This announcement follows the initial call for proposals under CEF Digital in late 2022, where seven projects shared €25 million, with at least three involving enterprise-led private 5G networks.

A statement regarding the latest selection of projects emphasized their role in piloting the deployment of 5G standalone (SA) systems, contributing to Europe’s Digital Decade targets to improve digital skills, business, government, and infrastructure by 2030. The statement noted that a total of 17 CEF Digital projects will soon be underway across Europe, serving as valuable best-practice actions for 5G SA systems, aiming to stimulate private investment in the sector.

Of the 17 projects, seven are focused on delivering healthcare services, either to remote areas or to enhance efficiencies and innovations in urban settings. Approximately one-third of the projects (five out of 17) are loosely centered on public safety, disaster relief, and public services, particularly in the context of smart cities. Additionally, there are projects targeting niche connectivity needs such as university campuses, rural areas, smart logistics, and smart agriculture.

Among the new private 5G projects are initiatives such as wireless operating rooms and machine vision-based surgical navigation at Oulu University Hospital in Finland, a smart-port project at Port of Ploče in Croatia aimed at optimizing port logistics, and a smart logistics research and development project at TUKE University in Slovakia. These projects received funding ranging from just under €1 million to €1.55 million.

In addition to the new projects, ongoing initiatives such as Vodafone’s provision of private 5G networks to the University of Palermo in Italy and a demonstration farm in Hungary, as well as projects in Germany and Belgium, continue to receive EU funding to support various applications, including drone services for emergency responders.

One of the new projects, Smart Port Ploče in Croatia – which got €958,125 EU funds – aims to enhance public services provided by the Port of Ploče Authority through the deployment of a dedicated private 5G network by the company Markoja. This initiative seeks to improve traffic and logistic processes in the port area by implementing innovative data-intensive use cases such as real-time location systems, cargo manipulation surveillance, and incident prevention and management.

Overall, these initiatives represent a significant investment by the EU in advancing 5G technology to benefit smart communities across the continent.