Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ: QUBT) and Ciena (NASDAQ: CIEN) demonstrated quantum-secured communications technology at the OFC 2026 conference in Hoboken, New Jersey on March 11.

The live demonstration at Corporate Village Booth #5355 showcased a security architecture combining quantum key distribution, quantum authentication, classical authentication, and AES-256-GCM optical encryption. The solution integrates optical-layer encryption with quantum-secure and post-quantum cryptographic techniques.

"This collaboration demonstrates how quantum-secured communications can move from theory to deployment," said Pouya Dianat, Chief Revenue Officer of QCi. "By integrating our time-frequency entanglement-based QKD and quantum identity authentication technologies with Ciena's high-capacity optical encryption solution, we are delivering a layered security approach built for real-world networks."

Ciena's Waveserver platform provides optical AES-256-GCM encryption scaling up to 1.6 Tb/s and supports NIST-certified post-quantum cryptography algorithms with third-party QKD system integration using an ETSI-standard API.

"Our easy-to-deploy solution delivers high-speed quantum-safe communications straight out of the box, without impacting performance, to protect critical in-flight data today while preparing for the quantum future," said Paulina Gomez, Senior Advisor, Portfolio Marketing at Ciena.

QCi's system features time-frequency entanglement-based QKD architecture using telecom-band photons. The solution can include Quantum Identity Authentication using Quantum Zero Knowledge Proof technology, which received the 2023 Edison Patent Award.

The demonstration required prior approval for viewing, according to the companies' joint press release.