The European Commission has awarded €106 million to 12 new projects under the Connecting Europe Facility – Digital (CEF Digital) programme, supporting large-scale pilots for 5G networks across Europe.

These initiatives aim to deploy advanced standalone 5G systems with edge-cloud capabilities, which bring computing closer to data sources for faster processing, lower latency, and more efficient bandwidth use. Such technologies are key for real-time applications, including autonomous vehicles, smart industry, and the Internet of Things.

The projects fall into two categories:

5G Corridors (€53 million, 6 projects):
These projects focus on cross-border transport routes along the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), covering roads, railways, and waterways. They will support services such as connected and automated mobility (CAM), the Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS), and enhanced experiences for passengers and road users. Notable examples include:

• 5G HSL Eurolink Work: Installing 5G along the Paris-Brussels rail corridor to improve passenger connectivity and rail operations. (€21.1M, SNCF RESEAU)

• WAVEO: Deploying 5G along Romania-Bulgaria corridors for connected vehicles. (€6.38M, WINGS ICT SOLUTIONS)

• 5G-BEAM: Covering the 424 km Brenner corridor from Italy to Austria with standalone 5G and edge computing. (€8.7M, Autostrada del Brennero)

• Other corridor projects include 5G EMCIE in Ireland, Multimodal-5G in Greece-Bulgaria, and 5G ACE along the Rhine-Danube corridor.

5G for Smart Communities (€53 million, 6 projects):
These initiatives focus on new use cases for public services, healthcare, education, logistics, and urban mobility. Highlights include:

• 5G.CONNECT: Extending high-speed 5G to rural northern Portugal with mobile edge computing. (€7.83M, DSTELECOM)

• 5G-BRIDGE: Bringing 5G to remote Greek villages and islands for education, healthcare, safety, and sustainability. (€6.94M, Wings)

• 5mart Ho5pital: Deploying 5G in Bordeaux University Hospital to support AI-driven healthcare applications. (€11.32M, Bouygues Telecom)

• Other projects include NextGen 5G Airports in Croatia, 5G Share across universities in four EU countries, and 5G SESAMO in Italy for mobility, healthcare, and emergency services.

With this funding, the CEF Digital programme has supported a total of 78 5G projects across Europe, investing €327 million to help achieve the EU’s Digital Decade goal of full 5G coverage in all populated areas by 2030.