Brussels, 19 December 2024
The EU Commission has announced grant agreements totalling €128 million to support 31 new 5G infrastructure projects, following the third call for proposals of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF Digital).
This adds to the €93 million already committed to finance 35 projects for 5G under the first two CEF Digital calls, for a total of €221 million to co-fund 66 5G infrastructure deployment projects.
The EU Digital Decade outlines an ambitious roadmap for Europe’s digital transition, with 5G playing a pivotal role in achieving this vision. A key target is to ensure comprehensive 5G coverage across all populated areas by 2030. Moreover, 5G-powered verticals are seen as critical drivers of digital transformation, enabling businesses to unlock new levels of innovation and contribute to the development of future networks, in line with the “3C Network” (Connected, Collaborative, Computing) vision envisaged by the White Paper.
The newly funded projects will support the roll out of 5G standalone infrastructure in local communities and along European transport paths.
The 24 5G for Smart Communities projects will integrate 5G infrastructure with edge-cloud computing, focusing on standalone 5G, enabling innovative use cases such as remote surgery, Virtual Reality for learning, drone-based monitoring and more.
The seven 5G Corridor projects will deploy standalone 5G infrastructure along cross-border corridors of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), such as highways, railways, or maritime paths, thus ensuring seamless interoperability of national 5G systems. 5G Corridor infrastructure will enable a broad range of connected and automated mobility services for the vehicle, the driver, passengers, and other relevant players, paving the way to driving with high levels of automation by the end of the current decade.
The second CEF Digital Work Programme was recently published, making available a further €205 million earmarked for 5G Large Scale Pilot projects, which covers both 5G Corridors and 5G for Smart Communities projects.
A fourth set of calls under the second CEF Digital work programme is open for submission until 13 February 2025.
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Source – EU Commission