Cairo – Mubasher: Telecom Egypt and Grid Telecom, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) in Greece, signed a collaboration agreement to build a subsea system connecting Egypt and Greece.
This 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, according to a press release.
The system will connect Port Said in Egypt to Crete island--making it the shortest path to the Balkans region in eastern Europe and onwards to other destinations such as Genoa, Italy and Marseilles, France, reinforcing Egypt’s strategic position as an international telecommunications hub linking the East and West.
Earlier this year, Telecom Egypt and Grid Telecom signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which set 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.
The Managing Director and CEO of Telecom Egypt, Adel Hamed, commented: “Our collaboration with Grid Telecom will add explicit value to our robust reach worldwide to more than 140 destinations in over 60 countries.”
The Chairman and CEO of IPTO, Manos Manousakis, stated: "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, the fact that Egypt is a key international telecommunications hub for all subsea cables from East to West, creates strong synergies and win-win business opportunities."
During the first nine months (9M) of 2022, Telecom Egypt gained EGP 6.17 billion in net profits, an increase of 1.14% when compared to EGP 6.10 billion in the same period in 2021, including minority shareholders’ rights.
