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Comment by nrclark | Hacker News Reader

It this article seriously trying to pass off "quantum encryption will be part of 5G networks" with a straight face?

I haven't seen _any_ quantum communications hardware on the market. Of any kind. For any industry. And despite that, it's ready for mass adoption in cell phones? I don't think so.

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Not sure that is the argument - by my read, they expect to a quantum network as part of the network core. I cannot tell how far out of the core it would extend (definitely not down to individual mobile devices, but perhaps to individual cells?), which would be the determining factor in how much this affects global SIGINT

Please link me any product pages for hardware enabling a quantum stuff for their network core. I might have missed some revolution, but expect this to be.... "wishful thinking". At best.

There are multiple reports of using the Micius satellite to generate quantum networks. This has some marketing spin, since the satellite itself has to be trusted, but it is still an impressive achievement. As I understand, the satellite acts as the relay node. Have not looked at their publications to see hard numbers describing the approach practicality.

I totally agree that we are very, very far from a consumer (and perhaps even an enterprise) product. However, it does seem to me (based on scientific papers, news, and patent filings) that the Chinese take quantum networks seriously and are pushing hard to get a government network. IMO, this network would come with all the limits of new technology (slower than you would want, fewer guarantees, etc) but with all the advances of spending hundreds of million to be the first creating a new significant technology.

If you're aware of these points already, and still believe them to be wishful thinking, I would be curious what makes you say that

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