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Call key data
Backbone connectivity for Digital Global Gateways - Works
Funding Program
Connecting Europe Facility - Digital
Call number
CEF-DIG-2022-GATEWAYS-WORKS
deadlines
Opening
12.10.2022
Deadline
23.02.2023 17:00
Deadline - 2nd stage
Opening
03.11.2022
Funding rate
30 - 70 %
Call budget
€ 100,000,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project
Project budgets (maximum grant amount) are expected to be up to € 30,000,000.00 per project.
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
The objective of this call is to support the deployment of strategic networks as part of the Digital Global Gateway Strategy of the EU, contributing to strengthen the quality of connectivity within the Union as well as with third countries.
Call objectives
This call is technology neutral. The applicants should justify that their proposal provides the best technology suited for the call objectives, which may include submarine cables systems, satellite infrastructures and connectivity to internet exchange points.
By supporting the targeted deployment of such connectivity, CEF Digital will have a positive impact not only on strengthening the connectivity capacity, but also on stimulating commercial offers of connectivity.
Access to backbone connectivity in EU Member States differs significantly. In certain regions a lack of adequate backbone connectivity may have an impact on the development of and service provided by access networks and generate possible imbalances in the prices of services, both for network operators in these regions, as well as for their inhabitants.
In particular, the connectivity situation for Member States that are themselves islands and/or have islands as part of their territory differs significantly from other Member States. For remote territories such as islands, Outermost Regions and Overseas Countries and Territories, the commercial prices and other conditions of backbone connectivity may hinder the full participation of citizens and enterprises in the digital European economy.
Furthermore, the infrastructures connecting remote territories may be subject to obsolescence problems, which put at risk the resilience of those regions, from an economic and social point of view, especially in case of insufficient redundancy and available capacity of other alternative infrastructures to connect the regions.
In such areas, market forces alone may not provide answers to all these challenges. As a result, certain areas may remain underserved or experiment higher prices in terms of access to backbone connectivity.
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Expected effects and impacts
This topic will support the deployment of backbone connectivity for routes within Member States (including OCTs), between Member States (including OCTs), and between Member States (including OCTs) and third countries:
- where there is a lack of redundancy on a route. This is typically the case of routes which are not served by at least two present or credibly planned backbone infrastructures; or
- where existing or credibly planned backbone infrastructure cannot reliably satisfy the demand, taking into account, if necessary, any increase in the demand linked to ongoing or credibly planned investments in the upgrade of access networks in the territories concerned. The utilisation of existing capacity as well as the expected lifetime of existing backbone networks are among the elements that may be taken into account to justify such a market failure and the urgency of intervention; or
- where despite the presence of a backbone infrastructure providing sufficient capacity and guaranteeing the necessary redundancy, in the absence of credible plans from alternative operators to enter the market, the users in the served territories suffer (or could suffer in the absence of adequate regulatory remedies) from suboptimal services or prices compared to those offered in more competitive but otherwise comparable areas or routes. This could be the case for instance if the backbone infrastructure or a substantial part of it is in the hands of an operator which according to a competent national regulatory authority has significant market power in the relevant market.
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Expected results
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 all EU citizens and businesses. Moreover, this connectivity infrastructure can cross-facilitate the implementation of other topics supported under CEF Digital, such as the availability of HPC-related facilities, etc.
Key performance indicators for this topic will include: i) the total length of the backbone or, for wireless solutions, the distance between transmission/reception stations, and ii) the additional (significant) transmission capacity created as a result of the projects supported by CEF. For submarine cables the number of fibre pairs, the current capacity per fibre pair, as well as the technology chosen and whether the system is repeated or unrepeated should be mentioned in the proposal, too.
Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
eligible entities
International organization, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Mandatory partnership
No
other eligibility criteria
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
- third countries associated to the CEF (list of partipating countries)
Specific cases:
- Entities from other countries are exceptionally eligible for projects of common interest in the field of transport, energyand digital and for cross-border projects in the field of renewable energy, if the granting authority considers their participation essential for the implementation of the action.
- Natural persons are NOT eligible (with the exception of self-employed persons, i.e. sole traders, where the company does not have legalpersonality separate from that of the natural person).
- International organisations are eligible. The rules on eligible countries do not apply to them.
- Entities without legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guaranteesfor the protection of the EU financial interests equivalent to that offered by legal persons.
- EU bodies (with the exception of the European Commission Joint Research Centre) can NOT be part of the consortium.
Additional information
Topics
Relevance for EU Macro-Region
EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region
UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)
project duration
up to 36 months
Additional Information
Proposal page limits and layout:
- Part A to be filled in directly online (administrative information, summarised budget, call-specific questions, etc.)
- Part B to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system (technical description of project)
- Part C to be filled in directly online (additional project data)
- mandatory annexes and supporting documents (to be uploaded):
- detailed budget table per Work Package
- activity reports of last year (unless exempted from operational capacity check)
- list of previous projects (key projects for the last 4 years)
- timetable/Gantt chart
- letter of support (MS agreement)
- ownership control questionnaire
- security declarations signed by the participating entities
- security guarantees approved by the third country, in case of third country entities participation. Exceptionally, should a third country require more time to provide its approval, the applicants must submit, by the call deadline, a copy of the security guarantee and the acknowledgment of receipt of the request by the third country. In this case, the security guarantees approved by the third country must be sent by the proposal coordinator to HADEA-CEF-DIGITAL-CALLS@ec.europa.eu by 21 April 2023, 17:00:00 CEST (Brussels) at the latest, identified with the proposal ID in the email subject.
- declaration from the coordinator, on behalf of the consortium, that the planned backbone infrastructure addresses a market failure in terms of lack of redundancy, capacity or another type of market failure as described in section 2
- other annexes
Call documents
Call Document CEF-DIG-2022-GATEWAYSCall Document CEF-DIG-2022-GATEWAYS(543kB)
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