Grid Telecom, the wholly owned subsidiary of the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) of Greece and Quadrivium Digital, are joining forces to create a new world-class Cable Landing Station (CLS) in Chania, on the northern coast of Crete.
This CLS will be hosted within Quadrivium’s 20MW Interconnection Data Centre (DC) campus and will act as a new node to anchor international subsea cable systems from Asia and Africa crossing the Eastern Mediterranean. It will connect Greece and the broader Balkan – Mediterranean region with Turkey, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Israel, Cyprus, Egypt, all GCC countries, and other East, South, and West destinations.
Grid Telecom and Quadrivium Digital will offer state-of-the-art infrastructure for the secure landing and operation of subsea optical fibre cable systems in Crete, 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. Quadrivium’s facility in Chania combines world-class landing infrastructure with a Tier III+ DC, providing a “CLS-within-a-DC” total solution.
A buried borepipe into the sea with eight ducts will provide a cutting-edge solution, compliant with international specifications. Multiple Beach Manholes (BMH) will land subsea cables and connect directly via secure fronthaul into Quadrivium’s Tier III+ DC. As part of this development, Grid Telecom will provide diverse and highly reliable backhaul network to all existing and new DCs on the island of Crete, the Greek mainland, as well as in neighboring countries, leveraging its capabilities to interconnect securely through its terrestrial and subsea networks.
The strategic partnership between Grid Telecom and Quadrivium Digital will bring advanced data transport solutions to the market, creating a new telecommunications corridor between Europe and the Middle East. Leveraging the strategic position of Crete, it will create a new super hub through alternative low latency paths to most destinations in South Eastern Europe, Turkey, Egypt, Cyprus, Israel, and the Arabian Peninsula.
The Chairman of Grid Telecom, Mr. Kostas Agathakis, said:
“We are continually looking for ways to strategically expand our services to partners and customers. In this framework, our plans to partner with Quadrivium Digital in building a new CLS in Crete will significantly support the implementation of new, international alternative routes. Moreover, it will enhance the strategic role of Crete as a crucial open access interconnection node in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans”.
The CEO of Quadrivium, Aditya Ayyagari, said:
Chania is the Eastern-most location where international networks can peer within the European Union’s regulatory and commercial framework, with 10-15 ms latencies into Greece, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Israel and GCC countries – cutting latencies into Marseille by half. This strategic partnership with IPTO and Grid Telecom creates a combined landing and interconnection solution which helps subsea cable consortiums completely eliminate costly and time-consuming permitting processes and landing infrastructure construction. Furthermore, the ability to directly cross-connect with other subsea cables, backhaul carriers and digital platforms within Quadrivium’s Interconnection Data Centre creates a rich ecosystem that brings digital transformation to Greece, Crete, and the Municipality of Chania.
The Chairman and CEO of IPTO, Manos Manousakis, stated:
“IPTO is building critical 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. Neutral Data Centers and open-access cable landing stations create synergies and add value, which is why we highly value the strategic cooperation between IPTO’s subsidiary, Grid Telecom and Quadrivium. In this framework, leveraging on the strategic geographical position of Crete, creates win-win business opportunities and brings innovative total telecommunications solutions, enhancing the strategic role of Greece as a neutral open-access connectivity node in the broader Balkans – 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 also developing new international interconnections to Italy, Bulgaria, Albania, North Macedonia and Turkey, and supports new subsea electricity interconnectors which are being are promoted, to Cyprus, Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia with Greece as the main hub.
For more information, contact:
Email: pressoffice@admie.gr
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: pressoffice@grid-telecom.com
About Quadrivium Digital:
Quadrivium Digital is an infrastructure platform founded in 2022 by a team with decades of experience in the Data Centre industry. The Quadrivium Digital team have expertise in creating network-dense interconnection hubs that become major transit and exchange nodes in the world’s internet architecture. Quadrivium Digital’s portfolio of interconnection Data Centres, established with the termination of subsea cables across multiple EMEA locations, is attractive to subsea cable consortiums, telecom carriers, content providers and digital platforms. Our customers and partners benefit from better network resilience and latency, lower platform costs and accelerated revenue generation.
For more information, contact:
Email: info@quadrivium.digital