Quantum computers are expected, over time, to break parts of the encryption that currently protects digital communication. Quantum-secure communication is intended to help organisations prepare for that shift. That’s important not only for technology specialists, but for the everyday systems people rely on to live their lives including banking, medical data, government communication, as well as the digital infrastructure behind ports, energy grids and other public and vital services.

This includes addressing the so-called ‘harvest now, decrypt later’ risk, where sensitive data intercepted today may become vulnerable in the future. QCFR has been launched to help translate these challenges into practical action now: by testing technologies, assessing implementation conditions and building the operational understanding required for trusted deployment.

QCFR builds on a proven foundation in Rotterdam. In 2024, a consortium including the Port of Rotterdam Authority, Q*Bird, Cisco, Eurofiber, Portbase, Intermax and InnovationQuarter realised what was presented as the world's first scalable quantum internet connection in the port of Rotterdam. That pilot proved that quantum-secure communication can work in a demanding, real-world port environment. QCFR is the logical next step towards broader testing, validation and operational readiness.

In 2025, Eurofiber and Q*Bird secured €1 million in support for the QUEST project, which enables Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) across two of Eurofiber's main datacentres in the Randstad and deploys operational quantum-secure infrastructure, including commercial QKD services that customers can purchase, lease or consume as a managed service. Together, the two initiatives accelerate the deployment and adoption of quantum-secure communications in the Netherlands.

The Fieldlab will focus on quantum-secure communication, including QKD-based environments and advanced QKD protocols. Built around real infrastructure and practical implementation challenges, QCFR will assess technical resilience, interoperability, operational feasibility and integration into existing infrastructure environments.

QCFR also supports capability development, knowledge transfer and practical learning to inform future certification and assurance approaches for trusted adoption at larger scale.

QCFR is founded by INSPIR8ION, Eurofiber, Q*Bird, Cisco and CGI. INSPIR8ION acts as QCFR Manager and coordinates the Fieldlab; Eurofiber provides the digital infrastructure and datacentre environment; Q*Bird contributes its quantum-secure communication technology; Cisco brings networking technology for government and enterprise use; and CGI delivers system integration. They are supported by the Port of Rotterdam, the Municipality of Rotterdam, InnovationQuarter and the Province of Zuid-Holland, which provide the real-world infrastructure, public-sector engagement and regional development that anchor QCFR in the Rotterdam port and the wider Zuid-Holland ecosystem.

The launch event brings together representatives from government, industry, knowledge institutions and the broader innovation ecosystem. With QCFR, Rotterdam strengthens its position as a leading environment for the testing, validation and operational adoption of quantum-secure communications, supporting broader Dutch and European ambitions around digital resilience, trusted connectivity and strategic autonomy.

More information Quantum Communication Fieldlab Rotterdam: https://www.qcfr.eu

European Regional Development Fund (EFRO) program. This funding will support their joint technical project, aptly named QUEST, to enable Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) across two of Eurofiber’s main datacenters in the Randstad, West region of the Netherlands.

The project marks a significant milestone in the development of Next Generation quantum key distribution technology, offering secure, tamper-proof communication between users. By leveraging Eurofiber’s extensive fiberoptic network, the collaboration will allow customers to access QKD secured lit services, ensuring robust data security for critical applications, across multiple local quantum networks.

Deputy Meindert Stolk of the province of South Holland hands over the €1 million euro funding on behalf of Kansen voor West at the NLPavilion MWC25 in Barcelona. Paul Naastepad, Managing Director Eurofiber the Netherlands, Ingrid Romijn, CEO Q*Bird and Marc Hulzebos, Business Innovation Officer Eurofiber.

‘’As a provider of critical digital infrastructure, Eurofiber works daily on the resilience and security of the network. This project is a critical step forward in the evolution of Quantum secure communications. By permanently enabling Quantum Key Distribution across our Randstad datacenters and our Private Cloud infrastructure, we are not just enhancing security for our customers today but also laying the groundwork for future quantum network services,” said Marc Hulzebos, Innovation Manager at Eurofiber. “Our partnership with Q*Bird demonstrates our commitment to scaling emerging technologies, ensuring that Eurofiber remains at the forefront of the next-generation digital infrastructure.’ 

