European Commission
In early 2022, the European Commission launched the first set of calls for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility – Digital programme (CEF - Digital). Receiving a budget of €25 million, the 5G for Smart Communities call was designed to support the EU’s 5G targets.
The 5G for Smart Communities action aims to speed up 5G coverage in Europe, putting particular attention to rural and low connectivity areas, while also demonstrating the unique benefits of 5G to support services of general interest in local communities.
...why 5G?
5G connectivity has huge potential to improve digital services in cities and local areas. By ensuring higher speeds, low latency, wider coverage and increased network reliability, 5G networks can help modernise services of general interest in many sectors, notably in healthcare, education, public administration and transport, making them more efficient and resilient.
5G technology is also expected to boost the take up of Internet of Things (loT) systems, which bring added value to physical objects in smart cities, when connected and integrated.
...what are Smart Communities?
By offering enhanced, smart, digital services, "5G for smart communities" aim at the well-being of citizens, businesses, organisations and public administration.
Smart services, for example, can help make public services more easily accessible, provide more effective emergency response mechanisms, automate the agricultural and food value chain, improve healthcare services or monitor and streamline local mobility.
Selected 5G for Smart Communities projects:
The selected 5G for Smart Communities projects have started in Q1 2023 with a timeframe of 3 years. They will serve as European best practices, demonstrating what the deployment of 5G networks can bring to various sectors of society:
I. 5G4ASSAC: 5G for a Smart Sicilian Academic Campus (Italy)
The project will implement a 5G Private Mobile Network (MPN) to support new functional approaches to education and training in universities and hospitals, as well as the creation of a continuous care system.
Vodafone (IT) together with UNIPA, University of Palermo will run two use cases in the Health and Education domains to optimise both learning and training processes and to provide solid basis for improving care methods.
The end-users benefiting from the 5G4ASSAC project are both in the university environment (students, professors, researchers, etc.) and in the community of patients suffering from severe chronic diseases, in the cities of Palermo and Trapani.
Total EU contribution: €4.005.551,18
II. 5G4UH: 5G for University Hospital (Germany)
The project will deploy a leading-edge 5G infrastructure at the Frankfurt University Hospital in Germany, enabling innovative 5G use cases and improving the provision of public health services. There will be tele-ultrasound devices as well as innovative monitoring solutions and new solution to organise hospital logistics – all of which contribute to better care, to more efficient processes and to better use of resources and medical skills.
Total EU contribution: €3.339.825
III. 5GAGRIHUB: 5G MPN AgriTech HUB (Hungary)
A 5G Mobile Private Network (MPN) Hub will be established at a Demonstration farm in Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary to enable end-to-end solutions in agriculture. Vodafone (HU) will carry out three use cases focusing on the agriculture sector:
- Row crop cultivator in field crop production
- Machine-to-machine connection in field crop production
- Weed monitoring and spraying plan with machine-to-machine connection in field crop production
Total EU contribution: €399.940,50
IV. CONNECTOW: 5G Connectivity for Wavre (Belgium)
Citymesh, in close cooperation with the Belgian city of Wavre, will build a state-of-the-art 5G private network complying with current security standards and attaining the highest level of performance. The EU-funded CONNECTOW project will install a city-wide 5G network so that firefighters and police services can use safety drones in emergency situations. Additionally, 5G-based smart meters will be installed so that the city of Wavre can better manage and green its energy consumption.
Total EU contribution: €2.976.018
The Westhoek region, better known as "Flanders Fields", has high historical value as a major battle theatre on the Western Front during the First World War. The EU-funded Flanders Smart Fields project will provide standalone 5G coverage for the Westhoek region to support innovative applications in healthcare and education. Deploying a performant 5G network throughout the region will enable e-health services like virtual video consultations and real-time remote assistance from doctors located in the hospital to emergency response units. Additionally, medical transportations between different hospitals will be improved by using 5G-based drone technology and children who are sick for a longer period of time will be able to attend classes remotely.
Total EU contribution: €4.133.305
VI. Hi5: High Connectivity via 5G (France)
Hi5 is a visionary project for rolling out 5G technology in the Toulouse metropolitan area by 2025. It will deliver leading-edge connectivity to public services, building on the existing fibre-optic network and data centres, focuses on five use cases:
- “City Services” – enhancing the abilities of authorities in the areas of traffic management and supervision of public space.
- “Event Connectivity” – focusing on the need to flexibly deploy recording and communication equipment during outdoor events.
- “Mobility Lab” – offering area-wide access to net-based services with ultra-high speed for start-ups and small enterprises.
- “Education” - taking teaching and academic research at the University of Blagnac to a new level.
- “High-speed video data offloading” – making the public transport in the metropolitan area safer and more user friendly.
The project is taking the innovation within the metropole area one step further, underlining Toulouse’s standing as leading European technology region. All 5G use cases demonstrated have high potential for Europe-wide application, to stimulate the wider and faster deployment and take up of 5G across Europe.
Total EU contribution: €2.806.500
A 5G-based disaster-resilient mobile network will be implemented along the 136.7 km Hungarian-Ukrainian border to support real-time communication with broadband voice/data/image/video transmission services, with extensive coverage, high availability, high (gigabit) bandwidth and reliability for public authorities and agencies (in particular, ambulance services, police and border guards ) performing public tasks (health, police and border protection).
The Pro-M Professional Mobilradio Private Company Ltd., a special Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) telecommunications service provider in cooperation with 4 socio-economic drivers: the National Ambulance Service, the National Police Headquarters, the Hungarian Defence Forces Command, responsible for defence policy and defence economy, and the public IdomSoft Zrt (Ltd), key player in the development of electronic public services and systems will run multiple use cases linked to health services, law enforcement and border protection.
Total EU contribution: €3.998.549,25
The diversity of the selected projects show the wide potential of 5G infrastructure, and its ability to contribute to the lives of communities with different needs and priorities.
Keep an eye on this website for more updates on the 5G for smart communities initiative!