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Athens, 21st August 2024: Grid Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary and the telecommunications vehicle of the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) of Greece, and Tamares Telecom, a leading fiber-based international communications and data service provider and network operator, a subsidiary of Aluma Infrastructure Fund, announced today the signing of a Heads of Agreement regarding their joint participation in Tamares Telecom Cyprus, a fully licensed operator in Cyprus and owner of a Cable Landing Station and landing infrastructure on the western coast of Cyprus. This strategic alliance marks a significant milestone in advancing the regional digital infrastructure and fostering sustainable growth in the data-driven economy. The Cable Landing Station will act as an interconnectivity node providing carrier and hosting facilities to anchor international subsea optical fiber cable systems from Europe and the Middle East crossing the Eastern Mediterranean, connecting Cyprus with Greece, Israel, Egypt and other East and West destinations. Grid Telecom and Tamares Telecom will offer, through their subsidiary Tamares Telecon Cyprus, state-of-the-art infrastructure for the secure landing and operation of subsea cable systems in Cyprus, including services for housing the power feeding and subsea line terminating equipment, as well as other mission-critical equipment for interconnection and peering of optical, Ethernet and IP data traffic. The strategic partnership between Grid Telecom and Tamares Telecom will bring advanced data transport solutions to the market, creating a new telecommunications corridor between Europe and the Middle East, facilitating the termination and efficient interconnection of subsea cable systems to their customers and partners. Leveraging on the strategic position of Cyprus, it will create a carrier neutral open-access hub with interconnection data center facilities through alternative low latency paths to major destinations in Greece and Europe, including the Balkan region and Turkey, Egypt and the north coast of Africa, Israel, and the Arabian Peninsula. Tamares Telecom is already collaborating with Grid Telecom, to construct and operate ANDROMEDA optical fiber cable system that will be landing at the Cable Landing Station of Tamares Telecom Cyprus, interconnecting Greece as a new eastern gateway to Europe, with Cyprus and Israel, extending though Israel to the Arabian Peninsula and beyond. Emerging as the prime carrier-neutral wholesaler in the Greek market, Grid Telecom exploits IPTO’s extensive optical network in Greece and neighboring countries and integrates it with its own fiber links and Points-of-Presence, to achieve network diversity, maximum security, and exceptionally low latency. Tamares Telecom, owns and operates TAMARES-North, a high-capacity subsea fiber cable system between Israel and Cyprus, with extensions to multiple international destinations, providing customized communication and cloud infrastructure solutions and services.
The Chairman of Aluma Infrastructure Fund, Ori Yogev, commented:
“Tamares Telecom is continuously developing and extending its national and international infrastructure. Our collaboration with Grid Telecom and IPTO to acquire a state-of-the-art Cable Landing Station in Cyprus, in parallel with our collaboration to build and operate the ANDROMEDA fiber cable system, will bring security and add value to our reach in Europe and the Middle East. Our investments in new strategic projects provide multiple layers of infrastructure diversity, which include developing cable landing infrastructure and new optical fiber cable systems to meet market demands for high-quality data transport solutions, through a telecommunications bridge between East and West”.
The Chairman and CEO of IPTO, Manos Manousakis, stated:
“IPTO is building infrastructure for tomorrow’s electricity and telecommunications backbone networks throughout Greece and beyond, contributing to Greece’s transformation into a critical energy and data hub of high geopolitical value at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and Asia. IPTO is the Project Promoter of “Great Sea Interconnector”, a leading EU Project of Common Interest, interconnecting the national grids of Israel, Cyprus and Greece and creating an energy bridge between Europe and the Middle East, with multiple benefits for the three countries. The strategic partnership between Grid Telecom and Tamares Telecom will create a combined landing and interconnection solution with leading edge connectivity and international reach, which will help new subsea fiber cable systems to eliminate costly and time-consuming permitting processes and landing infrastructure construction, acting as a catalyst that accelerates developments in the region. Furthermore, it will provide the ability to directly cross-connect with other cable systems, backhaul carriers and digital platforms, within the Cable Landing Station of Tamares Telecom Cyprus, creating a rich telecommunications ecosystem that will bring digital transformation to Cyprus and the broader Eastern Mediterranean region”.
