Sparkle, a Tim Group company for which it manages the Tier network, announced this morning the arrival of BlueMed submarine cable a Chania on the island of Crete in Greece. Announcement made during a press conference at the Residence of the Italian Ambassador in Athens attended by Paolo Cuculi, ambassador of Italy, Dimitris Papastergiou, Minister of Digital Governance, Alexander Pansa, president of Sparkle, Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle, Daniele Mancuso, CEO of Sparkle Greece, e Stella Tsitsoula, communications consultant for ICT and CEO of RED.comm, who moderated the event.
In Crete, the BlueMed cable connects to Sparkle's Data Center in Chania, a cable landing station interconnected with the island's terrestrial networks and with the grid MedNautilus by Sparkle. This network connects mainland Greece, Turkey and Italy.
What is the BlueMed cable
BlueMed is a new submarine cable of Sparkle which connects Italy to France, Greece and other Mediterranean countries. It is part of the Blue & Raman cable system, developed in collaboration with Google and other operators, which extends to Mumbai, India.
This cable has four pairs of fibers and a starting capacity of over 25 terabits per second (Tbps) per pair, offering high-speed Internet connections and high-performance solutions for ISPs, carriers, telecom operators, content providers, enterprises and institutions, thus supporting the needs and digital evolution of connected countries.
The laying of the cable began in 2023 with the main Tyrrhenian section from Genoa to Palermo, with branches towards Marseille and Bastia (France), Golfo Aranci (Sardinia) and Pomezia (Rome). From Palermo, the cable crossed the Strait of Messina to reach Crete, from where it will continue towards further branches in the Mediterranean up to Aqaba in Jordan. The Tyrrhenian and Middle Eastern land sections are already active, while further landings in the Mediterranean and full operation from Genoa to Aqaba are expected within this year.
GreenMed will also arrive in Crete
Sparkle is further expanding the Crete hub to accommodate other submarine cable projects, including GreenMed. GreenMed will cross the Adriatic Sea, connecting Italy to Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece and Turkey, creating a diverse and low-latency path between Central Europe, the Balkans and the Central and Eastern Mediterranean countries.
“With the arrival of BlueMed in Crete, Greece enables ua new digital route for Internet traffic between Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia,” he said Enrico Bagnasco, CEO Sparkle. “We have been operating in Greece for over 20 years and here we have the skills and infrastructure necessary for its development as the new Internet hub of the Mediterranean, a role destined to grow further in the future thanks to the landing of new submarine cables.”
“The arrival in Greece of the BlueMed submarine cable represents a fundamental step in the process of digital connection between Italy and its partners in the Mediterranean Basin, with the island of Crete as an important strategic hub. Sparkle confirms itself as absolute Italian excellence and a leading global player in the challenge of the digital transition, fundamental for the sustainable development of our two countries" he commented Paolo Cuculi, Ambassador of Italy.
