Submarine cables, Single Telecommunications Market, and new challenges. The EU faces the digital future

Brussels – The digital future is already present, and the European Union risks not being ready for all the challenges the new environment may bring. “The future competitiveness of Europe’s economy depends on these advanced digital network infrastructures and services,” the European Commission warned, launching today (Feb. 21) a package of possible actions to promote innovation, security, and resilience of digital infrastructures. “Fast, secure, and widespread connectivity is essential for the deployment of the technologies that will bring us into tomorrow’s world,” from telemedicine to automated driving, predictive maintenance of buildings, or precision agriculture.

First and foremost, the von der Leyen Cabinet presented a recommendation on the security and resilience of existing and new submarine cable infrastructure, which follows up on the October 2022 proposal on critical infrastructure protection (including submarine cables). The most ambitious proposal to be considered “in the long run” is the one on the establishment of a “common governance” of the European Union, flanked by improved coordination on funding to support the construction or “significant” modernization of these infrastructures. In this context, available instruments could be reviewed, and private investment could flow to cable projects of European interest “under certain conditions.” Instead, as an immediate action, the recommendation calls for the creation of a ‘Cable Security Toolbox’ (a toolkit for the security of submarine cable infrastructure) and the streamlining of permitting procedures, with an Expert Group composed of member state authorities “being established” by the EU Commission.

The highlight of the package presented by the Union executive is the new White Paper ‘How to master Europe’s digital infrastructure needs?’ that analyzes future challenges and possible scenarios for attracting investment, fostering innovation, increasing security, and achieving a Digital Single Market. Among the challenges identified by the White Paper are the implications of new business models and network applications – given the “exponential increase in data processing, storage, and transmission” – and the requirements for “substantial and coordinated investments of more than 200 billion euros” by the public and private sectors to ensure the deployment of high-capacity digital networks according to the Digital Decade 2030 goals. Making matters more complex is the absence of a fully integrated Single Telecommunications Market, the fragmented approach to spectrum management, and the lack of a regulatory level playing field for all players and end-users of digital networks. Of particular importance is the risk of dependence on large non-EU suppliers, as well as the need for greater innovation and industrial capacity, sustainability (“the sector is responsible for between 7 and 9 percent of global electricity consumption, about 3  percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing amounts of e-waste”) and security “in a geopolitical context increasingly marked by tensions and conflicts.” 

The White Paper also envisions the emergence of a network of ‘Connected Collaborative Computing’ (referred to as the 3C Network) that will aim to “create integrated end-to-end infrastructures and platforms for telco cloud and edge” that can be used to “orchestrate the development of
innovative technologies and AI applications for various use cases.” This approach could be prepared by creating large-scale pilot projects or “a possible new major project of common European interest (IPCEI) in the IT continuum,” the EU Commission said. The White Paper also cites as a priority the need to “exploit the full potential of the Digital Single Market for telecommunications,” starting with “measures to ensure a true level playing field and rethinking the scope and objectives of the current regulatory framework,” finding a solution to the issue of technological convergence between telecommunications and cloud (“which are subject to different regulatory frameworks”). Finally, the EU Commission could also consider measures to accelerate the switch-off of copper by 2030 and to promote the greening of digital networks.