- Capability group
- Quantum Technologies
- Domain
- Critical Technology · Hard Power
- Identifier
- factbase.org/cap/8M8XMR9X07
- Reference
- Quantum communication Wikipedia
Papers
23.7k
2020–2024
Paper growth
+140%
2020–24 on 2015–19
Patent families
5.6k
2020–2024
Filed abroad
23%
families in more than one office
In the framework
What the capability covers and what it leaves to others, and the indicators it will be measured by.
Bounds
Covers quantum communication technology; the fibre and satellite infrastructure it rides on belongs to Strategic Infrastructure, and classical quantum-resistant cryptography is the neighbouring capability.
Lineage
Carried from v0.0 (formerly Quantum communication (including quantum key distribution)) with the same identifier; rewritten from definition to capacity.
Indicators
- research publication share in quantum communicationResearch
- quantum key distribution networks deployedPending
Research
Papers classified to the capability, by year and by the nation of their authors' institutions, 2020–2024. Read from the v0.0 research topic Quantum communication (including quantum key distribution).
Papers by year
The five leading nations, papers by year
Share of papers, 2020–2024
Of papers with a known author nation; 51% have none and are left out.
- 1China23.3%3,222 papers
- 2United States12.8%1,774 papers
- 3India6.3%871 papers
- 4Germany5.6%773 papers
- 5United Kingdom5.1%708 papers
- 6Italy3.3%455 papers
- 7Canada3.1%434 papers
- 8Japan3.1%434 papers
- 9Spain2.4%337 papers
- 10France2.4%336 papers
Leading institutions, 2020–2024
By fractional count: each paper divided among its authors' institutions.
- 1University of Science and Technology of China205fractional papers
- 2Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications187fractional papers
- 3Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications90fractional papers
- 4Tsinghua University69fractional papers
- 5Nanjing University57fractional papers
- 6University of Bristol55fractional papers
- 7Massachusetts Institute of Technology50fractional papers
- 8Delft University of Technology48fractional papers
- 9National University of Singapore45fractional papers
- 10Shanxi University38fractional papers
Patents
Patent families by the nation of origin of their applicants and their earliest priority year, from the CPC and IPC classes the capability is read from. 2025 onwards is incomplete: families are published 18 months after priority.
Families by priority year
The five leading origins, families by year
1,145 applicants filed here in 2015–2024; the five largest held 13% of families (HHI 63 of 10,000: unconcentrated).
Share of families by origin, 2020–2024
- 1China67.5%3,767 families
- 2United States10.4%580 families
- 3South Korea6.3%354 families
- 4Germany3.2%178 families
- 5Japan3.2%178 families
- 6United Kingdom1.6%87 families
- 7France1.1%64 families
- 8Canada0.9%53 families
- 9Israel0.7%37 families
- 10Switzerland0.6%35 families
Applicants filing most internationally, 2015–2024
Families filed in more than one office, by applicant as the offices name them.
- 1TOSHIBA KK112international families
- 2TOSHIBA CORP107international families
- 3LG ELECTRONICS INC64international families
- 4DEUTSCHE TELEKOM AG50international families
- 5HUAWEI TECH CO LTD44international families
- 6NEC CORP42international families
- 7ARQIT LTD36international families
- 8ID QUANTIQUE S A36international families
- 9ID QUANTIQUE SA32international families
- 10HUAWEI TECH DUESSELDORF GMBH31international families
Classification read
- H04B10/70 Photonic quantum communication · 10.4k documents
- H04L9/0852 Quantum cryptography and quantum key distribution · 23.3k documents
Shares inventions with
Capabilities whose classes the same families also fall in, by overlap (Jaccard).
- Quantum Computing470 families · 0.064
- Post-Quantum Cryptography54 families · 0.024
- Privacy, Identity & Trust Technologies1,354 families · 0.019
- Advanced Optical Communication & Photonics654 families · 0.013
- Protective Cybersecurity Technologies412 families · 0.005
Companies
50 companies in this capability, across 6 regions. The leading 12:
- 1ToshibaLargest international patent holder in quantum communication and a leading commercial QKD vendor (multiplexed and twin-field QKD systems) deployed in BT's London network, in Korea and in Southeast Asia; taken private by JIP in 2023.Manufacture
- 2QuantumCTekUSTC spin-off that supplies QKD equipment for China's Beijing-Shanghai backbone and metro quantum networks; China Telecom Quantum Group became its controlling shareholder in 2025 and it stands here for that group.Manufacture
- 3IonQ (incl. ID Quantique)Took control of ID Quantique, the Swiss pioneer of commercial QKD and QRNG (Clavis/Cerberis), in 2025 and also bought Qubitekk and Lightsynq; IDQ deployed Slovakia's national skQCI network.Manufacture
- 4HuaweiRanks among the top international patent applicants in quantum communication (CV-QKD and QKD network integration), with work done in Shenzhen and at its Düsseldorf research centre.Design
- 5NECLong-standing QKD system developer and a major patent holder; with NICT it built the Tokyo QKD Network and supplies QKD equipment for Japanese government links.Manufacture
- 6Deutsche TelekomT-Labs coordinates the EU OpenQKD and Petrus/EuroQCI work and holds a large quantum-communication patent portfolio; it runs QKD testbeds over its German fibre network.Operation
- 7NTTNTT Basic Research Labs developed differential-phase-shift QKD and quantum-repeater research and works on all-photonic quantum network concepts under its IOWN programme.Research
- 8SK TelecomKorea's leading QKD operator: it owned ID Quantique until the 2025 IonQ deal, has QKD on its 5G backbone, and sells QKD/QRNG-secured services and quantum-random-number chips.Operation
- 9ThalesThales Alenia Space leads European space-QKD projects (TeQuantS, studies for the EuroQCI space segment and the IRIS2-linked quantum segment), and Thales integrates QKD into secure government networks.Integration
- 10BT GroupWith Toshiba it launched the world's first commercial metro quantum-secured network trial in London (2022) and runs the UK Quantum Network testbeds with academic partners.Operation
- 11SESLeads the ESA/EU EAGLE-1 consortium building Europe's first sovereign space-based QKD satellite and works with SpeQtral on quantum-secure satellite communications.Operation
- 12Cisco SystemsCisco Quantum Labs developed an entanglement-source chip and quantum network software stack in 2025, and Cisco routers support QKD key delivery through its SKIP protocol.Design
