AT&T signs agreement with D-Wave to expand quantum computing use across network operations

AT&T has a working relationship with D-Wave Quantum to expand the use of quantum computing across its network operations, a collaboration that has already produced significant efficiency gains for the telecom giant.

The partnership centers on D-Wave’s annealing quantum computing technology, a specialized approach to solving optimization problems. For a company managing thousands of field technicians across the US, that capability turns out to be enormously consequential.

From one hour to 15 seconds

AT&T has already used D-Wave’s quantum systems to optimize its field-technician dispatch process, cutting computation time from roughly one hour down to just 15 seconds.

Field dispatch is one of the more demanding optimization problems in telecom. You’re trying to match thousands of technicians with varying skill sets to thousands of service calls across different geographies, all while minimizing drive time and maximizing the number of completed jobs per day. D-Wave’s quantum annealing approach is purpose-built for exactly this type of constraint-heavy optimization.

AT&T representatives spoke at D-Wave’s Qubits 2026 user conference, where discussions focused on quantum applications for operational dispatch and network management tasks, particularly around outage handling.

The growing market for quantum computing as a service

D-Wave announced on January 27, 2026, a $10 million, two-year Quantum Computing as a Service agreement with a Fortune 100 company. D-Wave’s Leap cloud platform, which reportedly provides 99.9% uptime, serves as the delivery mechanism for these enterprise workloads.

D-Wave trades on the NYSE under ticker QBTS.

What this means for investors

AT&T’s dispatch optimization result—a 240x speedup on a real-world problem—is a concrete, measurable outcome. Telecom companies spend billions annually on network operations and maintenance, meaning efficiency improvements at that scale translate into meaningful cost savings.

Annealing quantum computers like D-Wave’s are commercially available today and demonstrably useful for specific optimization tasks. Investors should note, however, that no new named contract between AT&T and D-Wave has been disclosed as of late July 2026.

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