Jennifer Holmes, CEO of the London Internet Exchange, explores the resilience and readiness of Europe’s digital infrastructure.
The metric for Europe’s digital infrastructure story is increasingly measured by mobile speeds. The speed at which 5G is rolling out, where coverage maps peak and lag, and the potential and promises of 6G rollouts are the strongest indicators of innovation – yet this mobile narrative only scratches the surface.
Behind every successful call, every stream, and every AI-driven workflow lies a far less visible but far more consequential layer of infrastructure – the mesh of fibre, network interconnection, and backbone infrastructure that carries digital traffic across cities, borders, and continents.
Europe’s future connectivity will depend not simply on faster radio waves, but on how well this underlying infrastructure operates and scales. Most importantly, its ability to do so securely, resiliently, and inclusively. As demand from artificial intelligence (AI), cloud services, media streaming, smart urban systems, and critical public infrastructure continues to accelerate, the resilience of these networks becomes a strategic imperative.
Beyond the mobile mast
As Europe prepares for the deployment of 5G and the implementation of not only enhanced 5G but emerging 6G technologies, public attention focuses on coverage maps and headline speeds. To deliver the resilient, high-capacity network connectivity required by a modern digital economy, simply relying on faster radio access alone will not prove sufficient.
The backbone of Europe’s digital future rests on the underlying internet infrastructures that carry traffic reliably between cities, regions, and across international waters. These networks are responsible for everything from cloud-based AI to edge computing, streaming services, virtual reality, and remote services envisioned for 6G.
With standardisation work to transition to 6G beginning last year, with a view to deploying 6G closer to 2030, this remains under-emphasised in discourse around connectivity policy. Europe must ensure that the network beneath the masts is robust, scalable, and capable of handling unprecedented traffic growth if high-performance digital services are to become the norm.
This means prioritising interconnection infrastructure that keeps data flows local where possible, improves latency, and reduces dependency on distant transit routes – the very elements that ensure users get real value from next-generation access technologies.
Resilience at scale
The biggest indicator of the success of Europe’s digital infrastructure will come from not only the mundane traffic patterns, but the high-demand digital moments which impact millions across the globe. Networks are expected to absorb peaks in demand without degradation or systemic risk, particularly during moments of mass participation in live events or during public emergencies.
Network resilience has become a strategic necessity and is now deemed essential to national security, economic continuity, and public wellbeing. A recent report highlighted that secure connectivity now underpins not just economic activity but defence readiness and critical national services from healthcare and energy systems to emergency response and logistics and that insufficient resilience exposes citizens and institutions alike to escalating risks.
Real resilience at scale depends on diversity and redundancy in network architecture. A single overloaded route or under-provisioned link can cascade into wider failures – a peril that only increases as applications demand lower latency, higher availability, and seamless user experiences.
Policymakers and operators alike must think beyond isolated upgrades to mobile radios and consider how the entire ecosystem – including undersea and cross-border backbone networks, interconnection hubs, and regional peering arrangements – all contribute to resilient infrastructure that can withstand both predictable growth and sudden surges.
Digital divides across Europe
Though there has been significant progress, Europe’s digital landscape is far from uniform, with connectivity metrics such as broadband speeds, fibre coverage, and 5G penetration varying widely between nations and regions, revealing persistent digital divides that risk locking in economic and social inequality.
Rural and remote areas, in particular, continue to lag behind metropolitan centres in both access to and quality of connectivity, even as some Member States have achieved near-universal adoption of advanced networks. These disparities are not merely technical, they influence where businesses choose to locate, how public services are delivered and whether communities can fully participate in the digital economy.
Addressing these gaps is central to the European Union’s Digital Decade objectives for 2030, which aim for universal gigabit connectivity and comprehensive 5G coverage across populated areas. Yet, policymakers acknowledge that the existing framework is fragmented, with national markets and regulatory regimes creating barriers to cross-border investment and scaling. The recently proposed Digital Networks Act (DNA) is Europe’s most ambitious attempt in years to modernise the rules governing digital infrastructure, making them simpler and more harmonised across Member States, and thereby encouraging investment in advanced fibre and mobile networks.
Without concerted action, uneven infrastructure investment risks reinforcing existing divides, leaving parts of Europe behind as others race ahead in connectivity, innovation, and economic growth. This is not just a matter of fairness, it goes to the heart of whether the digital single market can function efficiently and equitably for citizens and businesses alike.
A Pan-European view
Europe’s ability to compete in the global digital economy will increasingly depend on the choices made today on infrastructure, regulation, and cooperation. To remain a credible global player, policymakers and industry leaders must focus on a small number of closely linked priorities.
Regulatory harmonisation and predictability are essential. Fragmented national rules continue to slow the cross-border rollout of critical networks, increasing costs, and complexity for operators looking to scale across the EU. The Digital Networks Act seeks to address this by simplifying regulatory frameworks and strengthening the single market for connectivity, allowing companies to operate EU-wide through a single registration and reducing administrative burdens.
Investment must also go beyond access technologies to include the underlying systems that keep networks running. Common security standards and stronger preparedness planning, already part of wider digital resilience efforts, are vital to ensure networks can withstand cyberattacks, natural disasters, and geopolitical disruption without major service failures.
Finally, closing digital divides must remain a core policy goal. Targeted funding tools, such as the Connecting European Facility (CEF), have played an important role in securing cross-border, high-capacity digital infrastructure. A pan-European approach recognises connectivity as a strategic infrastructure, on par with energy and transport, and will be critical to keeping Europe competitive, connected, and secure in the decade ahead.
Please note, this article will also appear in the 25th edition of our quarterly publication.
