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Home | Carrier Services | Cyta, ALEXANDROS: Cyta’s New Submarine Cable Subsystem
 
  Yiannis Koulias, Manager National & International Wholesale Market
  Yiannis Koulias, Manager National & International Wholesale Market

ALEXANDROS: Cyta’s New Submarine Cable Subsystem

By Mr Yiannis Koulias, Manager National & International Wholesale Market, Cyta

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Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (Cyta) is the primary telecommunications provider in Cyprus. Its product portfolio covers the whole spectrum of electronic communications ranging from fixed and mobile telephony to internet service provision and broadband applications. Cyta is particularly active in the area of international submarine fibre optic cables through Cytaglobal, its International Wholesale Division, providing wholesale products and services on a global basis, and has established Cyprus as a regional telecommunications hub in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In June 2009, Cyta and Telecom Egypt (TE) entered into a strategic agreement to cooperate in the Mediterranean through extension of Telecom Egypt’s TE-NORTH (TEN) submarine cable system to Cyprus. The TEN system connecting Egypt with France has been constructed by Alcatel-Lucent and utilises 8 fibre pairs with total capacity of more than 10Tbps. The system is equipped with various branching units which enable it to be extended to selected countries in the Mediterranean, thereby creating a communications bridge between these countries, Europe, Africa, and Asia, as well as reciprocal business opportunities in Eurasia and the Mediterranean.

Under the agreement, the TEN system has been extended to Cyprus via a direct branch owned by Cyta and through this branch Cyta has acquired separate fibre pairs between Cyprus-Egypt and Cyprus-France, each with 96x10Gbps total capacity. Cyta’s wholly owned cable subsystem within the TEN system has been named as ALEXANDROS to symbolise the ancient relation between Cyprus and Egypt which persists to this day. The agreement also allows for an option of extending ALEXANDROS subsystem to Greece. Telecom Egypt in turn, has obtained both the opportunity to transport Cyta traffic to key European and Asian destinations, and the opportunity to cost-effectively reach regional markets accessible via Cyprus. The ALEXANDROS branch to Cyprus was landed at Cyta’s cable station at Pentaskhinos ahead of schedule, in July 2009 and the Cyprus-France segment of the subsystem was successfully introduced into commercial service in August 2010. The Cyprus-Egypt segment will come into commercial operation in the coming few months, along with the rest of the TEN system.

Cyta currently serves as a major hub for regional telecommunications in the Eastern Mediterranean, connecting East with West, with cables linking Cyprus to the Levant region, Greece, Egypt, Italy, and other European destinations. Cyta’s wholly owned ALEXANDROS subsystem complements these existing facilities, enhancing the robustness of Cyta’s international access through physical diversity and significant increase in bandwidth. Through ALEXANDROS subsystem, Cyta achieves an optimum configuration for its business needs, enhancing connectivity in the Mediterranean and providing international network robustness and reliability. At the same time, ALEXANDROS allows Cyta to provide high-quality bandwidth to other telecommunication providers both nationally and internationally and access new markets, serving the international telecommunication needs of Cyprus in general.

Landing at Pentaskhinos, Cyprus
Landing at Pentaskhinos, Cyprus
 
Final Bight Over
Final Bight Over

cytaglobal logoFor more information visit:
www.cyta.com.cy

www.cytaglobal.com

 
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