EU-wide Advantages & Opportunities for "6G NTN-TN Unification/Integration" (HORIZON-JU-SNS-2025-01-STREAM-B-03-01)

1. Single Market Access

• Pan-European Coverage by Design – The call explicitly seeks seamless roaming and integrated control across terrestrial (TN) and non-terrestrial networks (NTN). A consortium that pilots a multi-orbit constellation plus 6G terrestrial nodes can instantly address 450 + million end-users, airlines, maritime operators and PPDR agencies without national hand-off constraints.

• Commercial First-Mover Advantage – Harmonised 6G NTN specifications developed under an EU flag can become the de-facto reference for vendors and operators across all 27 MS, lowering go-to-market costs and giving beneficiaries a protected home market before global export.

2. Cross-Border Collaboration

• Mandatory Multinational Consortia – Horizon rules push for transnational teams; this fosters best-in-class integration of EU satellite primes (FR/IT/DE), MNOs (ES/FI/SE), optical link innovators (EL/PT) and AI routing SMEs (CZ/EE).

• Shared Testbeds – Pan-EU flight permits for cubesats, drone corridors (e.g. SESAR U-space) and 5G/6G corridors enable cross-border demos (Baltics-Nordics, Alpine corridor) that a single state cannot offer.

• Knowledge Spill-over – Open-science clauses (common AI/ML data repository) accelerate uptake by other SNS projects and national 6G initiatives, reinforcing Europe’s collective learning curve.

3. EU Policy Alignment

• Digital Decade & Path to the Digital Compass 2030 – Contributes directly to the target of 100 % gigabit coverage and space-based secure connectivity.

• Strategic Autonomy & Secure Connectivity Regulation (IRIS²) – Results feed dual-use secure comms and reduce dependency on non-EU high-risk vendors, matching Article 22(5) participation restrictions.

• Green Deal & Climate Resilience – Intelligent TN/NTN routing optimises energy per bit and offers resilient comms during climate-induced disasters; aligns with EU Climate Adaptation Strategy.

• Common Security & Defence Policy (CSDP) – PPDR, GNSS-free positioning and resilient networks support civil-military synergies highlighted in the EU Strategic Compass.

4. Regulatory Harmonisation Benefits

• Spectrum Innovation in FR3 (7–15 GHz, up to 24 GHz) – Research under a single EU framework eases CEPT/ECC harmonisation, accelerating device certification and market access across all MS.

• Pan-EU Security Baseline – Addressing “restrictions for the protection of European communication networks” early guarantees compliance with 5G Toolbox measures, simplifying later national licences.

5. Access to Europe’s Innovation Ecosystem

• Leverage ESA & National Space Agencies – The topic explicitly invites ESA cooperation; beneficiaries gain subsidised launch, cubesat platforms and access to EGNOS/Galileo expertise.

• Living Labs & 6G SNS Community – 35 + projects from SNS Calls 2022-24 supply reusable RAN software, O-RAN testbeds and interdisciplinary advisory boards.

• Research Excellence – Engage with flagship EU labs (CERN openlab, Fraunhofer IIS, CEA-LETI) on photonics, AI and advanced payloads (system-level only, matching scope).

6. Funding Synergies

• Cascade Funding Opportunities – Later SNS work programmes, CEF-Digital (for cross-border 5G corridors), ESA BASS, and InvestEU (for scale-up CAPEX) can pick up matured modules.

• Complementarity with Digital Europe Programme – Cybersecurity and cloud federation actions can integrate NTN-enabled secure back-haul.

• Regional Smart Specialisation (S3) Funds – Consortia can align demo sites with RIS3 regions focusing on aerospace or telecom, unlocking ERDF co-financing.

7. EU-Scale Deployment & Impact

• Disaster-Proof Coverage – Integrated TN-NTN routing validated across diverse terrains (Nordic sparsity, Alpine relief, Mediterranean sea lanes) demonstrates continental robustness—key for EU Civil Protection goals.

• Standards Leadership – Early prototypes feed ETSI ISG NTN, 3GPP Rel-19 study items and ITU-R IMT-2030 inputs, positioning Europe as the rule-setter for global 6G NTN.

• Market Multipliers – Managed multi-tenancy for space assets enables new EU service providers (sat-com-as-a-service) and supports emerging drone economy, estimated €14 bn + by 2030 (EC SESAR data).

8. Actionable Recommendations for Applicants

1. Build a minimum-4-country consortium mixing satellite primes, MNOs and security-cleared SMEs to satisfy Article 22(5) while maximising SME and IKOP scores.

2. Secure letters of support from ESA and at least two national PPDR authorities to showcase regulatory uptake and real-life demos.

3. Map deliverables to ETSI/3GPP work items with named editors to strengthen Impact scoring.

4. Include a sustainability work-package quantifying energy savings vs. pure TN baselines, aligning with Green Deal KPIs.

5. Plan for post-project CEF-Digital or InvestEU blending to scale pilot constellations to pre-commercial services.

Strategic Take-away: Operating at EU level turns 6G NTN-TN integration from a technical proof into a unifying infrastructure backbone, unlocking continent-wide services, de-risking capital investment through regulatory convergence, and cementing Europe’s autonomy in the future space-terrestrial connectivity value chain.