Research
Research
Crypto-agility in mobile networks is not a solved engineering problem with a known cost curve.
Much of what is published about post-quantum migration in telecom is either vendor-specific or generic enterprise IT guidance with the word “telecom” added. We are trying to narrow that gap, and to do it in public where we can.
Measurement methodology
The question we keep returning to is simple to ask and hard to answer: what does post-quantum cryptography actually cost in a mobile network, on the interfaces that matter, under realistic load?
Our approach is to define measurements that are reproducible by someone else — stated test conditions, stated equipment, stated versions — and to publish the method alongside the numbers. A measurement that cannot be repeated is an anecdote.
Open data
Where results are not commercially confidential, we intend to publish the datasets rather than only the conclusions. The migration deadlines are industry-wide; an operator in Manchester and an operator in Ankara face the same physics. Withholding measurements that would help both is not a durable competitive advantage.
This is a statement of intent. The first published dataset is not yet available; this page will link to it when it is.
Working with the standards
We track and align to the bodies that set the constraints rather than proposing alternatives to them.
| NIST | The algorithms — FIPS 203, 204 and 205 |
| NCSC | The United Kingdom migration timeline |
| GSMA | PQ.03, telecom use cases and phased migration |
| 3GPP | The security architecture |
| O‑RAN ALLIANCE | WG11 security requirements and protocols for the disaggregated RAN |
The 6G horizon
Decisions taken now are not confined to 5G. 3GPP's Release 21 timeline, agreed in June 2026, places the first 6G package approval and Stage 1 freeze in March 2027, Stage 2 freeze in June 2028, Stage 3 freeze in December 2028, and ASN.1/OpenAPI freeze in March 2029. O‑RAN ALLIANCE frames its current post-quantum and zero-trust work items explicitly as the foundation for secure O‑RAN in 6G.
The practical consequence for an operator is that the cryptographic architecture chosen for 5G Standalone in the next two years is the one 6G will be built on top of. A migration plan written only for 5G is a plan written twice.
OpenAIRNet
Before Thames Smart Tech, the founder led OpenAIRNet, a research effort on AI-driven open radio access network operation. It is not a Thames Smart Tech product and is not offered as a service. It is listed here because the measurement discipline this practice runs on came out of that work: instrumenting a disaggregated RAN well enough to say something defensible about its behaviour is the same problem, pointed at a different question.