New Subsea Cable to Connect Cyprus and Greece

Cyta and Telecom Italia Sparkle announced that the new KIMONAS subsea cable subsystem linking Cyprus with Crete will come into full commercial service by the end of 2015.

KIMONAS will be Cyta’s first wholly owned optical fibre cable subsystem connecting Cyprus and Greece. The subsystem, that will connect Cyta’s cable station in Pentaskhinos with MedNautilus Cable Station in Chania, complements alternative Cyta’s segments on the MedNautilus subsea cable network and in particular the MINERVA and ATHENA rings, which connect Cyprus with Sicily, and Athens with Crete, the company explained.

According to Cyta, KIMONAS will facilitate the creation of a new telecommunications corridor, connecting the Balkans and Central Europe with Egypt and other Middle East destinations, via Cyprus. At the same time, it will allow the interconnection to Turkey in the East and Italy and other European destinations in the West, through Telecom Italia Sparkle’s network.

“Through Cyta’s extensive international telecommunications infrastructure, comprising multiple subsea cable systems connecting with neighbouring countries and other international destinations, Cyprus currently constitutes a major telecommunications hub in the Mediterranean region. At the same time, Cyta Hellas boasts an extensive fiber optic cable network more than 5,500 km long, covering more than 70% of the population of Greece and extending  from south in Crete, all the way to the north of Greece and beyond, to neighbouring Balkan countries. The new KIMONAS cable subsystem offers Cyta and Cyta Hellas, reciprocal business opportunities to access new markets in Europe and the Middle East, providing synergies for the Cyta Group via a common Cyprus – Greece front, creating a major telecommunications bridge between East and West,” says Yiannis Koulias, Cyta Hellas’ CEO and Cyta’s Director National & International Wholesale Market.

“The agreement for KIMONAS subsystem fosters a new partnership between the Cyta Group and Telecom Italia Sparkle that enhances the strategic role of Cyta as a major cable hub in the Eastern Mediterranean, and strengthens TI Sparkle’s position in the region, presenting opportunities for additional successful joint projects, and enabling both Cyta and TI Sparkle to better serve their customers,” says Michalis Achilleos, Cyta’s CEO.

“With this new agreement that follows the many others that we have implemented in previous years, Cyta proves once more to be one of Telecom Italia Sparkle most relevant and reliable partners in the region,” says Zvika Caspy, Telecom Italia Sparkle Executive Vice President Sales for Europe.

“This new endeavour strengthens the strategic relationship with our partner Cyta even more and at the same time, it enables us to consolidate our position as the leading IP and Data service provider in the Mediterranean, leveraging our proprietary fully protected state-of-the-art subsea network system that connects major telecommunications markets of the region, including Greece and Turkey, to Italy and the rest of Europe,” says Alessandro Talotta, Chairman and CEO of Telecom Italia Sparkle.

Photo: Cyta

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