Tag Archives: International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

Secure quantum communication network with 15 users

Things are moving quickly where quantum communication networks are concerned. Back in April 2021, Dutch scientists announced the first multi-node quantum network connecting three processors (see my July 8, 2021 posting with the news and an embedded video).

Less than six months later, Chinese scientists announced work on a 15-user quantum network. From a September 23, 2021 news item on phys.org,

Quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) based on entanglement can directly transmit confidential information. Scientist [sic] in China explored a QSDC network based on time-energy entanglement and sum-frequency generation. The results show that when any two users are performing QSDC over 40 kilometers of optical fiber, and the rate of information transmission can be maintained at 1Kbp/s. Our result lays the foundation for the realization of satellite-based long-distance and global QSDC in the future.

A September 23, 2021 Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) press release on EurekAlert, which seems to have originated the news item, provides additional detail,

Quantum communication has presented a revolutionary step in secure communication due to its high security of the quantum information, and many communication protocols have been proposed, such as the quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) protocol. QSDC based on entanglement can directly transmit confidential information. Any attack of QSDC results to only random number, and cannot obtain any useful information from it. Therefore, QSDC has simple communication steps and reduces potential security loopholes, and offers high security guarantees, which guarantees the security and the value propositions of quantum communications in general. However, the inability to simultaneously distinguish the four sets of encoded orthogonal entangled states in entanglement-based QSDC protocols limits its practical application. Furthermore, it is important to construct quantum network in order to make wide applications of quantum secure direct communication. Experimental demonstration of QSDC is badly required.

In a new paper published in Light Science & Application, a team of scientists, led by Professor Xianfeng Chen from State Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Communication Systems and Networks, School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China and Professor Yuanhua Li from Department of Physics, Jiangxi Normal University, China have explored a QSDC network based on time-energy entanglement and sum-frequency generation (SFG). They present a fully connected entanglement-based QSDC network including five subnets, with 15 users. Using the frequency correlations of the fifteen photon pairs via time division multiplexing and dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM), they perform a 40-kilometer fiber QSDC experiment by implying two-step transmission between each user. In this process, the network processor divides the spectrum of the single-photon source into 30 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) channels. With these channels, there will be a coincidence event between each user by performing a Bell-state measurement based on the SFG. This allows the four sets of encoded entangled states to be identified simultaneously without post-selection.

It is well known that the security and reliability of the information transmission for QSDC is an essential part in the quantum network. Therefore, they implemented block transmission and step-by-step transmission methods in QSDC with estimating the secrecy capacity of the quantum channel. After confirming the security of the quantum channel, the legitimate user performs encoding or decoding operations within these schemes reliably.

These scientists summarize the experiment results of their network scheme:

“The results show that when any two users are performing QSDC over 40 kilometers of optical fiber, the fidelity of the entangled state shared by them is still greater than 95%, and the rate of information transmission can be maintained at 1 Kbp/s. Our result demonstrates the feasibility of a proposed QSDC network, and hence lays the foundation for the realization of satellite-based long-distance and global QSDC in the future.”

“With this scheme, each user interconnects with any others through shared pairs of entangled photons in different wavelength. Moreover, it is possible to improve the information transmission rate greater than 100 Kbp/s in the case of the high-performance detectors, as well as high-speed control in modulator being used” they added.

“It is worth noting the present-work, which offers long-distance point-to-point QSDC connection, combined with the recently proposed secure-repeater quantum network of QSDC, which offers secure end-to-end communication throughout the quantum Internet, will enable the construction of secure quantum network using present-day technology, realizing the great potential of QSDC in future communication.” the scientists forecast.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

A 15-user quantum secure direct communication network by Zhantong Qi, Yuanhua Li, Yiwen Huang, Juan Feng, Yuanlin Zheng & Xianfeng Chen. Light: Science & Applications volume 10, Article number: 183 (2021) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-021-00634-2 Published: 14 September 2021

This paper is open access.

For the profoundly curious, there is an earlier version of this paper on arXiv.org, the site run by Cornell University where it was posted after moderation but prior to peer-review for publication in a journal.

Media registration is open for the 2018 ITU ( International Telecommunication Union) Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-18) being held 29 October – 16 November 2018 in Dubai

I’m a little late with this but there’s still time to register should you happen to be in or able to get to Dubai easily. From an October 18, 2018 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Media Advisory (received via email),

Media registration is open for the 2018 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-18) – the highest policy-making body of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations’ specialized agency for information and communication technology. This will be closing soon, so all media intending to attend the event MUST register as soon as possible here.

