In June 2025, the Government reaffirmed its commitment to quantum as one of six “frontier technologies” for securing long-term economic growth. From helping to tackle climate change and creating new medicines, to detecting natural disasters early, quantum technologies are set to transform what’s possible across science, industry and society.
At BT we have seen first-hand its security potential for UK networks to protect our national infrastructure. With AI taking up media column inches, the UK’s Industrial Strategy sets out the real opportunity for quantum too – to boost economic growth, build national resilience and drive technological leadership.
However, realizing the significant opportunities that quantum has to offer in the future, requires the development of secure, trusted quantum digital infrastructure today.
Why Now is the Time to Act
Countries worldwide are racing to develop quantum technologies, investing billions to gain a competitive edge. The UK is already a strong player and has all the right ingredients to lead the global quantum race: thriving research communities, world-class academic institutions, strong government and industry backing and investment.
And with the government’s commitment to its five National Quantum Missions, providing long-term funding for quantum programs and aiming for a 15% share of the global quantum technologies market, a bright quantum-enabled future is in reach.
Priorities to Build a Trusted Foundation for the Quantum Age
The challenge for the UK now is to keep up the pace. To keep its lead and seize the opportunities that quantum technologies offer, a secure, trusted quantum ready digital infrastructure must come first.
BT is proudly playing its part, with over a decade of work in pioneering quantum communications and networking that will strengthen and protect national infrastructure and help build the UK’s quantum digital backbone.
Protecting the UK in a Quantum World
Trust is the foundation of our digital economy and data security ensures that everything from banking and payments to smart cities and healthcare continues to run smoothly. But quantum computers will one day break current encryption methods. Cybercriminals could even steal data now and crack it later.
To stay ahead, the UK needs to accelerate the roll out of networks that are secure from quantum threats, to protect sensitive data in industries like finance, healthcare and public services. This is essential to fortify the UK’s digital infrastructure, helping to protect national interests and critical communications, while also safeguarding public trust in government services and digital systems.
One big step in bringing quantum-secure technologies from research into the real world, is the launch of the Quantum-Secure Metro Network (QSMN) in London. Developed by BT in partnership with Toshiba, it uses quantum key distribution (QKD) to protect data moving between businesses. Organizations including EY, HSBC and Equinix are already on the network, testing quantum secure use cases.
With the government’s ambition to build a world leading nationwide quantum network by 2035, to pioneer the future quantum internet, BT’s QSMN can be seen as an important step in this journey to drive demand, awareness and commercial adoption.
Moving this journey forward, collaborations with the European Space Agency to demonstrate satellite-based QKD and earth-space optical communications (which would underpin a national or global quantum secure network), further advance the ambition towards a quantum internet.
Equally important in the commercialization of quantum secure networks, is the development of standards, so that technology is trusted.
Government funded projects like Q-Assure, which looks to assure QKD as an early example of deployable quantum technology that can play a role in critical infrastructure, are critical to supporting global quantum security standards, shaping international regulations and meeting global security benchmarks.
Read now: NCSC Sets 2035 Deadline for Post-Quantum Cryptography Migration
Looking Ahead to the Quantum Internet
Quantum ready networks which will connect quantum computers and devices (enabling new forms of communication and computation) will be the bedrock of the quantum internet. Developing an architectural view of how networks need to evolve, to enable the quantum internet, is a critical priority for the UK.
With quantum technologies moving at an incredible speed, the UK quantum ecosystem must continue to rapidly explore and test the practical technologies emerging from this highly innovative field, such as quantum entanglement, to understand how these can be used to build a quantum ready network.
A Quantum Future Within Reach
The UK has the momentum, resources and talent needed to lead the quantum era – but quantum secure, scalable infrastructure is the essential enabler. That means building trusted, quantum-secure and quantum-ready networks, that industries and governments can depend on. From there, it will be about scaling up adoption.
The overall goal is simple: help make the UK the safest, most connected, and most innovative place to harness the power of quantum technologies. Ultimately, when we build the right foundations today, we’ll unlock extraordinary opportunities for tomorrow.