State-run Telecom Egypt (TE) has signed an agreement with Grid Telecom to build a submarine cable system that will link Egypt with Greece, according to its statement on Tuesday. The cable is set to connect from Port Said in Egypt to Crete Island, Greece as it will be the shortest and lowest-latency Mediterranean path between Egypt and Europe, the statement added. Moreover, TE noted that the cable will extend northwards to the Balkans region, plus adjacent destinations in Central and Western Europe, and southwards to the Arabian Peninsula and other regions in Africa and Asia. This deal 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, said Minister Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat. Talaat further added, "it also provides a strategic advantage, particularly given that more than 90 percent of the data flow between East and West passes via Egyptian territorial waters and lands." TE's CEO Adel Hamed and the chairman of the Greece's Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) Manos Manousakis have signed the agreement to kick-start the cable system. Noteworthy, that this announcement comes after a strategic Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two parties earlier this year. Greek-based Grid Telecom is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IPTO that was founded in January 2019 and provides wholesale services to national and international providers. Download
