Lumen funds Ohio State quantum networking research and schedules PQC for its SASE service

Lumen is backing Ohio State research on quantum links over deployed fiber and plans Fortinet post-quantum cryptography in its SASE service from November 2026.

Lumen Technologies, the Nasdaq-listed fiber network operator, announced on October 29 a set of initiatives that touch quantum technology on two fronts: an investment in research at The Ohio State University on how deployed optical fiber could carry quantum signals over long distances, and a plan to add post-quantum cryptography (PQC) to its Fortinet-based Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) service. The same announcement also covered an AI networking collaboration with Emerald AI.

What was announced

According to Lumen's press release, the company's investment supports quantum information science and engineering work at Ohio State that already draws on federal and state funding and uses deployed optical fiber. Lumen says the results will help it understand how its own fiber footprint could support quantum networking in the future.

On security, Lumen plans to bring the PQC capabilities available in Fortinet's FortiOS to its SASE offering, which is built on FortiGate technology. The company gives a timeline: initial availability in November 2026 and general availability planned for January 2027. Lumen also says it will help customers identify encryption weaknesses and move toward quantum-resistant security.

The technical details

The Ohio State research has two focus areas, according to Lumen. The first is long-range networking: studying the optical technologies needed to link quantum systems in different locations. The second is distributed sensing: exploring how quantum technologies could improve geophysical monitoring and help detect conditions that affect network performance.

The networking problem is a basic one. Quantum states cannot be copied, so the optical amplifiers that boost ordinary signals along long fiber routes cannot simply be reused for quantum information. Distributing entanglement or quantum states across a metro or long-haul network therefore needs new hardware and protocols, and carrier fiber that is already in the ground is a natural testbed.

The PQC plan addresses a nearer-term risk. Lumen points to the "harvest now, decrypt later" scenario, in which encrypted traffic captured today could be decrypted once sufficiently powerful quantum computers exist. Moving enterprise traffic protection to quantum-resistant algorithms is the standard defense.

Why it matters

Large network operators own the fiber that any future quantum internet will most likely run on, so their engagement with quantum networking research is an early indicator of how quickly the technology could move out of university testbeds. On the security side, PQC is shifting from standards documents into commercial network services with firm dates, which gives enterprise buyers a concrete option to evaluate rather than a roadmap item.

Kate Johnson, Lumen's CEO, framed the effort as part of an attempt to "lay the foundation for a connected quantum future" while preparing enterprises for new security threats.

What to watch

The first marker is the November 2026 initial release of PQC in Lumen's SASE service and the move to general availability in January 2027, including which algorithms and configurations customers can use. For the Ohio State work, the next signals will be published results and any field trials on Lumen's deployed fiber.