Working with Single Quantum, a manufacturer of quantum detection systems, Q*Bird aims to further develop Next Generation QKD quantum networking technology, with the goal of scaling the technology to a more commercially viable application. In the project, multiple smaller QKD networks will be connected to allow quantum encrypted communication between any pair of users in this extended quantum network. The project will strengthen the collaboration between Q*Bird and network provider Eurofiber, connecting quantum communication networks in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Any customer needing confidential data communication can benefit, including critical infrastructure, local public authorities, governments, and businesses. This will the accelerate development and implementation of an ultra-secure quantum internet.

‘‘As we continue to deploy quantum security solutions, we are excited to contribute to a safer and more secure digital future for our customers,” says co-founder and CEO Ingrid Romijn. ‘Today, we are building devices for quantum-secured data communications and this project will allow us to significantly enhance our business proposition for a wide range of customers. In the future, we will enable general-purpose quantum connectivity by providing new products and seamlessly integrating those with our pre-existing quantum cryptography network across datacenters.’

The Kansen voor West by Provincie Zuid-Holland, subsidy program is an economic stimulation program for the western part of the Netherlands, backed by the European Regional Development Fund (EFRO). It aims to strengthen the regional research and innovation capacity and the introduction of advanced technologies. The main goal of the QUEST project is to accelerate the adoption of cutting-edge quantum security technologies in the Netherlands.

About Q*Bird
Q*Bird  (Q Bird - Secure Quantum Connectivity) is a system provider for secure quantum communications. Their novel technology can protect our data communications and digital infrastructure on the basis of fundamental laws of nature and provably secure, even against a future quantum computer. Q*Bird started in 2022 when it spun out of Delft University of Technology. During 2023, Q*Bird field-tested its prototype systems in various datacenters in the Netherlands, making it available for integration tests with future users and customers. After a successful pilot in which Europe’s largest harbor, the Port of Rotterdam, tested Q*Bird’s Quantum Key Distribution System, Q*Bird is supplying its Falqon4000 series (Products - Q Bird ) in EU27 member states as part of the EuroQCI program, as well as serving other customers.

About Kansen voor West
Kansen voor West provides an innovative boost to the regional economy in the Randstad. The entire Kansen voor West III program is based on the regional smart specialization strategy of the Dutch government. The western region of the Netherlands follows a mission-driven innovation strategy aimed at valorization and removing barriers to the widespread implementation of innovations needed for societal transitions. Acceptance by businesses and citizens is crucial, as is the development of skills in the labor market. Key themes include circularity, climate neutrality, health, safety, digitalization, and integration.

This project is financed by ERDF (European Regional Development Fund), Kansen voor West and Co-Financed by the European Union.

Fiberoptic connections were laid over a total distance of 560 kilometers to connect the ten LVNL locations to the Eurofiber core network. More than 25 kilometers of this involved excavation works to lay new fiberoptic cable. Capacity has been expanded to four fully separate 10 Gb/s DWDM routes, as needed to meet current and future requirements for reliability, speed and security. The new fiberoptic connections guarantee that all the applications that LVNL uses to safely guide all aircraft continue functioning optimally at all times. Before the new infrastructure was launched, this extensive project required the daily efforts of more than 50 engineers, network architects and other experts for 10 months. 
Construction was handled by Eurofiber partners Spie and BAM Telecom, while monitoring and processing is arranged in partnership with Proximus NXT (formerly Telindus).

