Deutsche Telekom opened a research laboratory in Germany to explore the use of quantum technology in commercial telecoms networks, with plans to work with partners across academia and business for future projects.

Located at its T-Labs site in Berlin, the facility will focus on developing faster and more secure communications through various applications.

Deutsche Telekom stated the site includes a 2,000 kilometre test fibre network connecting to partners including the technical universities of Berlin, Dresden and Munich, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications.

The launch of the quantum laboratory follows Deutsche Telekom’s track record in leading various related projects.

Earlier this year, the operator was selected as the official coordinator for the European Commission’s PETRUS project, aimed at securing the bloc’s communications infrastructure.

Its IT arm T-Systems also teamed with IBM to provide enterprise customers with cloud access to the latter’s quantum computing systems.