Albania Crossing is already operational: the new direct connection between Athens and Milan by Sparkle – global operator of the TIM Group – created in collaboration with Albtelecom, an Albanian telecommunications company. The new fiber optic link crosses Albania establishing a shorter and faster route from the Balkans to the main European hubs thanks to Sparkle's vast continental network.
Specifically, the new route offers the best performance in terms of latency compared to the current land connections that connect Athens to Milan. In this way, all regional and international telecom operators and content providers can benefit from diversified and reliable capacity solutions, available in multiples of 100G.
Furthermore, the new connection is part of a broader expansion strategy that leverages Athens as an increasingly important regional crossroads and Milan as a gravitational Internet and Cloud hub in continental Europe to meet the needs of diverse connectivity and resilient among the Balkans, the Middle East and Europe.
For Sparkle, Albania Crossing is the sixth route to connect the south-eastern area of the Mediterranean basin with the rest of the world. In addition to the existing submarine ring and terrestrial fiber links through Sofia, thus enabling the implementation of robust and fully redundant connectivity.
