Following the first set of projects launched in 2023, a second series of projects have been selected to co-fund 5G corridor infrastructure in 2024.
Fifteen projects, both works and studies, funded under the Connecting Europe Facility Programme – Digital (CEF Digital), were launched in the beginning of 2023 and are currently ongoing.
A second and complementary call was subsequently launched, and closed in March 2023. This call reinforced the first call and resulted in the selection of 7 additional projects, 3 works and 4 inception studies, to be funded under CEF Digital in 2024.
A third call was launched on 17 October 2023 and will close on 20 February 2023.
The resulting portfolio of 7 projects that will receive EU funding will continue paving the way for Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM), including safety and non-safety services, be it for road, rail, inland waterways, or multimodal transport.
More specifically, the projects will support 5G infrastructure deployment over cross-border sections of 5G corridors and ensure service continuity when crossing said border. Thus, they will help to connecting different regions throughout Europe.
Three of these projects will start deploying the needed infrastructure straightaway, both active and passive, to enable CAM services to develop in the coming years. At the same time, 4 inception studies will prepare the groundwork for future large-scale 5G infrastructure deployment projects in view of upcoming CEF Digital Calls.
More information on these projects and studies can be found below.
A third 5G Corridors call for deployment works and studies is foreseen to launch in Quarter 4 2023 as part of the big wave of deployment projects. It will be open to both works and studies, thus preparing the project pipelines while also already deploying projects on the ground.
The following projects were selected to receive EU funding to further our goal of creating 5G transport corridors.
5G Balkans aims to complete future uninterrupted connectivity by deploying dark fibre and providing gigabyte infrastructure, while enhancing radio network capacity utilising the respective bandwidth to deliver the needed bitrate throughput.
CETIN Bulgaria together with CETIN LTD and the Technical University of Sofia will thus contribute to securing uninterrupted connectivity and covering the cross-border segment Sofia – Dimitrovgrad along the core network corridor “Orient-East-Med” Belgrade-Sofia-Kalotina.
The project also aims to design and deploy enough RAN capacity to deliver on Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) in the mentioned areas, achieving minimum and classic scenarios for automated cars with an inter-site distance of 2.88 km, assuming fair market share coverage of the needed capacities.
Total EU Contribution: €3 364 403
This project aims at deploying 5G and C-v2x infrastructure connecting cross-border road corridor sections along the Baltic-Adriatic 5G Corridor between Poland and The Czech Republic to enable high quality seamless network coverage and handover.
Towerlink Poland together with CETIN AS will aim to develop novel business models in market failure areas to provide digital services.
Total EU Contribution: €2 058 524
The IRISHSEA5G project aims to overcome challenges in cross-border market-failure areas by implementing passive and active 5G infrastructure through the Irish sea cross-border corridor between North Ireland and Rosslare Harbour (264 km), and to develop novel business models in market failure areas to provide digital services.
CIGNAL Infrastructure LTD, together with Jason Redmond and Associates Consulting will aim to address key challenges such as the lack of infrastructure in the areas abovementioned where there may be regulatory, technical, and political hurdles that need to be overcome.
The high cost of building infrastructure in these areas can also make it less attractive for telecommunication companies to invest in these regions.
Another challenge is the limited availability of skilled labour and trained professionals at the places. Without adequate expertise, it can be difficult to install, operate and maintain 5G networks, which can lead to service disruptions and other issues.
Total EU Contribution: €5 206 719
The 5GHSL Eurolink project aims to deliver an inception study to prepare the implementation of 5G infrastructure along a rail cross-border section between Paris (France) and Brussels (Belgium), for the benefits of train passenger connectivity and digitalisation of rail operations.
SNCF Reseau, together with Infrabel SA will conduct the study with a consortium of 4 members, involving two rail infrastructure managers and 2 RC from both countries. They will:
Total EU Contribution: €433 145 EUR
5G FRÉJUS will deliver an inception study for the deployment of 5G and assess the effort needed to fully deploy the transport corridor between Italy and France across the Fréjus rail and road tunnels, with a neutral and agnostic passive and active infrastructure dedicated to the development of digital services.
Cellnex Italia, OpEn Fiber SpA, Cellnex France, Anas SpA, Accenture SpA, Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, together with Instituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica will:
A thorough assessment is foreseen of the legal, institutional, regulatory, and administrate national and international framework so as to anticipate and mitigate the complexity of the implementation phase for 5G, VHCN capabilities, and quantum communications.
Total EU Contribution: €400 723
The 5G-ADRIA project will focus on defining what 5G infrastructure is needed to support future traffic-related services that will be used along TEN-T transport corridors in Slovenia and Croatia.
Additionally, the proposed corridor is connecting core TEN-T ports in the northern Adriatic region, namely in Koper and Rijeka.
The addressed transport route will span from the Slovenian Port Koper via Ljubljana to the Bregana border crossing, continuing into Croatia to Zagreb and further to Port Rijeka.
Although the study mainly covers this corridor with a length of 378 km, it will also deliver common steps and results that could be transferable to other corridors in both countries.
Telemach Slovenija, sirokopasovne komunikacije, d.o.o., together with its partners Druzba za Avtoceste v Republiki Sloveniji D.D, Transmitters and Communications Ltd, and Univerza v Ljubljani will:
Total EU Contribution: €735 225
The main objective of the inception study is to assess the technical requirements needed to fully provide the TEN-T Mediterranean and Baltic-Adriatic corridors. It has a particular focus on cross-border sections between Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (Italy) and the Republic of Slovenia. A neutral, agnostic passive, and active infrastructure dedicated to the development of digital services will assess the TEN-T road corridors existing in Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and western Slovenia, in particular with respect to the deployment of safe, secure, and sustainable high-performance infrastructure, including Gigabit and 5G networks. Regione Autonoma Friuli-Venezia Giulia, together with its partners Univerza v Ljubljani, Druzba Za Avtoceste v Republiki Sloveniji D.D, Universita degli Studi di Trieste, Telekom Slovenije DD, Aanas spa, Retelit Digital Services spa, and Luka Koper Port and Logistic system D.
The general objective of the Study 5G-SITACOR is to assess and define the best modalities to apply the potential of 5G network technology (higher transmission speed, lower latency and higher reliability) to different use cases for the development of linear infrastructures such as CAM and road safety (i.e., eCall) in the identified areas.
The Study will aim to:
Projects story | 22 December 2022
Following the first call for proposals of the Connecting Europe Facility Programme – Digital (CEF Digital), 15 projects were awarded EU funding to accelerate the deployment of 5G connectivity infrastructures along the main transport paths throughout Europe.
