The European Commission and a consortium led by Telefónica presented this Monday at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) EURO-3C, the first pan-European sovereign infrastructure that integrates Telco, Edge, Cloud and artificial intelligence capabilities under a federated, open and secure model. The project, endowed with 75 million euros, is financed by the Horizon Europe program and seeks to accelerate the digital and industrial transformation of the continent.
The initiative is part of the priorities of the EU’s 2030 Digital Decade Political Programme, which places secure and sustainable digital infrastructures as one of its strategic pillars.
EURO-3C will deploy a multi-telco and multi-provider federated infrastructure in production environments, with more than 70 Edge and Cloud nodes distributed in more than 13 European countries.
“This network will allow us to offer advanced digital services with high standards of performance, interoperability and security, responding to critical needs in sectors such as automotive, transportation, energy or public security,” Telefónica assures.
The project is based on three differential axes: an interoperable architecture that connects capabilities of multiple operators and cloud providers in a common European framework; a pan-European industrial scale based on collaboration between telecoms, industry, SMEs and research centers; and validation through nine use cases of high business value that will demonstrate its real applicability and scalability.
Furthermore, EURO-3C will integrate advanced AI-enabled orchestration capabilities and interoperable serviceswith the aim of guaranteeing a resilient infrastructure prepared for the technological challenges of the next decade.
Renate Nikolay, Deputy Director General of the Directorate General for Communication Networks, Content and Technology of the European Commission, has stressed that they promote “secure and developed digital communication infrastructures in Europe” to take advantage of the convergence between telecommunications, Edge, cloud and AI. In addition, he highlighted that the project will federate a large number of actors around a “secure and sovereign” communications ecosystem.
For his part, Juan Montero has defended that technological sovereignty and industrial competitiveness have become priorities for the EU and has stressed that the telecommunications sector is a key actor in this process. “EURO-3C aims to deliver a European-wide cooperative computing network that brings together the capabilities of telcos, connectivity, edge and cloud, all enhanced with AI,” he said.
The consortium brings together more than 70 entities, including operators, technology providers, manufacturers, universities and large industrial companies, consolidating a cooperation model that seeks to strengthen European digital autonomy in the key links of the value chain.