Trapped-ion quantum computing leader IonQ and Chattanooga's municipal utility EPB unveiled plans on August 4, 2026 for the Tennessee Quantum Communications Research Center, a first-of-its-kind lab that will embed a commercial Quantum Memory inside a working fiber optic network. The five-year, $15 million programme is IonQ's largest single investment in a state-owned quantum ecosystem to date.
Anchoring a live-network Quantum Memory
The Chattanooga facility, staffed by IonQ scientists, will focus on quantum memory research and quantum networking development. Quantum memories store and process quantum information over fiber channels and are widely regarded as a missing building block for a distributed, long-range quantum internet. IonQ chairman and chief executive Niccolo de Masi said the R&D lab will "speed the development and deployment of innovative quantum technologies to accelerate commercialization of the Quantum Internet."
Building on the EPB Quantum Center
The new lab extends the existing EPB Quantum Center, home to the country's first commercially available quantum networking service and an IonQ Forte Enterprise system being prepared for enterprise deployment. EPB president and CEO-elect Janet Rehberg said the utility is now positioned to "connect [Tennessee's leading universities, national laboratories and private companies] through real-world Quantum Networking capabilities." Local officials expect the project to create roughly two dozen research and support jobs and pump two to three times the initial investment into the regional economy.
Momentum for a U.S. quantum corridor
The announcement lands the same week IonQ signed a memorandum of understanding with Sandia National Laboratories on national-security quantum work and follows the $28M DARPA It's About Time award tied to Evergreen-05 optical atomic clocks. State officials framed the deal as validation of Tennessee's broader quantum play, joining recent partnership moves like the OptQC-NTT capital alliance and the Fujitsu-Monash-CSIRO Australia-Japan pact.
Reporting based on coverage from The Quantum Insider, HPCwire, DCD and IonQ.