EPB will lend its Quantum Network to technology developers as part of a new subscription model that hopes to spark collaboration across the nascent quantum industry and bring business into Chattanooga, Tennessee.
In December, EPB partnered with Qubitekk to launch the first commercially available quantum network in the U.S. Powered by Qubitekk’s hardware and software, the EPB Quantum Network runs across downtown Chattanooga and includes 216 dedicated dark fibers with capacity for 10 quantum interconnected nodes.
EPB’s 9,000-mile community fiber optic network in Chattanooga is separate from the quantum network, which is specifically dedicated for the purpose of working with companies that are proving out and commercializing their quantum technologies.
The application process for developers who want to use EPB’s quantum network is fairly simple, according to Kirk McLemore, EPB’s business development account manager. The app asks for basic data like contact information, “a little bit about what type of technologies they're developing” and how they might work with the EPB network. Applicants need to be working with technology that is compatible with photonic qubits, and should have some access to technical resources, such as an optical engineer, quantum physicist or computer scientists of their own.
“We looked at the other options people have to test their equipment in the marketplace and there's just a lot of barriers,” McLemore told Fierce. "We want to knock down those walls."
EPB expects most applicants will be from the U.S., but McLemore said the company is open to working with international entities as well.
J.Ed. Marston, EPB's VP of strategic communications, compared today’s quantum landscape to the internet in its early days, when there was only small number of people working on its development. EPB's goal is to help get the quantum space to the same “explosive growth and technical development that occurred once [the internet] became something that a lot of people were plugging into.”
“What we're trying to do is provide that venue where all these folks who've been working in isolation can come together to collaborate, validate, prove interoperability and all those good things,” Marston said.
McLemore pointed to an interesting case, for example, where two competitors are both using the EPB network to test against each other for interoperability.
When working on EPB’s quantum network, developers have the assurance that they retain their IP.
And unlike most grant programs that have a start and end date, the EPB subscription model is flexible. Some developers might use one of the quantum nodes on the network for a couple of hours, while others may want to sublet space close by, in Chattanooga, for long-term testing.
EPB is optimistic it could even bring some permanent residents to the area.
“There may be some -- we're hoping -- that might even want to establish brick and mortar here,” McLemore said. “They want to be near the network, set up an office where they can have a more permanent type situation.”
Marston noted that bringing business to Chattanooga has been a core part of EPB’s quantum network vision “from the very beginning.”
“We see this as a situation where our local focus on economic development for the Chattanooga area is highly aligned with the national priority of ensuring competitiveness on a global scale in this arena,” Marston said. “Our goal in this case is two fold. One, to support the advancement of quantum technology, so we're setting our prices accordingly. And two, to support the local economic growth of our community.”
Chattanooga is considered ahead of the game with multi-gig connectivity, as last year it introduced citywide 25-gig service for consumers and businesses.
EPB initially launched the country’s first community-wide Gig service in 2010 when it turned up 1 Gbps service across the city. In 2015, that service was ramped up to a 10-gig offering.
Marston said the quantum developer subscriptions will make EPB just enough profit to "cover the cost of operating, cost to develop and cost to continue to upgrade the network as needed."
In an interview with Fierce earlier this year, Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly noted the role local utility and broadband provider EPB has played in enhancing broadband access.
“When the provider is a city-owned utility, whose mission is really tied to economic development, and profits from our non-electric operations go back into our economic development, it becomes a nice recursive loop where we continue to reinvest in the network,” said Kelly.