Orange Business launches first commercial quantum-safe network service in France

Aliette Mousnier-Lompré, CEO, Orange Business, said the new service “is a significant step in the Orange multi-layer quantum-safe networking strategy, as we help our enterprise customers respond to the growing and evolving security threats from quantum computing.”

Multi-layered security

A key focus of the joint Orange and Toshiba service is on multi-layered security.

A defense-in-depth principle combines hardware-based quantum key distribution (QKD) and software-based post-quantum cryptography (PQC) technologies to protect sensitive data and ensure future data secrecy.

The combination of QKD and PQC means organizations can benefit from a multi-layered security approach, providing the most secure network possible.

Already, a major French financial services company has connected multiple sites to Orange’s quantum service, utilizing quantum-safe infrastructure to secure its critical financial data.

Leveraging existing assets

For Orange, one of the other compelling elements of the new service is that it can run over the incumbent carrier’s existing fiber network.

The Orange Quantum Defender is provided over the existing Orange commercial fiber network in Paris, utilizing Toshiba’s QKD technology.

But before the service was launched, the two companies did extensive testing.

The quantum-safe network has been developed through years of collaboration between Orange and Toshiba, validating QKD for commercial applications. Previous joint tests have shown that Toshiba’s QKD technology can successfully scale across long distances at high secret key rates while coexisting with conventional data signals.

These tests demonstrated that QKD could be utilized by businesses to safeguard their data in real-life scenarios, not only today, but also that it could be easily integrated into existing fiber networks, thereby lowering barriers to adoption. The new network marks a fundamental step not only in protecting highly sensitive commercial data but also supports France’s national quantum strategy.

“We have been collaborating with Orange for several years to validate QKD technology performance across existing fibre networks, and I’m excited to now jointly launch the first commercial solution that can deliver a quantum-safe future for organisations in Paris,” Hiroshi Tsukino, Corporate VP of Toshiba Corporation, and VP of ICT Solutions Division at Toshiba Digital Solutions. 

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