EU ploughs €865 million into 5G and fibre

The pledge forms part of the Commission's ongoing CEF Digital programme whose overarching aim is to support and catalyse investment – public and private – in digital connectivity infrastructures of common European interest.

Top of the list for funding are networks, which comes as no surprise given the Commission's 2030 target of basically giving everyone in Europe 5G and gigabit network coverage by the end of the decade.

Specifically, the Commission is looking to co-fund large-scale projects that will push the rollout of gigabit and standalone 5G networks, as well as the integration of edge cloud and computing capabilities in verticals such as health, manufacturing, transport, and logistics.

Backbone networks get a look in too; the Commission is talking new deployments and significant upgrades, looking at submarine cables as well as quantum computing. The third strand of the programme covers the rollout of what the Commission terms operational digital platforms for transport or energy infrastructures.

"Improving our connectivity is of strategic importance in the EU. And with this second work programme we aim to connect more citizens and businesses and launch more innovative connectivity infrastructure," said Margrethe Vestager, EVP for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age, in a canned statement.

Companies keen to secure a chunk of EU funding will not have long to wait... until the next round of the contest opens, that is; the actual allocation of funding usually takes time.

The Commission said it will launch the fourth funding call under CEF Digital "in the following days," with interested parties then invited to attend information events about the priorities of the scheme and the practical aspects of the award process.

If previous calls are anything to go by, it will be getting on for a year before we know who has been successful.

The Commission announced the results of its second call late last year, selecting 42 projects out of 69 proposals submitted the previous March. In that call, it allocated €260 million, the biggest slice going to Infraestruturas de Portugal for Atlantic CAM, a cable system designed for both communications and sensor capabilities linking mainland Portugal with the Azores and Madeira.

The third call closed in February, having attracted 74 proposals from companies and consortia looking for a share of €241 million. The proposals were split across three areas: 5G coverage along transport corridors; 5G and Edge for Smart Communities; and backbone connectivity for Digital Global Gateways. At the time the Commission said it would evaluate the proposals with a view to publishing the results in the autumn, but this far there has been no news.

CEF Digital forms part of the broader Connecting Europe Facility and carries a total budget of €2.07 billion, although the Commission also frequently refers to a €1.6 billion pot for CEF Digital grants, which muddies the waters a little.

This latest €865 million investment is already accounted for in that overall budget, so this is not new investment as such. It's more a case of the European Commission pushing on with its digital infrastructure spending plans.

Progress is always a good thing, but with 2030 now only just over half a decade away, Brussels might need to look at the speed at which it is doling out the cash.