European Commission
The Commission is opening a call for tenders for the setup of a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) providing assistance and an online platform to 5G suppliers and adopters. The deadline for tenderers to submit is Wednesday, 24th August 2022 at 4pm CET.
The platform will stimulate stakeholders to use 5G networks in order to deliver new, more efficient and resilient services to citizens. Potential users will be able to share their best practices and write about the experience derived from call projects and implementation. In this context, the role of the CSA platform will be to:
- gather best practises from ongoing and upcoming projects
- facilitate the design of 5G-based use-cases and deployment projects;
- encourage synergies between stakeholders in many sectors as potential applicants to the upcoming CEF Digital calls and other funding programmes.
In this context, the CEF Digital Work Programme includes a second call this year (2022) in its indicative timetable, but it the second calls will be formally announced at a later date.
Any request for additional information on the call for tenders must be made in writing through TED eTendering website in the "Questions & Answers" tab, by clicking "Create a question". Please note: registration on TED eTendering is required to be able to create and submit a question.
Context - benefits of 5G for smart communities
Access to fast and reliable 5G connectivity has huge potential to help European regions, cities and local communities to transform digitally, modernize specific sectors, such as health and education, and innovate essential public services.
For example, the Commission’s Digital Education Action Plan has identified connectivity as a critical component for a high-performing digital education ecosystem with, for example, the possibility of having students take part in classes from remote areas, enabled by virtual and augmented reality technologies.
Similarly, recent studies have shown that healthcare centers need networks with significant bandwidth to enable electronic health records, with for example, real-time and personalized medical advice and treatment. Other use cases, such as emergency health monitoring and care in ambulances or continuous health monitoring and support outside healthcare facilities, could also benefit from the new capabilities brought about by 5G connectivity. In recent times, the COVID-19 crisis has also shown how important it is to have high-speed connectivity for the provision of key public services at a distance.
Furthermore, the 5G Public-Private Partnership demonstrated in 5G pilots the high potential of 5G for many sectors.
The CSA will bring all these aspects together and will act as a one-stop-shop for 5G deployment and take up in Europe.