Europe: Sparkle lands BlueMed Subsea cable in Crete

Sparkle, part of the Telecom Italia Group, has landed its BlueMed subsea cable which connects Italy with France, Greece, and several countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, before ending in  Jordan in Chania, on the Greek island of Crete. The system is part of the Blue & Raman cable built in partnership with Google and other operators, and is expected to extend to Mumbai.

The Tyrrhenian and Middle Eastern terrestrial portions of the cable are now fully operational. The remainder of the Mediterranean landings and the operation from Genoa to Aqaba are expected to be completed this year.

“With the landing of BlueMed in Crete, Greece is enabling a new digital route for Internet traffic between Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia,” said Enrico Baganasco, CEO of Sparkle. “We have been operating in Greece for more than 20 years and here we have the skills and infrastructure needed to develop it as a new Internet hub of the Mediterranean, a role destined to grow further in the future thanks to the landing of new submarine cables.”