CEF Digital supports the deployment of strategic backbone networks as part of the Digital Global Gateway Strategy of the EU, contributing to strengthening the quality and resilience of connectivity between EU countries, as well as third countries. This call is technology neutral and can support submarine cables, satellite infrastructures connectivity to internet exchange points, among others.
Projects funded under the Digital Global Gateways Call aim to deploy new and significant upgrades of connectivity routes, where:
- The existing infrastructure cannot satisfy demand for affordable and adequate services in line with the EU connectivity objectives for 2030.
- There is a lack of the necessary redundancy to guarantee reliable, resilient, adequate, and secure international connectivity.
- The users in the served territories suffer from suboptimal services or prices compared to those offered in more competitive but otherwise comparable areas or routes.
These routes can be located within EU countries, between EU countries and between the EU and third countries, including Outermost Regions and other Overseas Countries and territories.
The expected benefits go beyond those directly related to supported projects and contribute to bridging the digital divide and ensuring widespread access to Gigabit networks for citizens and businesses.
How to participate
There is currently no call open for this topic.
Open calls are published on the Funding & Tenders Portal and more details are available in the Call text.
Beneficiaries can take the form of consortia, including (local) operators, utilities, (local) authorities, investors and vendors.
Awarded projects
Browse EU-funded projects on the Funding & Tenders portal and get inspired.
News

Connecting Europe Facility - Digital Call 4 closed on 13 February with a budget of €233 million for 5G Large-Scale Pilots and Backbone connectivity for Digital Global Gateways. It drew an impressive total of 321 partners responding with 85 proposals.

HaDEA is gearing up for the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025, happening from 3 to 6 March at Fira Gran via in Barcelona. As the world’s biggest event for the mobile communications industry, MWC brings together over 100 000 companies, government representatives, investors, and startups.

Awarded in 2022 within CEF Digital’s “backbone networks for pan-European cloud federations” topic, the project DNS4EU is deploying the first EU-wide protective DNS ecosystem for public services. This will contribute to and strengthen European sovereignty.

One of the key contributions of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Telecom programme over its 10 years lifespan has been the development of technological solutions driven by the availability of public data. Discover the SPOTTED project, part of the public open data portfolio managed by HaDEA.