Ultra-redundant network
LVNL has been tasked with managing the civil airspace over the Netherlands and part of the North Sea. Any aircraft crossing Dutch airspace or planning to land at or take off from an airport in the Netherlands must be able to do so in the safest way possible. LVNL provides extremely safe and efficient 24/7 handling of the huge flow of incoming and outgoing air traffic to and from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and the regional airports elsewhere in the Netherlands. The new network delivered by Eurofiber is ultra redundant: four routes that are fully geographically separated. This extremely reliable network achieves a perfect balance between supreme availability, standardization and scalability, allowing seamless continuity in critical operations and enabling flexibility in handling current and future data flows.

Crucial Voice Communication System
The new nationwide network gives LVNL the ability to expand services to and from the region and guarantee continuity. This includes the Voice Communication System: the crucial voice link between the air traffic controller and the pilot of the aircraft. This VCS system is a safe, reliable connection which is being built centrally at Schiphol and rolled out for regional airports, thanks to the new network structure. This eliminates the need for a standalone local system. The availability of additional bandwidth creates space for new applications, such as Remote Tower, which will eventually make it possible to centralize air traffic control across several different airports.

Equinix Fabric™ is an advanced software-defined interconnection solution that enables customers to directly, securely, and dynamically connect to distributed infrastructure and digital ecosystems on platform Equinix® through a single port without worrying about physical infrastructure.

Mobile Private Network 
MPN – also referred to as ‘Private 5G’ – provides an ultra secure network with its own shielded / dedicated frequency. This zero-interference wireless service is ideal for supporting day-to-day business operations. MPN is an increasingly important trend in mission- and/or business - critical environments like wireless networks for large industrial complexes and campuses. Eurofiber’s new service is best suited to organizations where security and seamless reliable wireless data availability are top priorities. This new private mobile service will make it even easier for customers to gain access to new application-based use cases.

Similar to Eurofiber’s current fixed network services, demanding constant availability, the new mobile network service also meets the very highest standards of security. Eurofiber’s open digital infrastructure runs on collaboration with strategic partners, and MPN is no exception: partnering with operators, resellers and/or co-working directly with end customers will remain key.

Available soon
This new private mobile service aligns seamlessly with the solutions that Eurofiber currently offers over its fixed fiberoptic network. As a result, implementation and market introduction can be started relatively quick. Eurofiber’s new Mobile Private Network service is expected to be available in the Netherlands mid-2024.

Nokia and Eurofiber have already been working together in various ways, including on the recent upgrade and expansion of the fiber network that Eurofiber operates in France and Belgium. 

Q*Bird’s Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology is based on the fundamental laws of nature, providing provable security against any attack, including those from future quantum computers. By seamlessly integrating QKD into Eurofiber’s network, this partnership aims to enhance the security of its own network while empowering its customers to safeguard their data against emerging cyber threats. Recognizing the critical importance of data security in today’s digital landscape, Eurofiber is committed to providing customers with the highest available standard of data protection.

About Q*bird
Q*Bird is a system provider for secure quantum communications. Their novel technology can protect our data communications and digital infrastructure, based on the fundamental laws of nature and provably secure against any attack, even with a future quantum computer. Q*Bird started in 2022 when it spun out of Delft University of Technology. During 2022, Q*Bird been field-testing its prototype systems in various datacenters in the Netherlands, making it available for integration tests with future users and customers. More recently, Q*Bird has started supplying their Quantum Key Distribution system to the Port of Rotterdam for internal data security, as well as to various EU27 member states as part of the EuroQCI.

Secure quantum encryption
Incidents involving cybercrime are still on the rise, while extremely powerful quantum computers – expected within a few years – pose a new threat to data secured by current encryption security methods. 
Measurement Device Independent Quantum Key Distribution* (MDI-QKD) offers a new form of encryption security. 
MDI-QKD uses a data encryption key based on quantum technology that is resistant to attempted interception. QKD helps protect valuable data from possible future attacks using quantum computers, playing a vital role in securing critical infrastructure, for example in the Port of Rotterdam area. Eurofiber had previously partnered with Q*bird, a supplier of quantum secure network equipment, to take MDI-QKD technology to the next level. 
This technology allows Eurofiber to offer scalable and cost-effective quantum encrypted fiber connections, enabling the many businesses in Rotterdam’s port to be connected via breach-proof connections.

