GSMA issues a post-quantum guidance series for telecom operators
1 OCTOBER 2024, LONDON
The GSMA issued a post-quantum guidance series for telecom operators, documents PQ.03 through PQ.07, from October 2024 to May 2026. The series covers telecom use cases for post-quantum cryptography, addressing IoT, roaming, base stations and satellite. It gives operators guidance tailored to the varied parts of a telecom network rather than one general treatment.
Telecom needs this specificity. Networks include long-lived, specialised equipment and distinct use cases like roaming and satellite links, where generic post-quantum advice falls short. By addressing each use case, the series helps operators see the particular migration challenges of base stations, IoT devices and the other components that make up a modern network.
The series suits a broad audience within the industry. Telecom operators and their equipment suppliers can each find guidance relevant to the parts of the network they own, because the GSMA breaks the problem into use cases rather than treating the network as a single system. That structure lets teams focus on their own components without wading through irrelevant material.
Why it matters. The GSMA series gives telecom operators post-quantum guidance matched to the real structure of their networks, from IoT and roaming to base stations and satellite. That use-case approach is valuable because telecom's specialised, long-lived equipment makes migration harder than in general IT. Operators can use the relevant documents in the series to plan migration for each part of their network, and suppliers can align their products accordingly.