation.
“Something important to understand is that quantum computers won’t replace AI, they will not replace classical computing, they will not replace GPUs. They are used as an accelerator for specific computational problems,” he explained.
Simply put, quantum computers can solve certain problems classical computers can’t because they can hold exponentially more information than classical computers can, Azar said. Thus, they can solve bigger, more complex problems faster.
What kind of gains can quantum deliver today? Ericsson’s study noted an “up to 29x speedup provided by quantum annealer on optimization tasks compared with a single-threaded central processing unit-based solver.” The company added that “training machine learning models in the quantum domain require up to 20x fewer trainable parameters.”
And Azar pointed out that even incremental gains in speed or accuracy can add up to real dollars quickly when you’re talking about large scale business.
Quantum progress
Right, so what’s the state of play today?
A recent report from STL Partners indicated that as of the end of June 2025 a total of 29 operators had made 75 statements either announcing quantum work or unveiling deployments.
The research firm highlighted “particularly strong” activity in South Korea and Japan (i.e., KT, SK Telecom and KDDI), though noted progress across North America, Western Europe and Australia as well.