“We are partnering with the Port of Rotterdam Authority on network innovation. This partnership shows that vital infrastructure in the Netherlands is preparing for the future,” says Martin Vos, Business Innovation Director at Eurofiber. “Eurofiber has experience with such endeavors and provides the industry-leading connections needed for QKD encryption.  Since quantum technology is a tried-and-tested solution, we are now focusing on adoption, usage, implementation and cost, so we can bring it to market within the near future. The partnership aims to maximize data exchange security between the many parties in Europe’s largest port,” Vos adds.

Critical infrastructure in the Rotterdam port area
“Secure data exchange is top priority for the Port of Rotterdam Authority, and vitally important to the companies that use the port in Rotterdam. By equipping the fiberoptic connections in the port area with quantum encryption, we demonstrate that this technology is applicable, and we improve the security of our critical infrastructure as well as the tens of thousands of ocean-going vessels that visit the port every year,” says Oscar van Veen, director of Innovations at the Port of Rotterdam Authority. “We are delighted with the expertise that Eurofiber adds to our consortium"

Portbase
The Port Community System (PCS) provided by Portbase is the digital connection to the smart ports in the Netherlands. Offering near-national coverage, the PCS is available to all port sectors: containers, general cargo, dry bulk and liquid bulk. The PCS facilitates easy and efficient information exchange in the logistics chain comprising companies, organizations and government bodies.

Dennis Dortland, Strategic Innovation Portbase: “We see a role for Portbase, along with key partners in our community, to explore how this technology can help keep the heart of our digital port safe in the approaching quantum age. By playing a connecting role with key partners in our community, we want to create a good breeding ground to make this technology available to the logistics industry in the future.”

Video Quantum Encrypted Fiber Network in Port of Rotterdam 

*click here for explanation video Measurement Device Independent Quantum Key Distribution technology

The aim of MISD is to develop a new modular, sustainable and secure-by-design concept to be deployed in places close to end users (edge computing). The guiding principle is to achieve a significant reduction in total energy consumption, from cooling to computing power and data flows. Thereby, a CO2 reduction of more than 50% is set to be achieved in a validated, distributed setup in a field lab where different innovations developed in the project converge. The duration of the project is 5 years, from 2024 to 2029.   

The MISD consortium is thus taking the lead in European partnerships to embed sustainable applications into the foundation of the next generation of European cloud infrastructure and services. Maikel Bouricius, CMO of lead partner Asperitas on the project: "The MISD project is the outcome of years of collaboration in the Netherlands on energy-efficient data centers. Many stakeholders were involved in the initial phase to shape this initiative and this funding makes it possible for the Netherlands to be a development hub for the next generation of data centers. There are more field lab initiatives in Europe, but the distributed set up, scale and variety of innovations it will welcome is unique." 

Pioneering technology
The award of the funding is an important step towards the cloud infrastructure of the future. The consortium participants aim to develop a sustainable answer to the growing demand for (local) data center capacity in a more flexible way than is currently possible.  Bouricius: "Asperitas will work on the big challenge for cooling in the coming years. Compute requires more and more power, space and water, and advanced liquid cooling solutions are needed to make this growth sustainable. Optimal results require collaboration with a broad ecosystem, which this project makes possible."   

Sustainability is thus an important cornerstone of the project, underlines Theo Balijon, Digital Transformation Officer at BetterBe. "We will contribute to the development and realization of modular energy-efficient data center housing with distributed cloud infrastructure platforms. In addition, we will investigate how reduction of CPU cycles can be realized in application software." 

Jonathan Clark, Data Centre Sustainability Lead at Deerns said: “We are proud to be part of the consortium driving the creation of a 'Modular Integrated Sustainable Data Centre of the Future' in the Netherlands. In collaboration with partners we are pioneering innovative solutions for data centers. This groundbreaking project underscores Deerns MEP's design, building physics, energy concepts and energy efficiency modelling. These modular, integrated and sustainable solutions set new benchmarks for design excellence eco-friendliness.” 