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About IPTO:
The Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) is responsible for the operation, monitoring, maintenance, and development of the “Hellenic Electricity Transmission System”, aiming to ensure safe and undisrupted power supply across the country. IPTO’s “Ten Year Network Development Plan” provides for the electrical interconnection of major Greek islands in the High Voltage System by 2029, the strengthening and modernization of the continental power grid as well as the facilitation of Greece’s transition towards a cleaner energy mix. IPTO’s investment program, includes the Crete-Attica power link, supplemented with dual optical fiber cables, the completion of Cyclades as well as the interconnections of the Dodecanese and the NE Aegean islands. IPTO is developing new international interconnections to Italy, Bulgaria, Albania, North Macedonia and Turkey, and supports new subsea electricity interconnectors to Cyprus, Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, with Greece as the main hub. IPTO is the project promoter of the “Great Sea Interconnector” between Greece, Cyprus and Israel and is currently maturing the “Green Aegean Interconnector”, a new electrical corridor between Greece and southern Germany, for the transmission of clean energy originating from Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean region to the large consumption centers of Central Europe.
For more information, contact:
Email: [email protected]
About Grid Telecom:
Grid Telecom was established in 2019 as a wholly owned subsidiary company of the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) of Greece and acts as its telecommunications vehicle for providing wholesale services and total solutions to national and international operators and large enterprise customers. Grid Telecom’s optical fiber terrestrial and subsea network exceeds 4,000 km throughout Greece and will soon exceed 6,000 km connecting most Greek islands with the core network, offering dark fiber and spectrum, achieving the shortest possible routes, network diversity, maximum security, and very low latency. Grid Telecom is developing a growing international optical fiber network that is supported by a state-of-the-art proprietary DWDM optical network, providing ultra-fast capacity services, as well as collocation services within protected areas in IPTO’s substation sites across Greece.
For more information, contact:
Email: [email protected]
About Tamares Telecom:
Tamares Telecom is a leading Digital Infrastructure group, based in the Middle East region, with assets spanning from international subsea fiber optic cables to terrestrial fibers, and Tier-III data center facilities in Israel and Europe. Tamares Telecom provides telecom operators, global and domestic, OTT’s, cloud providers and enterprises, with One-Stop-Shop solution for full networking and connectivity needs, coupled with colocation facilities across Israel, Cyprus, Marseille, London, and Frankfurt. Tamares Telecom is a fully licensed operator, serving more than 5,000 customers across the globe. Tamares Telecom offers a wide range of telecommunications wholesale services, including managed wavelengths, IP transit, DIAs and hosting. Tamares Telecom owns the TAMARES-North subsea fiber cable linking Israel with Cyprus, which was launched in 2012, and is being extended to Marseille and mainland Europe.
For more information, contact:
Email: [email protected]
About Aluma Infrastructure Fund:
Aluma is an Infrastructure Investment Fund, listed on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) since November 2021. The Fund’s founders are Ori Yogev (Chairman of the Board of Directors), Yair Hirsh (CEO), Muli Ravina (Chairman of the Investments Committee), Miki Zaharia (Director) and Nati Shachor. The Fund has formulated a proprietary investment model, which differentiates it from the other Infrastructure Investment Funds in Israel and is based on three main principles: The Fund’s management has a “hands-on” approach to target companies, aiming to increase their operations’ efficiency and improve their yields. Showing a preference for investment in infrastructure companies over those in projects or ventures in the infrastructure fields since, in the Fund’s management’s assessment, an investment of this type is expected to generate a higher yield. Focusing on infrastructure fields with the highest potential for growth: telecommunications, green energy, the environment, and transportation.
For more information, contact:
Email: [email protected]