ECB Selects Two Digital Euro Network Service Providers

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 30, the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany, announced the procurement results for digital euro network connectivity services, selecting a consortium formed by Italy's Nexi and Deutsche Telekom, as well as a consortium formed by Telefónica and Indra Group, to provide secure communication connectivity for the digital euro service platform. The first service contract took effect on September 28, and the second contract is scheduled to commence in May 2027. Both groups of service providers must have the network connectivity capability to support a potential digital euro issuance by 2029.

The procurement began with a call for supplier applications published by the European Central Bank on August 27, 2025, followed by an invitation-to-tender procedure to determine the service providers. The two groups of suppliers will be responsible for connecting payment service providers participating in the digital euro system, euro area national central banks, and the digital euro service platform, as well as establishing data communication connections between different technical components within the platform.

The first group consists of Italy's Nexi Payments and Deutsche Telekom Business Solutions, responsible for the network connectivity requirements during the initial phase of the digital euro pilot. The two parties will provide secure communication infrastructure to support data exchange between banks, payment institutions, and central banks with the digital euro service platform, and will adjust service capacity based on the pilot scale and subsequent system requirements.

The second group consists of Telefónica de España and Telefónica Global Solutions under Telefónica, as well as Indra Soluciones Tecnologías de la Información, an information technology company under Indra Group, and is scheduled to begin performing the service agreement in May 2027. This consortium will combine communication network, system integration, and cybersecurity technologies to establish communication infrastructure connecting digital euro-related institutions and the service platform.

Telefónica will provide Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) networks, Software-Defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN), and cybersecurity services to ensure secure connections between different institutions and the digital euro platform. Indra's Minsait will be responsible for application programming interface integration, digital identity authentication, and related trust services, and will deploy Security Operations Centers (SOC) to undertake network threat monitoring, access control, and system security management tasks.

The European Central Bank has previously selected 36 payment service providers from the euro area to participate in the digital euro pilot, covering banks and non-bank payment institutions. The pilot is planned to launch in the second half of 2027 and last for 12 months. Participating institutions will work with the European Central Bank and relevant national central banks to test digital euro payment functions, system connectivity, business processing workflows, and user experience.

Both groups of network service providers plan to have the connectivity service capabilities required for a potential formal issuance by 2029. At that time, payment service providers offering digital euro services may choose to access the digital euro system through either network service provider. The European Central Bank reserves the right to adjust the scope of services based on pilot progress and subsequent project requirements. Whether the digital euro will be formally issued remains subject to the establishment of the relevant legal framework and a final decision by the Governing Council of the European Central Bank.