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Objective of the call
The objective of this action is to deploy a reference cross-border Telco Edge software and hardware installation and demonstrate its benefits for key application areas and sectors essential to Europe’s competitiveness and strategic autonomy.
The deployment should support balanced Telco Edge capacity across the EU, enable federation of related initiatives, and emphasise sustainability, security, resilient connectivity infrastructure (including cloud-native 5G), and interoperability of cross-border Telco Edge infrastructures. The action contributes to Europe’s Digital Decade ambition of deploying 10,000 climate-neutral, highly secure Edge nodes by 2030.
Scope of activities
Proposals must deploy Telco Edge Cloud nodes across at least two different EU Member States, ensuring broad geographic coverage.
The reference cross-border deployment must demonstrate:
• Federation of Edge infrastructures offered by different providers in multiple Member States.
• Seamless and off-the-shelf use in a range of demonstration use cases.
• Interoperability and resource sharing across network, cloud, data and services layers.
The deployment must federate with complementary Edge initiatives, including projects funded under Horizon Europe, CEF, IPCEI-CIS, Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking, and other national or regional initiatives.
Proposals should address:
• Sustainability and energy efficiency of Edge nodes, including the definition of metrics and open hardware design blueprints.
• Security improvements, including certification schemes tailored to Telco Edge management and operation.
• Resilience of compute and connectivity elements, particularly cloud-native 5G performance.
• Interoperability and federation across edge, cloud and networking layers, including orchestration coordination at multi-cloud and edge levels.
Use cases must focus on industrial sectors and verticals essential to Europe’s competitiveness and strategic autonomy, particularly those identified under the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP). Proposals should justify the number and configuration of Edge nodes (near/far edge), their capacity and target latency requirements.
Eligible applicants
- Private organisations with proven expertise in Telco Edge developments
- Organisations based in EU Member States, EFTA/EEA, or Associated Countries (more info on eligible countries will be published soon)
- The consortium should represent the full Telco Edge Cloud value chain, involving supply-side and demand-side actors to ensure co-creation and uptake. Standardisation efforts and long-term sustainability strategies are required.
Specific consortium we are looking for:
- telecom operators
- edge and cloud infrastructure providers
- hardware manufacturers
- 5G technology providers
- cybersecurity specialists
- orchestration and federation technology providers
- industrial use case owners from STEP-relevant sectors
- stakeholders across the Telco Edge Cloud value chain representing both supply and demand sides
Funding conditions
Type of action:
Simple grant
Funding rate:
50%
Indicative budget
€10 million
Indicative duration of the action
36 months
Deadline for submission
Q2 2027