Quantum Optimisation for Telecoms Network Planning and Resource Allocation

Workshop Description

Examines quantum and quantum-inspired optimisation for spectrum allocation, network topology design, dynamic bandwidth management, and multi-layer traffic engineering. Covers QUBO formulations for telecoms network problems, annealing and gate-based approaches, and realistic performance comparisons against classical optimisation tools (CPLEX, Gurobi) used in network planning teams. Addresses the vendor landscape of quantum computing providers active in telecoms and published pilot results from major operators.

Telecoms network planning generates combinatorial optimisation problems that grow faster than classical solver capacity. Frequency assignment across a dense urban 5G NR deployment with carrier aggregation involves graph colouring under interference, power, and regulatory constraints that scale combinatorially with cell density. Transport network topology optimisation across national fibre infrastructure involves NP-hard routing under capacity, latency, and cost constraints. Classical solvers (CPLEX, Gurobi, heuristic engines) handle current problem sizes, but at increasing compute cost as networks densify and traffic patterns become more dynamic. Quantum optimisation algorithms encode these constraints as QUBO problems. Current NISQ hardware can handle problems equivalent to tens to low hundreds of variables with noise mitigation. The practical question is at what problem scale the crossover from classical occurs. This workshop maps that boundary with real telecoms network data and provides the framework to evaluate vendor claims against your specific operational workflow.

What participants cover

• Classical optimisation limits: why spectrum allocation, topology design, and traffic engineering become intractable as networks densify and traffic patterns shift
• QAOA and VQE for telecoms: how quantum algorithms encode frequency assignment, routing, and capacity constraints as optimisation problems
• QUBO formulations: translating spectrum allocation (graph colouring), network topology, and dynamic traffic engineering into quantum-native representations
• Hardware assessment: NISQ performance ceiling for telecoms problems and quantum-inspired classical alternatives (Fujitsu Digital Annealer, Toshiba SQBM+) for immediate deployment
• Operator pilots: published results from Vodafone, BT, Deutsche Telekom, and SK Telecom quantum computing programmes
• Pilot structuring: selecting the right network planning problem, defining benchmarks against existing solvers, and setting realistic success criteria