5G Corridor deployment

5G Corridors: a key driver for Europe’s Green and Digital transition

The deployment of 5G connectivity infrastructure along transport paths throughout Europe – 5G corridors - is expected to contribute to the green and digital transformation of the EU economy and society. 

5G-enabled Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) is seen as a major enabler for improved road safety, optimised road traffic, reduced CO2 emissions, and industrial competitiveness of both the transport and mobility sector. 

5G Corridor infrastructure will not only enable a broad range of digital services for the vehicle, the driver, passengers, and other relevant players, but also connectivity services paving the way to driving with high levels of automation by the end of the current decade. 

We expect that deploying 5G infrastructure will equally contribute to the digitalisation of rail operations and inland waterways.

The Commission had previously acknowledged the key role that could be played by 5G Corridors both in Europe’s Digital Decade Strategy and in the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy. 5G Corridors constitute one of the Multi-Country Projects (MCPs) identified in the Digital Decade Strategy and thus represent one of the main strategic investment areas of the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

Large-scale pan-European deployment of 5G corridors have been able to draw on the conclusions and recommendations made by the 5G cross-border trial projects that preceded them. During these trials, stakeholders from different sectors combined their efforts to conduct testing and trials of 5G-enabled CAM, with the support of Horizon 2020 under the 5G Public-Private Partnership.

Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital Projects

The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital Programme has been supporting large-scale deployment of 5G corridors over the 2021-2027 period, with a planned budget of around €780 million. The first Multi-annual Work Programme for the 2021-2025 period, adopted on 16 December 2021, set a focus on the deployment of cross-border sections along 5G corridors.

Since the adoption of the CEF Digital Work Programme, three series of Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital Projects have been launched in 2023, 2024, and most recently in 2025.

The three calls published thus far under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital 5G Corridors topic resulted in a total of 25 successful studies and projects, with the deployment projects currently ongoing. You can find out more about these projects by consulting the 5G Corridors Deployment Map.

Innovative cooperation models are emerging with the participation of different industry sectors involved in the 5G-enabled CAM ecosystem to deploy the needed 5G infrastructure along European transport paths. 

A few projects are focusing on deploying a passive network infrastructure under the leadership of companies that own and operate mobile radio towers, in cooperation with mobile network operators, road operators, rail infrastructure managers and original equipment manufacturers.

In parallel, we are seeing seamless cross-border roaming solutions develop, attempting to ensure uninterrupted 5G coverage throughout cross-border corridors, which will hopefully make minutes without connectivity when driving through border areas a thing of the past. 

Call four was published on 22 October and will be open for project submissions until 13 February 2025. This is the first call that is based on the second CEF Digital Work Programme 2024-2027, adopted on 10 October 2024.

A new map of 5G Corridor Deployment Projects is taking shape in Europe, thanks to sustained cross-border cooperation, EU Research and Innovation Funding, but most of all thanks to the considerable funding provided by the CEF Digital Programme so far.