Distributed data center workloads
Another important way to maximize the energy efficiency of the infrastructure to be designed is to spread workloads within the distributed network to those places where there are surpluses of renewable energy. This requires solid fiber-optic connections. Eurofiber brings its expertise to this theme, among others. "The development of a staging lab and a -via fiber connected- geographically distributed field lab environment will be part of our contribution to this project. Developing energy, data and compute use cases is also part of this," says Martin Vos, Business Innovation Director at Eurofiber.  

Given the constantly changing online threat landscape, security by design is a key focus: the infrastructure will be designed with availability and security in mind. "NBIP will investigate how the availability of online services can be secured in this new cloud infrastructure, for example by distributed DDoS mitigation. In the field lab, we want to demonstrate that a secure by design distributed setup makes cloud infrastructures more secure and reliable", said Octavia de Weerdt, director of NBIP.   

A more sustainable cloud
Ultimately, the project should enable a more sustainable cloud. To that end, it is important to make climate impact measurable. Marc van Dijk, TNO portfolio lead Digital Infrastructures: "We are investigating how sustainability parameters in distributed and federated data centres can be used to reduce the climate impact of cloud use. The software components we develop will make data centers contribute more to the flexibility needed in power grids to better deal with the variation in supply and demand of (green) energy."  

Finally, the University of Twente focuses on four sustainability-oriented lines of research, describes  Maria Vlasiou, professor of stochastic networks. "These include scalable, sustainable, innovative computational approaches for data center operations and data centers as active support for the power grid. We will also focus on advanced thermal management for sustainable cooling and heat utilization, software solutions for secure multi-party cloud systems, and stakeholder engagement through learning communities for inter-organizational learning and innovation implementation."  

Educating the public and stakeholders on progress
The consortium is developing a website to keep stakeholders and interested parties informed of the project's progress. In addition, consortium participants will proactively share their knowledge gained during the project, for example during events, workshops, knowledge sessions and webinars.   

About the Modular Integrated Sustainable Datacenter (MISD) project
MISD will start in 2024 as a joint project of Asperitas, BetterBe, Deerns, Eurofiber, Nationale Beheersorganisatie Internet Providers (NBIP), TNO and University of Twente to develop a new generation of sustainable, energy-efficient, modular and secure-by-design data centers. To this end, the consortium has received funding from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate in late 2023 under the European Important Projects of Common European Interest - Cloud Infrastructure and Services (IPCEI-CIS) program. The MISD project will run for five years.   

Innovations resulting from the project will come together in a geographically distributed field lab. Research and development will include new liquid cooling techniques, making housing and compute more energy efficient, security by design in a distributed cloud infrastructure, parameters for the climate impact of cloud usage and its reduction, and data centers as support for a more flexible energy infrastructure. The consortium will launch a website in 2024 to inform about, and engage stakeholders and the public with the project's progress. 

The route between Amsterdam and Hamburg is about 600 kilometers long and is an important link in the European network of fiber backbones. It was built in 2003 to connect a sea cable that came ashore at Eemshaven to Amsterdam and Hamburg.  Since then, the connection has been increasingly in demand as a short-cut to northern Germany, Eastern Europe and the Scandinavian countries.

In the design of the ILAs, extra attention was paid to the energy efficiency of the amplifier stations. This contributes to Eurofiber's 'Road to Net Zero' objective. This is being done in part through the application of advanced cooling techniques, the use of HVO (a fossil-free, renewable and low-emission alternative to diesel) and the application of solar panels at the sites.

The upgrade is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

Securing communication with quantum technology
As the number of cyber-crime incidents is increasing, concern has risen fuelled by the advent of quantum computing, data that is secured with today's standard cryptography methods are potentially under threat. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a technology that distributes a data encryption key by using quantum effects in such a way that it is more secure against wiretapping attacks. Today and in the future, QKD helps protect data from potential future quantum computer attacks and is believed to play an essential role in securing networks with high-value data, such as critical infrastructure, governmental, police and justice department and financial data.

