The European Commission set out a plan to spend €865 million on improving digital connectivity in European Union (EU) member states, the latest swathe of cash to be released from a €2 billion pot to improve the region’s infrastructure.

In a statement, the authority announced the adoption of its second work programme under the Connecting Europe Facility Digital scheme, which aims to support projects deemed of common EU interest alongside deployment of the latest connectivity infrastructure in specific areas.

The latest tranche of cash will be partly used for co-financing large-scale 5G and gigabit fibre projects. Funds will also be allocated to “deployment and significant upgrade of backbone networks”, including quantum communication and submarine cables to improve capacity.

Digital industry schemes are also set to receive allocations from the pot, with the EC stating an ambition to aid “integration of edge cloud and computing capabilities in vertical sectoral applications, such as health, manufacturing, transport and logistics”.

The latest batch of cash will be allocated for 2024 to 2027: the EC’s previous work programme ran from 2021 to 2023. It plans to call for applications in the coming days.

European Commissioner and EVP for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age Margrethe Vestager (pictured) highlighted the strategic importance of improving connectivity: “with this second work programme we aim to connect more citizens and businesses, and launch more innovative connectivity infrastructure”.