21 European players are testing 5G in the Mediterranean Corridor between France and Spain

This full-scale test is carried out within the framework of 5GMED. This involves testing road and rail services along the busiest cross-border corridor, both for goods and for seasonal transhumance by holidaymakers. The 5GMED Project is supported by the European Commission as part of the H2020 program, which is to provide a sustainable 5G deployment model for future mobility on the Mediterranean corridor between France and Spain. Eleven new Horizon 2020 projects under the European 5G Public-Private Partnership (5G-PPP), will be launched in September 2020. The objective will be to seize opportunities in 5G hardware innovation and validate 5G ecosystems for the connected and automated mobility (CAM) along three new European cross-border corridors. As part of 5GMED, the services tested rely on a wide range of technologies in addition to 5G, such as cloud/edge computing and artificial intelligence, to offer advanced connectivity services on transport routes. 5GMed will develop cross-border 5G application scenarios, advanced connected and automated cooperative mobility services (CCAM), and the future railway mobile communication system (FRMCS), through 4 pilot projects on the railway line and highway between Figueras and Perpignan. With a budget of 16 million euros, 75% funded by the European Commission, the project will be launched in September 2020 for completion by November 2023. Four use cases will be tested
The infrastructure will enable four use cases: remote automated driving, advanced traffic management, continuity of commercial rail services when crossing the border, and finally, infotainment with augmented reality for autonomous vehicles and rail. The use cases will first be tested on three small-scale test sites, which will reproduce real-world conditions. It is a strategic section of the Trans-European Transport Network, as it handles 55% of road traffic between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe and 65% of rail traffic. The consortium, led by Cellnex Telecom, brings together 21 members from 7 countries representing the telecommunications sector (Vodafone, Hispasat, Retevisión, and Cellnex France), the transport and mobility sector (Abertis Autopistas, SNCF, and Línea Figueres Perpignan SA, Anadolu Isuzu, Valeo), technology and solution providers (Axbryd, Nearby Computing, Atos, Athens Technology Center, COMSA Corporación, Terra3D), consulting service providers (Eight Bells), research institutions (CTTC, i2CAT, IRT Saint Exupéry, Vedecom) and organizations in favor of mobile and digital transformation (Mobile World Capital Barcelona). The project also benefits from the support of the administrations of the two countries, in particular, the Catalan government and the Occitanie region. The Mediterranean Corridor is an essential axis for the competitiveness of companies and territories in the great south-west of Europe. It is also a strategic corridor for France which concerns not only freight traffic between France and Northern Europe, but also more broadly traffic between Italy, Spain, and Great Britain (via Calais and the Rhone corridor), as well as traffic to Italy and Central Europe via the passages of Mont-Blanc, Fréjus and Ventimiglia, from the ports of Marseilles, Barcelona and the major French ports on the Atlantic seaboard and of the Seine Valley. The Corridor will also contribute to the new Silk Railroad between Europe and China.