EURO-3C: the European infrastructure that combines telco, edge, cloud and AI to stop depending on third parties

The European Commission and a consortium of more than 70 European entities led by Telefónica have presented within the framework of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) of Barcelona EURO-3C, the “first” pan-European sovereign infrastructure that integrates telco, edge, cloud and AI capabilities under a federated, open and secure model, designed to accelerate Europe's digital and industrial transformation.

The announcement took place today at the stand of Telefónica in it MWC26. The event, which marks the global presentation of an initiative that has had 75 million euros budget coming from the Horizon Europe program of the European Commission, has had the participation of Renate Nikolay, deputy director general of the European Commission, and Juan Montero, director of public policies, competition and regulation at Telefónica, marking a “relevant milestone for the consolidation of a European strategic digital infrastructure.”

"The European Union has made technological sovereignty and industrial competitiveness a priority. To achieve this, not only advanced digital infrastructures are needed, but also close collaboration between sectors and countries. And the telecommunications sector is a key player in this effort. This is precisely what EURO 3C aims to deliver: a European-wide cooperative computing network that brings together the capabilities of telecommunications companies, connectivity, Edge and cloud, all enhanced with AI. This is a shared effort to strengthen Europe's industrial leadership and establish the bases of true digital sovereignty,” explained Montero.

The pillars of EURO-3C

EURO-3C displays a multi-telco and multi-provider federated infrastructure in production environments, with more than 70 edge and cloud nodes distributed in more than 13 countries Europeans. This network allows 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, among others.

The project is based on three differential elements: a interoperable architecture that connects existing capabilities of multiple operators and cloud providers into a common European framework; a collaboration between operators, industry, technology providers, SMEs and research centers, y nine high business value use cases that will demonstrate its real applicability and scalability. EURO-3C also integrates advanced capabilities of AI-enabled orchestration and interoperable services, guaranteeing a resilient, efficient infrastructure prepared for the challenges of the next decade.

EURO-3C brings together more than 70 entities, between telecommunications operators, cloud providers, technology manufacturers, SMEs, universities, research centers and large industrial companies, consolidating a cooperation model that strengthens European technological capacity in the key parts of the digital value chain: Telefónica, Eurescom, British Telecom, Capgemini, Citymesh, Deutsche Telekom, Elisa, Engineering, Ericsson, Ionos, IDC, KPN, MEO, Nokia, Orange, OVH, Suse, Swisscom, Fastweb, Telenor, TIM, Thales, Vodafone, Fogus, Krateo, Martel, Nearby, Nextworks, OpenNebula, Real Wireless, Scille, Sedicii, Ubitech, Wings, CTTC, F. Bruno Kessler, Fraunhofer, IMEC, INRIA, ITAV, POLITO, PCSS, TNO, UC3M, UOULU, ECSO, ETSI, PSCE, AIT, Bavarian Red Cross, ITTI, Frequentis, Meditech, Stellantis, Teltronic, Electricite de France, Harman, CAF, Multiverse Computing and OGRE.