October 1, 2026 -- The Quantum Internet Alliance (QIA) has received new funding totaling €47.5 million from the European Commission to advance its work on a fully functional quantum internet prototype and prepare it for practical use. The prototype will be realized at the University of Innsbruck, and €5.4 million of this funding will go to Innsbruck researchers for their contributions to the project. Quantum networks are based on quantum computers connected to one another via fiber-optic cables or satellites using photons – a technology that can enable eavesdropping-proof communication, distributed quantum computing, and high-precision time measurement.

“Building on trapped-ion expertise in Innsbruck, we will link together two metropolitan-scale networks of ion-trap quantum computers over hundreds of kilometers,” says Tracy Northup of the Department of Experimental Physics at the University of Innsbruck. “For now, the network links will consist of long-distance optical fibers in our laboratories, but in the future, these could be fibers across a city, or linking distant cities,” add Ben Lanyon, also from the Department of Experimental Physics. The two metropolitan-scale networks will include three trapped-ion quantum computers. Transmission over the fiber-optic link between the two networks, which will span hundreds of kilometers, will be made possible by so-called quantum repeaters, the hardware for which will be delivered to Innsbruck by project collaborators in Barcelona.

The research groups led by Lanyon and Northup are developing the trapped-ion hardware for the prototype quantum computers, in close collaboration with Innsbruck-based spin-off company AQT. Subsequently, the Innsbruck hardware—along with the hardware from other project partners and the associated network control software—will be integrated in the Innsbruck laboratories to complete the prototype. Finally, the prototype network will undergo a series of tests to verify its quantum functionality.

Years of development

In recent years, the international QIA team has established a European platform for the development of the quantum internet by integrating research in the areas of hardware, software, and networks, laying the technological foundations for a quantum network prototype. Over the next 3.5 years, QIA will now combine these technologies into a complete, programmable quantum network prototype capable of running quantum network applications. A key milestone will be demonstrating how two metropolitan-scale quantum networks can be connected via optical fiber using quantum repeaters—a crucial step toward large-scale quantum communication.