European Commission commits €865m funding for 5G, fibre networks

The European Commission (EC) is ploughing ahead on improving member states' digital connectivity infrastructures and has adopted the second work programme for the digital element of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which defines the scope and objectives of EU-funded actions in the area.

The EC believes that making Europe more digital is one of its key challenges and the increase of online interactions and the emergence of new ways of living, working and doing business, has shown the central role that digital technologies play in the EU’s economy and society. This means, says the EC, that digital technologies require appropriate connectivity infrastructures to function, but warned there is still a significant gap in private and public funding.

As a response, the CEF Digital programme is designed to support and catalyse both public and private investments in digital connectivity infrastructures between 2021 and 2027. Working with other funding instruments, CEF Digital is designed to help support investments devoted to safe, secure and sustainable high-performance infrastructure such as gigabit and 5G networks across the EU, and to support Europe’s digital transformation, as outlined in the Path to the Digital Decade proposal.

With a budget of up to €2bn until 2027, the first two sets of calls so far have funded 65 projects, including 30 backbone connectivity projects for the Digital Global Gateways, 17 projects promoting 5G for Smart Communities, and 18 projects in the area of 5G cross-border corridors. These new programmes will receive around €865m in funding over the next three years.

The CEF Digital work programme will support actions in three key areas: deployment of 5G infrastructures in Europe; deployment and significant upgrade of backbone networks; and deployment of operational digital platforms for transport or energy infrastructures.

As regards next-generation wireless, the programme will look at financing large-scale projects promoting the roll-out of gigabit and standalone 5G infrastructures, as well as the integration of edge, cloud and computing capabilities in vertical sector applications, such as health, manufacturing, transport, and logistics.

The upgrade of backbone networks will including quantum communication networks and submarine cables, to increase the performance, resilience, and capacity of connectivity networks within and between member states, as well as between the EU and third countries. Work within the domain of transport and energy infrastructures will look to optimise the energy use of information and communication technology and reduce its environmental impact.

These operational digital platforms will build on and integrate with existing and emerging European data, cloud and edge computing, and connectivity infrastructures, funded by the Digital Europe Programme and Horizon Europe.

The second CEF Digital work programme will also look towards stimulating the competitiveness of the European digital ecosystem. To address critical geopolitical and geoeconomic challenges, CEF Digital also aims to increase the capacity, security, and resilience of digital backbone networks, in particular submarine cables.