Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, TIM and Vodafone hail “major milestone for European digital infrastructure” with
a federated edge spanning their combined footprint
Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, TIM and Vodafone have federated their edge environments, so that applications can be deployed across their combined European footprint.
The five leverage platform components developed under the aegis of the Important Project of Common European Interest: Next Generation Cloud Infrastructure and Services (IPCEI-CIS) Project (see this excellent article by STL Partners) funded by the European Union (EU).
The first federation is operational in lab and pre-production environments, which they say is “a decisive step towards industrial and commercial rollout”.
The European Edge Continuum means customers and developers can deploy applications automatically and securely across nodes from different operators.
As the resources of multiple operators are available through a single access point, this lays the foundation for dynamic workload allocation, intelligent distribution of applications across federated nodes for optimal performance, cost efficiency, and mobility, ensuring service continuity even as users move across networks, according to the press release.
The federated European Edge Continuum initiative greatly extends the reach of each operator, offering customers simple access, tight integration with the network, interoperability, data sovereignty and flexibility – all key requirements for Europe’s digital transformation.
Other partners can be added in future as the Continuum is designed as an open ecosystem. Work is underway to integrate additional European technology leaders, application developers and open-source communities.
The next phase will focus on opening the ecosystem to new partners, industrialisation and commercial rollout. The five operators invite the entire European technology community to collaborate, innovate, and build together.
Operators have long talked about offering and delivering applications across other operators’ infrastructure to expand their footprint. The aim is to massively improve customer experience while giving developers’ a single access point to mulltiple markets. Here is what the operators themselves have to say:
“Our European Edge federation demonstrates that Europe is concretely building sovereign digital solutions. Interconnecting our edge environments to create a seamless continuum allows to propose a secure, open, and scalable digital infrastructure that matches Business customer’s expectations to thrive in a connected Europe”: Claire Catherine Chauvin, Director Strategy Architecture & Standardisation at Orange.
“The European Edge Continuum marks a decisive leap forward for Europe’s digital sovereignty. By federating our edge capabilities, we are creating an open, scalable, and intelligent infrastructure that empowers developers and simplifies how enterprises deploy applications across the continent. This first pan‑European federated edge cloud gives customers seamless access, enhanced performance, and a unified entry point—accelerating time‑to‑market and unlocking new value across Europe’s digital ecosystem”: Cayetano Carbajo, Core, Transport and Ecosystem Director at CTIO, speaking on behalf of Telefónica.
“This initiative demonstrates that Europe can lead innovation through shared, open, and secure solutions. TIM is proud to contribute to the creation of the first pan-European federated edge which is now a reality and represents a cornerstone of the region’s future digital transformation. We now move toward industrialization and ecosystem expansion, creating an infrastructure that enables digital sovereignty and economic growth”:Andrea Calvi – Head of Technology Evolution, LAP & Devices at TIM.
“This federation proves that Europe is not just talking about digital sovereignty. We are building it,” said Christine Knackfuß-Nikolic, Chief Sovereign Officer at T-Systems. “By uniting our networks and expertise, we are creating a secure, open and trusted digital ecosystem made in Europe – for Europe’s digital future.”
“This collaboration provides Europe with a single-entry point into world class federated digital infrastructure while preserving user choice. It supports our aim to enhance Europe’s competitiveness, resilience, and safety through cross-border, ubiquitous connectivity”: Marco Zangani, Director of Network Strategy and Architecture, Vodafone.
