Telecom Egypt and GRID Telecom, subsidiary of the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) in Greece, signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding to connect Greece and Egypt using submarine cable infrastructure.
The MoU was signed at IPTO’s headquarters in Athens by the Managing Director and CEO of Telecom Egypt, Mr. Adel Hamed and the Chairman and CEO of IPTO, Mr. Manos Manousakis. Present during the signing ceremony were Egypt’s Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology, Dr. Amr Talaat, Greece’s Minister of Digital Governance, Mr. Kyriakos Pierrakakis, and the Chargé d' Affaires of the Embassy of Egypt in Athens, Mr. Mohamed Elghazawy.
The strategic agreement sets the ground for the exploration of different connectivity options between Greece and Egypt, as well as the optimal utilization of Telecom Egypt’s and Grid Telecom’s state-of-the-art networks and international reach, through their existing and future optical interconnectivity to neighboring countries.
With a domestic fiber optic network currently exceeding 4,000 km, Grid Telecom, IPTO’s vehicle in the telecommunications market, is already offering diverse fiber connectivity between the island of Crete and the Greek mainland, in addition to its network infrastructure in Italy, the Balkans, and Central Europe, leveraging its position as a major, carrier-neutral hub in Europe.
Telecom Egypt’s international network extends to over 140 landing points in more than 60 countries across the globe. The company has invested extensively in its submarine cable infrastructure, which is the shortest and most reliable crossing path between Africa, Asia and Europe, making Telecom Egypt the partner-of-choice for many international telecom players over the years.
Additionally, Telecom Egypt is working on multiple layers of its infrastructure diversity, such as establishing new submarine landing stations and crossing routes as well as investing in new systems and solutions that will cater for the rising global demand for international capacities.
Egypt's distinct geographic location makes it a regional data hub, as it transfers traffic to Asia, Africa, and Europe through more than 13 submarine cables, which are scheduled to increase to 18 cables within three years. There are also plans in place to complete HARP, the submarine system that will be circling the African continent by 2023. ■