BARCELONA, Spain -- SK Telecom announced Monday it would acquire the world’s No. 1 quantum cryptographic business, based in Switzerland, as a move to strengthen data security in the next-generation network. 

The Swiss company acquired by SKT is IDQ, which announced the world’s first quantum random number generator in 2002 and launched the first quantum key distribution service in 2006. 

The South Korean mobile carrier announced the acquisition on the opening day of the Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona, where the company is showcasing new fifth-generation network services using hologram and virtual reality technologies. 

Quantum cryptography, the science of utilizing quantum mechanics to perform cryptographic tasks, is rising as an essential data security technology in the upcoming era of 5G network and Internet of Things. 

Because keys encrypted in quantum bits are irreplicable with any existing hacking technologies, it is considered the most complex and secure data security technology. 

The quantum random number generator is needed to encrypt data with random numbers that are impossible for hackers to predict. 

SKT will acquire a stake of over 50 percent in IDQ for around 70 billion won, the company said. The acquisition process will be completed by June.
SKT and IDQ held a partnership since 2016. The Korean telco invested 2.5 billion won in IDQ to co-develop an ultra-small QRNG chip that was announced last year. 

“Safety will be a new paradigm in the 5G era, where offline objects will go wireless,” said SKT CEO Park Jung-ho. “SKT will provide the most secure 5G network services to customers around the world.” 

While SKT possesses patents for quantum application technologies and capabilities to operate telecom networks, IDQ owns original quantum technologies and commercial products. 

IDQ CEO Gregorie Ribordy will maintain full management of the company from technology development to businesses. 

With about 30 experts on quantum cryptographic communications, IDQ is ranked first in global sales (except for China) and in number of patents. The firm was established in 2001.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)
The Korea Herald correspondent