The new infrastructure is to improve resilience and position Greece as a major hub between Europe, Africa and Asia, connect to 2Africa and ultimately link 33 countries
Vodafone’s Carrier Services is to build a subsea fibre cable system in Greece, linking Crete (Kriti on the map above) to the mainland. It will also build three new land-based cable systems which, with the subsea route, are intended to position Greece as a major hub between Europe, Africa and Asia.
Also they will boost internet connectivity for individuals and businesses throughout the country and provide other operators and internet service providers (ISPs) with better resilience and greater capacity on a wholesale basis.
The Thetis Express
The marine survey is already underway for new subsea fibre cable, called the Thetis Express. It will comprise two marine segments of 129km and 163km, plus terrestrial connections across the island of Milos and the end points on Crete and in Athens.
Once commercially operational, the Thetis Express will be around 340km in total and connect carrier-neutral data centres in Heraklion, Crete, and Attika, Athens, at up to 180 Tbps – the equivalent of about 25 million users streaming 4K video at the same time, according to Vodafone.
D2D will be in the mix
Fanan Henriques, Product and International Business Director, Vodafone Business, said, “We are now extending this capability to more places in Greece using a mix of new optical fibre terrestrial and subsea cables, and in the future, emerging satellite services like space-based direct-to-device mobile broadband.”
Vodafone Greece operates subsea and terrestrial network infrastructure in the Aegean and Ionian Seas. They connect Attica with the Cyclades islands (Syros, Tinos, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros and Santorini), the Dodecanese (Kos and Rhodes) and Crete, as well as linking Corfu to mainland Greece.
Vodafone will link the new subsea cable, the Thetis Express to the 2Africa subsea network, which is already connected at the operator’s landing station in Crete and ultimately will connect 33 countries through out Africa, Europe and Asia.
Map courtesy of Vodafone