Held every four years, it is the key event at which ITU’s 193 Member States decide on the future role of the organization, thereby determining ITU’s ability to influence and affect the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) worldwide. It is expected to attract around 3,000 participants, including Heads of State and an estimated 130 VIPs from more than 193 Member States and more than 800 private companies, academic institutions and national, regional and international bodies.

ITU plays an integral role in enabling the development and implementation of ICTs worldwide through its mandate to: coordinate the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promote international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, work to improve communication infrastructure in the developing world, and establish worldwide standards that foster seamless interconnection of a vast range of communications systems.

Delegates will tackle a number of pressing issues, from strategies to promote digital inclusion and bridge the digital divide, to ways to leverage such emerging technologies as the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, 5G, and others, to improve the way all of us, everywhere, live and work.

The conference also sets ITU’s Financial Plan and elects its five top executives – Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General, and the Directors of the Radiocommunication, Telecommunication Standardization and Telecommunication Development Bureaux – who will guide its work over the next four years.

What: ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2018 (PP-18) sets the next four-year strategy, budget and leadership of ITU.

Why: Finance, Business, Tech, Development and Foreign Affairs reporters will find PP-18 relevant to their newsgathering. Decisions made at PP-18 are designed to create an enabling ICT environment where the benefits of digital connectivity can reach all people and economies, everywhere. As such, these decisions can have an impact on the telecommunication and technology sectors as well as developed and developing countries alike.

When: 29 October – 16 November 2018: With several Press Conferences planned during the event.

* Historically the Opening, Closing and Plenary sessions of this conference are open to media. Confirmation of those sessions open to media, and Press Conference times, will be made closer to the event date.

Where: Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

More Information:

REGISTER FOR ACCREDITATION

I visited the ‘ITU Events Registration and Accreditation Process for Media‘ webpage and foudn these tidbits,

Accreditation eligibility & credentials 

1. Journalists* should provide an official letter of assignment from the Editor-in-Chief (or the News Editor for radio/TV). One letter per crew/editorial team will suffice. Editors-in-Chief and Bureau Chiefs should submit a letter from their Director. Please email this to pressreg@itu.int, along with the required supporting credentials below:​

    • ​​​​​print and online publications should be available to the general public and published at least 6 times a year by an organization whose principle business activity is publishing and which generally carries paid advertising;

      o 2 copies of recent byline articles published within the last 4 months.
    • news wire services should provide news coverage to subscribers, including newspapers, periodicals and/or television networks;

      o 2 copies of recent byline articles or broadcasting material published within the last 4 months.
    • broadcast should provide news and information programmes to the general public. Independent film and video production companies can only be accredited if officially mandated by a broadcast station via a letter of assignment;

      o broadcasting material published within the last 4 months.
    • freelance journalists including photographers, must provide clear documentation that they are on assignment from a specific news organization or publication. Evidence that they regularly supply journalistic content to recognized media may be acceptable in the absence of an assignment letter at the discretion of the ITU Media Relations Service.

      o a valid assignment letter from the news organization or publication.

 2. Bloggers may be granted accreditation if blog content is deemed relevant to the industry, contains news commentary, is regularly updated and made publicly available. Corporate bloggers are invited to register as participants. Please see Guidelines for Blogger Accreditation below for more details.

Guidelines for Blogger Accreditation

ITU is committed to working with independent ‘new media’ reporters and columnists who reach their audiences via blogs, podcasts, video blogs and other online media. These are the guidelines we use to determine whether to issue official media accreditation to independent online media representatives: 

ITU reserves the right to request traffic data from a third party (Sitemeter, Technorati, Feedburner, iTunes or equivalent) when considering your application. While the decision to grant access is not based solely on traffic/subscriber data, we ask that applicants provide sufficient transparency into their operations to help us make a fair and timely decision. 

Obtaining media accreditation for ITU events is an opportunity to meet and interact with key industry and political figures. While continued accreditation for ITU events is not directly contingent on producing coverage, owing to space limitations we may take this into consideration when processing future accreditation requests. Following any ITU event for which you are accredited, we therefore kindly request that you forward a link to your post/podcast/video blog to pressreg@itu.int. 

Bloggers who are granted access to ITU events are expected to act professionally. Those who do not maintain the standards expected of professional media representatives run the risk of having their accreditation withdrawn. 

If you can’t find answers to your questions on the ‘ITU Events Registration and Accreditation Process for Media‘ webpage, you can contact,

For media accreditation inquiries:


Rita Soraya Abino-Quintana
Media Accreditation Officer
ITU Corporate Communications

Tel: +41 22 730 5424

For anything else, contact,

For general media inquiries:


Jennifer Ferguson-Mitchell
Senior Media and Communications Officer
ITU Corporate Communications

Tel: +41 22 730 5469

Mobile: +41 79 337 4615

There you have it.