The priority for this call will be to support investment in cross-border sections involving two or more Member States, but additional sections considered relevant from a European perspective are equally in the scope of this call.

The corridor that is subject to the study must cross at least one border between two Member States.
Sharing of both passive and active equipment by network operators (e.g. through a neutral host model) should aim at substantially reducing network deployment costs and at the same time facilitating the energy efficient use of resources when deploying and operating 5G infrastructure.

The studies should deliver the following elements:

• Exact location of the corridor, including the different cross-border sections.
• Detailed definition of service requirements along the corridor allowing for business continuity across borders.
• Full network planning including the spectrum bands used.
• A plan to enable uninterrupted service across the cross-border sections funded. Concrete deliverables enabling to specify and financially quantify the investment required for infrastructure deployment, including coverage and service capabilities, use of existing infrastructure (backhauling including fibre, power, buildings and other constructions for co-location, ground space and other associated facilities and services).
• Coordination mechanisms to ensure business continuity across the border, in particular regarding spectrum management and numbering. This includes a description of the scenario(s) and processes to guarantee a network hand-over meeting targeted CAM service requirements.
• Cost calculation and a cost-benefit analysis to identify economically viable and non-viable sections of the corridor where CEF-funding of 5G connectivity infrastructure deployment would be needed and justified according to the guidance set forth by the Commission in its Work Programme.
• Timeline of the work plan for deployment of subsequent works (finalisation of network planning, permit requests, preparation of works, works, testing, service launch).
• Network upgrade plans according to an evolutionary path enabling a densification of radio networks that would allow moving towards higher levels of automation, if possible up to full automation (e.g. level 5 in automotive).
• Definition of the cooperation model(s) between the different members of the consortium outlining the roles and responsibilities of each involved party in the deployment project, including financing, ownership, infrastructure deployment, network sharing agreements – if any, network operations and commercial service provision.
• Definition of the processes enabling coordination and synergies between funding of works under CEF Digital 2021-2023 and RRF where appropriate, as well as in combination with any other relevant public funding programmes at EU, national and regional/local levels that could be used for the purposes of this first phase of deployment work or subsequent projects.
• Identification of financing solutions for subsequent phases (based on the roadmap described above) possibly using a mix of grants and loans, e.g. under the CEF Digital blending facility.