Telecom Egypt signed an agreement with Grid Telecom, a subsidiary of the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) in Greece, to build a submarine cable connecting Egypt and Greece across the Mediterranean.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Telecom Egypt, Adel Hamed agreed with Chairman & CEO of Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO), Manousos Manousakis on building abovementioned submarine cable.
Hamed stated that by forming a collaboration with Grid Telecom, it can be assured that Telecom Egypt will have access to more than 140 connection points in more than 60 countries around the world.
According to the Minister of Communications, Dr. Amr Talaat, the agreement aims to establish a new submarine cable linking Egypt and Greece in order to enhance Egypt's strategic capacity in the field of international submarine cables. He also detailed that the agreement is the outcome of 10 months of hard work since talks and negotiations began last February in Greece. During his visit, he signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two companies.
This cable will connect the Greek island of Crete to the city of Port Said. The new cable is one of the shortest paths for data transmission to Eastern Europe's Balkans and from there to other destinations in Western Europe, contributing to Egypt's strategic position as a global center for communications services and data traffic between East and West.
According to Dr. Talaat, this is a strategic advantage, given that more than 90% of data traffic between the East and West passes through Egyptian territorial waters and lands. He also indicated that the company is working to expand and develop its international infrastructure.
Mr. Manousakis stated that the institution is adopting an initiative aimed toward reworking Greece into a first-rate electricity and records hub, with excessive geographical and political price and a privileged location on the crossroads of the 3 continents, Europe, Africa and Asia.
It is worth noting that earlier this year, Telecom Egypt signed a strategic MoU with Grid Telecom. This paved the way for discussions on various ways to improve connectivity between Egypt and Greece by connecting current and future fiber optic cables. A joint cooperation agreement was then signed between Egypt and Greece to invest in the construction of this submarine cable, maintain a large international capacity and expand connectivity with neighboring countries.
