5G coverage along transport corridors - Studies

As of 2021, there were no operational 5G corridors in Europe. However, large-scale trials for testing, demonstration, and validation purposes have been conducted at different locations across Europe, with the support of European and national/local public funding.

As such, inception studies will be funded under this call in order to prepare the actual works of the next big waves of deployment to be launched after the conclusion of the studies; a call for deployment is planned for 2023.

Individual studies covering several deployment projects (e.g. in the same geographical area or encompassing several transport modes) are encouraged, if relevant.

Scope:

This topic targets preparatory actions for envisaged deployment projects that support investments in challenging areas, where market forces alone will not deliver 5G services with the necessary quality of service, and focus on key European transport paths, including but not limited to, the indicative list of 5G corridors in part V of the the Annex to the CEF Regulation 2021/1153.

The priority for this call will be to support investment in cross-border sections involving two or more Member States, but additional sections considered relevant from a European perspective are equally in the scope of this call.

The corridor that is subject to the study must cross at least one border between two Member States. The length of the corridors envisaged for deployment or study on both/all sides of the border may vary, depending on national circumstances including means of transport, geographic situation and maximum size of the project/EU funding.

Combining several deployment projects for the same or different calls, e.g. combined by region, is encouraged in this call.