BEIJING, Aug 4 — The newest benchmark in quantum networking did not come from orbit. Data from a terrestrial fiber experiment shows entangled photons distributed over 420 kilometers of cable — a record that reframes the economics of an industry China first proved viable from space a decade ago.
That earlier proof came from Micius, launched in 2016 by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The satellite distributed entangled photons over 1,200 kilometers via free-space laser links and, in 2017, demonstrated satellite-based quantum key distribution between Beijing and Vienna. The QKD rate at that distance: 1 kbps. Ground stations in Delingha, Tibet, and Nanshan anchored the network.
The cost of the high road
Space won the distance race, but it carries a heavy bill. The constraints on satellite methods are well documented: atmospheric interference, limited transmission windows, and the high cost of space infrastructure. Each pass of a satellite offers only a narrow window to establish a secure link, and clouds can shut the channel entirely.
Fiber has the opposite weakness — attenuation, the steady loss of signal over distance — but a far friendlier cost structure. The 420-kilometer terrestrial run managed only 0.1 entangled pairs per second, a modest throughput next to Micius’s reach. Yet data shows fiber is scalable and cost-effective for terrestrial networks, and for the markets funding next-generation infrastructure, that trade-off decides where capital flows.
For Central Asia, the distinction is commercial as much as technical. Satellites leap over geography; fiber must be laid through it, along the same rights-of-way as power lines, rail and data cables. For landlocked economies that sit on transcontinental routes between China and Europe, a quantum network built on terrestrial cable aligns with the infrastructure already crossing their territory. The lower entry cost matters to governments weighing a technology with no immediate revenue stream.
Complementary, not competing
The two approaches are not rivals, officials in the sector note. Satellites can connect continents. Fiber networks enable city-wide or regional quantum communication. Each solves a problem the other cannot reach cheaply, and the architecture of future quantum internet is shaping up to use both.
The U.S. and EU have already moved in that direction, investing in hybrid systems that combine fiber and satellite links, as outlined in the 2020 Quantum Internet Alliance roadmap. The logic is straightforward: use fiber where the ground is dense with users and capital, and reserve satellites for the long hauls and hard-to-reach nodes.
What to watch next is whether terrestrial quantum networks follow the same curve as classical telecom — starting in research corridors, then spreading along existing fiber backbones. The 420-kilometer record is a lab result for now, but it marks the distance at which ground-based systems begin to undercut the orbital alternative on cost. That is the number that will shape procurement decisions in the coming years, from European research consortia to Central Asian transit projects looking for an early position in the quantum supply chain.
Sources
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