Kimonas subsea cable to link Cyprus with Crete by end 2015

The new Kimonas subsea cable subsystem linking Cyprus with Crete will come into full commercial service by the end of 2015, according to Cyta, a premier telecommunications provider in Cyprus, and Telecom Italia Sparkle, an international services arm of the Telecom Italia Group.
Kimonas will be Cyta's first wholly owned optical fibre cable subsystem that will connect Cyprus and Greece. The subsystem complements alternative Cyta's segments on the MedNautilus subsea cable network, and the Minerva and Athena rings in particular, which connect Cyprus with Sicily, and Athens with Crete, respectively.
Extending to Athens and beyond to Bulgaria by utilising fibre infrastructure of wholly-owned subsidiary Cyta Hellas in Greece, Kimonas will facilitate the creation of a new telecommunications corridor, which will connect the Balkans and Central Europe with Egypt and other Middle East destinations via Cyprus. At the same time, it will allow the interconnection to Turkey in the East and Italy and other European destinations in the West, through Telecom Italia Sparkle's network.
Cyprus currently constitutes a major telecommunications hub in the Mediterranean region through an extensive international telecommunications infrastructure, comprising multiple subsea cable systems that links neighbouring countries and other international destinations.
"The new Kimonas cable subsystem offers reciprocal business opportunities to access new markets in Europe and the Middle East, providing synergies for the Cyta Group via a common Cyprus - Greece front, creating a major telecommunications bridge between East and West," says Yiannis Koulias, Cyta Hellas' CEO and Cyta's Director National and International Wholesale Market.
Alessandro Talotta, Chairman and CEO of Telecom Italia Sparkle, added: "This endeavour strengthens the strategic relationship with our partner Cyta even more and at the same time, enables us to consolidate our position as a leading IP and Data service provider in the Mediterranean, leveraging our proprietary fully protected state-of-the-art subsea network system that connects major telecommunications markets of the region, including Greece and Turkey, to Italy and the rest of Europe."
- business@khaleejtimes.com