The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has witnessed the signing of an agreement between Telecom Egypt and Grid Telecom, a subsidiary of the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) in Greece, on building a Mediterranean subsea system connecting Egypt and Greece.
The new agreement builds on an MoU signed in February during the ICT Minister’s visit to Greece.
The agreement was signed by the Managing Director and CEO of Telecom Egypt Adel Hamed and the Chairman and CEO of IPTO Manos Manousakis. Assistant ICT Minister for Global Information Infrastructure (GII) Mohamed Nasr Eldin and officials from Telecom Egypt attended the signing ceremony.
The ICT Minister remarked that the agreement strengthens Egypt's strategic capacity in the realm of international subsea cables by opening a new landing site in eastern Europe on the Greek coast. It also provides a strategic advantage, given that more than 90% of the data flow between East and West crosses Egyptian territorial waters and lands.
He added that the signing of the agreement is the culmination of ten months of hard work since the start of the negotiations during his visit in February to Greece where he witnessed the signing of the MoU between Telecom Egypt and Grid Telecom on connecting the two countries using subsea cable systems.
The agreement comes in line with Telecom Egypt's strategy of strengthening its infrastructure, expanding its international network, and increasing its entrance points to Europe by providing an eastern gateway to Europe via Greece through the new subsea system.
The new system will connect Port Said to Crete Island—making it the shortest path to the Balkans in eastern Europe and onwards to other destinations in western Europe. This reinforces Egypt’s strategic position as an international telecommunications hub linking East and West.
Hamed commented that Telecom Egypt is continuously developing and extending its international infrastructure. The collaboration with Grid Telecom will add explicit value to Telecom Egypt’s robust reach worldwide to more than 140 destinations in over 60 countries. He added that the company’s investments in new systems and solutions foster its leading position thanks to the multiple layers of its infrastructure diversity, which include establishing new subsea landing stations and crossing routes that will cater for the rising global demand for international capacities.
For his part, Manousakis said that IPTO Group is taking the initiative to transform Greece into a critical energy and data hub of high geopolitical value at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and Asia. In this context, Egypt is a key international telecommunications hub for all subsea cables from East to West, creates strong synergies and win-win business opportunities.
He added that IPTO is very pleased that the cooperation between Grid Telecom and Telecom Egypt has culminated in building this subsea system, bringing a new international route that will enhance the strategic role of Crete Island as a neutral open-access connectivity node in the wider Balkans in the Mediterranean region.
Earlier this year, Telecom Egypt and Grid Telecom signed a strategic MoU that sets the ground for the exploration of different connectivity options between Greece and Egypt through existing and future optical fiber links. This was followed by the signing of a heads of agreement to build this new subsea system extending the mutual international reach to neighboring countries.
