Grid Telecom – a subsidiary of Greece’s Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) – and Telecom Egypt signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) for the submarine telecommunications interconnection between Greece and Egypt, at an event held in Athens.
The signing was held at IPTO’s headquarters by IPTO President and CEO Manos Manoussakis and Telecom Egypt Managing Director & CEO Adel Hamed. It was attended by Digital Governance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis, Egypt’s Minister of Communications & Information Technology Amr Talaat, and the Chargé d’Affaires of the Egyptian Embassy in Greece Mohamed Elghazawy.
This agreement is “symbolic because it deepens the two countries’ relationship, which is of particular geostrategic importance,” noted minister Pierrakakis. He added that in terms of Greece’s telecommunications system, the MoC “increases the country’s international connectivity and the volume capacity of its data. It also “contributes in our reaching an even more powerful digital transformation of both the telecommunications system per se, as well as the country and its economy.”
Wednesday’s signing follows up on the respective agreement for the electrical interconnection between Egypt and Greece in October 2021, CEO Manoussakis pointed out, being “IPTO’s contribution to Greece’s effort to become a hub for the transmission of electricity and data in the southeastern Mediterranean.”
In his comments, Minister Talaat said he welcomes the MoC and the growing bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EUROMED). He also underlined that “this fresh cooperation between two strategic players in the region aims not only to improve their interconnection, but to also meet the growing current and future needs of countries in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.”
On the sidelines, bilateral talks were also held between the two countries’ ministers and high-ranking government officials on several issues including artificial intelligence, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Company profiles
As a subsidiary of IPTO, Grid Telecom provides telecom services to national and international providers. With a domestic fiber optic network that currently exceeds 4,000km, it takes advantage of IPTO’s networks in Italy, the Balkans and Central Europe, and serves as a basic neutral hub in telecommunications services in Europe. It also already provides fibre optics connectivity between the island of Crete and mainland Greece.
Telecom Egypt is the country’s first integrated telecommunications company, and one of the region’s largest submarine cable systems operators. Its global network extends to over 140 connection points in more than 60 countries. It has invested heavily in its submarine cable infrastructure, and provides the shortest connection route between Africa, Asia and Europe.
SOURCE; AMNA
