5G large scale pilots – 5G and Edge for Smart Communities – Works

The projects funded under this call are expected to accelerate the deployment of 5G SA across the Union, thus directly contributing to the achievement of the Digital Decade connectivity goals and the other Digital Decade targets. The benefits and impact of these actions will equally depend on the level of innovation present in the use cases addressed.

5G smart communities use cases are expected to accelerate the take-up of 5G SA connectivity for the provision of innovative services and contribute to a wider deployment at the same time. Such services can help reboot the overall economy, as well as support the transition towards the provision of smart services in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal. 5G SA innovative use cases include:

• IoT infrastructure and community services that require a flexible, low-latency, reliable, high-user-density connectivity infrastructure, e.g. through a combination of fibre and wireless connectivity (5G, small cells, and Wi-Fi) that is IPv6-enabled.
• 5G- and edge cloud- based use cases that leverage new 5G characteristics, e.g.: higher bandwidth and ubiquitous coverage (eMBB), ultra-low latency (URLLC), massive machine-type (mMTC).
• Process and data innovations that require connectivity infrastructures with advanced service features, e.g. quality-of-service guarantees enabled by edge computing facilities and support by network slicing.
• Projects that rely, where relevant, on open, disaggregated, and interoperable technology solutions and contributing to the emergence of a European 3C network ecosystem of suppliers.
• Leveraged impact on investment in 5G and edge cloud for vertical sectors by all types of public and private investors.
• Positive spillover effect to Digital Decade indicators not only for “digital infrastructure” but also to other use cases in Digital Skills, Digital Transformation of Businesses and Digital public Services.

Please consult the call document for more information on the expected impact.

The overall objective of the call “5G Large-scale pilots” is to deploy large-scale 5G SA infrastructures that integrate connectivity and edge cloud capacities along the 3C Network value chain. Each pilot is expected to maximise the number of use cases enabled by 5G systems in areas such as healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, education, mobility, transport (including use cases for Connected and Automated Mobility for road, railway and inland waterway as well as coastal maritime automation, or multimodal transport as appropriate) etc., targeting urban, sub-urban, rural, and cross-border areas.

The strategy is to bring together the demand side of individual projects (vertical sector use cases) with supply chain actors across the EU in the 3C Network ecosystem.

Specific objectives are the following:

• 5G SA large-scale pilots will stimulate a wider and faster deployment and take-up of 5G across Europe, while providing the foundation for developing “lead markets” for 5G and edge cloud systems, relying where applicable on technologies and standards developed under other EU programmes, in particular the Digital Europe Programme and Horizon Europe.
• 5G SA large-scale pilots should demonstrate the benefits gained in specific vertical applications, following the evolution from current electronic communications networks towards virtualised and cloud-native network functions and distributed telco edge cloud, opening new opportunities to Europe’s key industries.
• 5G SA large-scale pilots funded under this call for proposals are expected to leverage 5G infrastructures delivering leading-edge connectivity characteristics e.g.: symmetric gigabit performance, high-user-density, ubiquitous coverage (e.g. to connect IoT devices), low latency and very high reliability. They will contribute to the integration of devices, networks, cloud and edge computing, and communication capabilities for telco edge cloud deployment to realise a ubiquitous mesh of computing and communication resources. Where necessary, the pilots should bundle 5G networks with a cloud-to-edge middleware stack capable of supporting the data-intensive use cases and applications designed for a multi-purpose context (5G corridors and/or 5G applications for socio-economic drivers).
• These large-scale pilots are encouraged to cover multiple use cases. Cross-sector synergies between multiple use cases are expected to be enabled by 5G SA supporting local smart communities and connecting multiple sites distributed across multiple countries and regions.

5G SA large-scale pilots should be designed in a way that, with adaptations due to possible different requirements, they can be replicated across Europe, for instance under other funding programmes such as ERDF, EAFRD or national investments. Projects may be preceded by inception studies or best practices funded in earlier calls under this programme or may be based on any other preparatory work funded under other programmes (such as R&I under Horizon Europe).

Concerning the use cases involving smart communities, the CEF Digital Programme will co-fund the deployment of the connectivity infrastructure elements required by vertical innovative applications The access to an existing backhaul Gigabit network close to the location where the 5G-supported project will be deployed is a prerequisite. The project may however include a limited investment to complete the access to such Gigabit backhaul.

Large-scale pilots for advancing the 3C Network will demonstrate the benefits gained from the evolution of the current network infrastructures towards virtualised and cloud-native ones. This will include the deployment of 5G SA networks and their integration with edge cloud infrastructures enabling innovative applications in European vertical sectors, social innovations, new operation models for public services, as well as new business models opening new opportunities to Europe’s key industries working across the 3C Network value chain.

Projects will need to demonstrate the soundness of the financing for the remaining parts of the project (infrastructure or otherwise) enabling the intended 5G SA use cases (e.g. end-user devices, sensors, connectivity subscriptions), which are not eligible for support under the CEF Regulation and may therefore be supported by other programmes or the consortium’s own contribution. Projects will also need to demonstrate that the infrastructure will be operated in a future-proof way based on state-of-the art protocols and standards, such as IPv6, and that they are located in areas where no 5G SA network is providing services addressing evolving end-users' needs.

The beneficiaries will be operators that will deploy 5G SA networks and provide access to 5G SA services to socio-economic drivers (SEDs). The SEDs should apply together with the above-mentioned operators and therefore endorse the planned 5G innovative use case(s). Eligible cost items may include 5G radio equipment and – where necessary for installation of additional base stations for densification – the passive infrastructure. Priority will be given to projects that can demonstrate multiple 5G-based use cases relying on the same 5G SA network.

In line with the CEF Regulation (see recital 40), internet services and software services that make use of the digital infrastructure are not in scope of CEF financing.

The innovative aspects of 5G to support the use case will be assessed during evaluation.

The maximum CEF co-financing rate will be 75% of the CEF-eligible costs as a general rule. The financed 5G infrastructure may only be used to provide 5G services to the SEDs that will benefit from the innovative use cases.

In general, the requested co-funding and the number of SEDs that will benefit from the 5G service will be considered as part of the assessment of the catalytic effect of EU assistance and the economic impact award criteria.

Specific use-cases demonstrably addressing green policy objectives, in particular in terms of reducing the carbon footprint, are encouraged and will be taken into account when evaluating the proposals under the “Impact” criterion.

Proposals of greater scale in terms of scope, size of the coverage area, number of use-cases/end-users/countries involved, are encouraged and will be taken into account under the Priority & Urgency criteria.

Please consult the call document for more information on the scope, including digital security requirements.