International operator says the successful proof of concept paves the way for the commercial launch by the end of the year
Sparkle, the international operator, says it has successfully run a proof of concept (PoC) for Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) for a quantum-safe internet use case.
It was carried out in collaboration with Adtran, Arqit Quantum and Intel, supported by Telsy, which specialises in cybersecurity and like Sparkle is part of the TIM Group.
The trial was carried out on Sparkle’s metropolitan fibre network in Athens and demonstrated a fully automated implementation of an on-demand MEF Internet Access Service secured by post-quantum cryptography. Sparkle says it is planning the commercial launch of its NaaS/Quantum-Safe Internet (NaaS/QSI) later this year.
Other use cases running on Sparkle’s Naas Suite will progressively follow.
Building on earlier work
This PoC follows an earlier trial carried out on an International VPN between Italy and Germany. Sparkle tested the instantiation of a NaaS solution composed by on-demand networking and security capabilities, leveraging Adtran’s Ensemble cloud-based orchestration and automation software solution.
Power of partnerships
The operator integrated connectivity functions with Arqit’s quantum-safe encryption embedded on an Intel-powered NetSec accelerator card which was used as Universal Customer Premises Equipment (uCPE),
Daniele Mancuso, Chief Marketing & Product Management at Sparkle, said, “Our NaaS vision is rooted in the belief that connectivity should be seamless, ubiquitous, secure and adaptable. We envision a world where businesses can effortlessly scale their Wide Area Networks, adapting to changing demands with agility and precision.
“NaaS enables this by offering flexible, on-demand network services that are easily customizable to meet the unique needs of each customer. Whether it’s expanding bandwidth during peak times, ensuring low latency for critical applications, or providing secure connections for sensitive data, Sparkle’s NaaS solutions are designed to deliver unparalleled performance and reliability”.