SK Telecom and KISTI Develop Digital Twin for QKD Network Testing

Insider Brief

• SK Telecom and KISTI developed a digital twin technology to simulate and verify quantum cryptographic communication network conditions before deploying physical QKD equipment.
• The system links SKT’s Kubernetes-based quantum key management system with KISTI’s QKD simulator through an ETSI standard-compatible interface.
• The companies said the setup can simulate factors such as communication distance, optical loss and equipment characteristics while supporting interoperability with QKD systems from other organizations.

PRESS RELEASE — SK Telecom (CEO Jeong Jae-heon, CEO) news.sktelecom.com 22, said that in collaboration with the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI), the company has developed digital twin technology to verify performance and operability before actually establishing a quantum cryptographic communication network.

The technology was unveiled at the European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC) 2026, Europe’s largest international optical communication event, which has been taking place in Malaga, Spain since September 21.

Once a quantum cryptographic communication network is installed, it is difficult to change conditions such as optical cable length or optical loss. The equipment is expensive, so it is not easy to actually test various conditions. SKT and KISTI have virtually moved this entire testing process.