The Missing Pillar in Quantum-Safe 6G: Regulation and Global Compliance

TL;DR

This paper emphasizes the critical need for evolving regulatory policies and compliance frameworks to ensure quantum-safe 6G networks, highlighting that technical solutions alone are insufficient for long-term security.

Contribution

It introduces a compliance-by-design approach for quantum-safe 6G, integrating regulatory requirements into system design to address long-term cryptographic challenges.

Findings

Incremental regulatory updates are inadequate for quantum-safe 6G security.

A system-level, lifecycle-aware compliance approach enhances security.

Fragmented global compliance poses risks to quantum-safe 6G deployment.

Abstract

Sixth-generation (6G) mobile networks are expected to operate for multiple decades, supporting mission-critical and globally federated digital services. This long operational horizon coincides with rapid advances in quantum computing that threaten the cryptographic foundations of contemporary mobile systems. While post-quantum cryptography is widely recognized as a necessary technical response, its effective deployment in 6G depends equally on the evolution of regulatory policy and global compliance frameworks. This article argues that quantum-safe 6G represents a regulatory inflection point for mobile networks, as existing compliance models shaped by static cryptographic assumptions, incremental evolution, and point-in-time certification are poorly suited to long-term quantum risk. Building on an analysis of baseline telecom compliance challenges, the evolution of security regulation from 2G to 5G, and the regulatory impact of post-quantum cryptography adoption, the article shows why incremental regulatory extensions are insufficient. To address this gap, the article advances a compliance-by-design perspective in which regulatory requirements are treated as system-level design constraints, emphasizing cryptographic agility, lifecycle-aware governance, continuous compliance observability, and interoperability-driven global assurance, and concludes by examining the risks of fragmented global compliance for quantum-safe 6G networks.