QuTech—a collaboration between the TU Delft and TNO—is one of the globally leading institutes for quantum technology and has developed the specific MDI-QKD technology on which the testbed is based. MDI-QKD (measurement device-independent QKD) offers a range of advantages in security and cost-efficiency when building larger networks compared to existing point-to-point QKD.

Integrating MDI-QKD
In this program, QuTech partners with leading open digital infrastructure provider Eurofiber, and Juniper Networks, a global leader in AI networking, cloud and connected security solutions. This partnership enables QuTech to help integrate a proof-of-concept MDI-QKD system into a commercial optical fibre network. The MDI-QKD system will be deployed at several Eurofiber locations. With this collaboration, QuTech, Eurofiber and other partners can leverage Juniper Networks routing, switching and security solutions to test new solutions.

Investigating the challenges that arise during installation and operation will also aid the development of a next-generation MDI-QKD system. Collaboration with existing and new partners and potential customers will allow identifying new use cases and systematically investigating integration challenges from the proof-of-concept experiments.

Developing the fundaments for the future digital infrastructure
The project is co-funded by TKI (Topconsortium voor Kennis en Innovatie) High Tech Systems and Materials. The development of this testbed can be seen in a larger context of national efforts to build an ecosystem around quantum networks and connect users, equipment providers and technology providers. MDI-QKD is one of the building blocks for the National Quantum Network, which will be developed and deployed by the Quantum Delta foundation in one of its Catalyst programs. This program aims to lay the foundation for the next generation of digital infrastructure in the Netherlands. 

Joshua Slater, Quantum Scientist engineer Qutech; “This is an important step for us because one of the goals of QuTech is to build and grow the quantum ecosystem. This is a final proof-of-concept before QuTech launches a spin-out to commercialize QKD technology further.”

Marc Hulzebos, Innovation Manager Eurofiber; “For Eurofiber this is a great opportunity to be at the forefront of developments in quantum network technology. We are excited to participate in the project and learn about the benefits of quantum security and quantum connectivity for our data infrastructures, including datacenters. It is our aim to provide the benefits of quantum security and connectivity to our customers as soon as they become available.”

Melchior Aelmans, Chief Architect at Juniper Networks; “We have received interest from our customers about advancements in Quantum technology and QKD, specifically. Our connected security solutions help customers secure every aspect of their networks. Participating in this testbed will provide valuable insights on quantum technology and how we can continue to keep customers protected now and into the future. The testbed offers a unique place to collaborate with partners on new security methods in Europe.”

User “Alice”,  one of the components of the QKD Testbed installed in the datacenter. Credit: Paul Brussee for QuTech.

About QuTech
QuTech is a mission-driven research institute of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO). Together, we work on a radically new technology with world-changing potential. Our mission: to develop scalable prototypes of a quantum computer and an inherently safe quantum internet, based on the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics. More information is available at www.qutech.nl and Quantum Cryptography Lab - QuTech.

About Eurofiber
Eurofiber is a provider of industry-leading open digital infrastructure in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany. Utilizing our 61,700 km fiberoptic network and eleven datacenters, we empower the digital societies of these countries. We are proud of the fact that thousands of companies, government bodies and non-profit organizations entrust us with their vital infrastructure. We provide them with connectivity and cloud infra solutions tailored to their needs. Our open infrastructure ensures them complete freedom to choose services, applications and providers. For more information, please visit eurofiber.com.

Loss of GNSS signals leads to failures in time synchronization between locations in the digital infrastructure, ultimately resulting in network outages. That has direct consequences that affect the fabric of our lives.

