Orange Business will build and operate the European Union's next-generation secure communications backbone, connecting public administrations across EU Member States through a network designed for 99.999% availability.

The company has been named trusted network partner for TESTA-EIRIS — Enhanced Infrastructure for Reliable Interconnectivity and Security — the EU's project to modernise the infrastructure that carries sensitive data between European institutions, bodies, agencies and national administrations. Orange will act as network operator, integrator and platform provider, working directly with the European Commission's Directorate-General for Digital Services (DG DIGIT), which designs, builds and manages the ecosystem.

The contract covers Layer 2 and Layer 3 backbone services — the transport and routing layers that underpin the network's functionality, integration and long-term scalability. The architecture will run on a single backbone connecting at least 12 Points of Presence across five strategic European regions, delivering what Orange describes as secure-by-design, high-availability connectivity across sites and multi-cloud environments.

Orange Business will back the network with a Network Operating Center and a Security Operating Center, providing round-the-clock operational and security oversight for EU administrative traffic. The combination of backbone infrastructure, cloud connectivity and VPN technologies will link distributed government sites across the bloc.

Software replaces dedicated hardware

A central element of the deployment is Orange Business's Evolution Platform, which the company bills as an AI-first, trusted connectivity platform for enterprise digital services. On TESTA-EIRIS, it will replace dedicated hardware with software-based virtual services — a shift that Orange says simplifies the customer journey and delivers a fully digital experience for the public administrations using the network.

The platform sits on what Orange characterises as trusted, sovereign European infrastructure. That framing aligns with the EU's broader policy push — from the NIS2 directive to wider digital-sovereignty initiatives — to keep critical government communications on infrastructure the Union controls and can secure end to end.

Sovereignty and resilience drive the design

TESTA-EIRIS succeeds the long-running TESTA network, the Commission's existing transeuropean telecoms system for data exchange between administrations. The EIRIS generation raises the bar on resilience and security at a time when EU institutions are seeking to reduce exposure to third-country infrastructure and suppliers in sensitive government communications.

Orange says the secured-by-design architecture, established through strategic design and clear governance, will support European digital initiatives and improve administrative interactions, making it easier to implement policies across the EU. As the incumbent backbone operator for a network spanning at least a dozen PoPs and five regions, Orange Business gains a flagship public-sector reference that anchors its position in sovereign European connectivity.

For the Commission, the deal moves TESTA-EIRIS from design to build, with DG DIGIT relying on a single integrator for the core network, cloud connectivity and virtualised services layers. The 99.999% availability target — roughly five minutes of allowable downtime per year — sets a demanding operational benchmark for the life of the contract.

Deployment details, including the rollout schedule for the 12 PoPs and migration timelines from the existing TESTA infrastructure, remain with DG DIGIT and Orange Business as the programme moves into its delivery phase.