A vivid example: When you’re done at work, you can no longer rely on satnav to guide you on your drive home. You won’t be able to stop to pick up food for dinner on your way back home, either: grocery stores are closed, since all telecommunications have stopped working and you can no longer make electronic payments or get cash from the ATM. Even after you make it home, you can’t be sure that the power will stay on. And if your power supply is unreliable, the food in your refrigerator will eventually spoil… and your central heating won’t work either. The widespread infrastructure failure across the US state of Texas caused by the unprecedented February snowstorm showed all too clearly how profoundly people’s lives are affected when basic services become unavailable. 

It is clear that GNSS has become an invisible utility ­– a utility without any secured backup technology. Fortunately, a backup solution based on fiberoptics is available for synchronization purposes, only awaiting government support to secure all critical infrastructures and safeguard homeland security.

The proposed backup solution comprises a transition from timing signals transmitted via satellites towards the optical infrastructure. Once embedded in the optical infrastructure, all critical infrastructures can share the same source. Time synchronization is extremely scalable and does not require extra capacity to provide additional connections at the same physical location.

Ultimately, it will become possible to wirelessly broadcast the distributed timing signals terrestrially, creating a backup positioning alternative to GPS and/or Galileo (see SuperGPS TU Delft [1]). Based on this improved optical network, it becomes possible to achieve positioning accuracy within 10 cm, both outdoors and indoors. This means accurate positioning can be realized in tunnels, which is important for self-driving cars. This level of pinpoint accuracy is also important in hospitals and in responding to 112 emergency calls.

Clearly, there is an urgent need for governments to secure the continuity of their critical digital infrastructure. GPS is a strategic military system that was initially designed to serve the US armed forces. Over the course of time, the world slowly adopted GPS timing signals to optimize networks – including critical infrastructure. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recognized the vulnerability posed by this fundamental dependence and started to evaluate alternatives. Similarly, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) began exploring alternatives to protect critical infrastructures and eliminate excessive dependence on GPS[2]. In parallel to the American efforts, the UK[3] launched a program to make British time provisioning hack-proof and less dependent on GPS and Galileo, and other countries have also been investigating their options.

The EU recently issued a call for tenders[4] to look for a GNSS backup solution as well. The tender documentation explicitly underlines the importance of this issue. For example, positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services contribute to approximately 10% of the European gross domestic product. GNSS is the back-bone of PNT services as well as the hidden utility in many sectors, and its central role will only increase in the future. And, as explained above, there is a need for alternative PNT capacity, without a common mode of failure with GNSS.

The Netherlands is also aware of the risks involved, as stated in the Knowledge and Innovation Agenda (October 2019). This policy document formulates the ambition of achieving a robust national PNT solution by 2030 at the latest. Resolving this issue is a longer-term priority for the Dutch government.

An ideal alternative to satellite-based time transfer over long distances should preferably be based on fiberoptic infrastructure, which by nature is hard to jam or spoof. This could be achieved using a timing protocol which was initially developed at CERN and has now been integrated into the IEEE 1588 standard, and is commercially available for telecommunications networks. This timing protocol enables accurate, reliable time distribution over long distances, as has been demonstrated in real-time on the Eurofiber network.

When the infrastructure and time distribution technology are connected to a UTC realization, the timing signal becomes reliable and traceable to UTC, and can therefore be recognized as a source of legal time. The Netherlands is developing a robust and accurate timing infrastructure, available at nearly every location throughout the country, which is being realized by a coalition of three partners: Eurofiber, OPNT and VSL.

We would like to invite all stakeholders, including the Dutch government, to join this coalition and start building a robust, future-proof and open national PNT solution in the Netherlands.

_________________________________________________________________

References
 

[1] https://www.tudelft.nl/citg/over-faculteit/afdelingen/geoscience-remote-sensing/
research/projects/supergps/ 
 

[2] https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2020/10/safeguarding-critical-infrastructure
-nist-releases-draft-cybersecurity 
 

[3] https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-spend-36m-to-make-uk-time-hack-
proof-7dn62s3h2
 

[4] https://www.gpsworld.com/europe-seeks-alternative-pnt-services-deadline-jan-13/