Tamares Telecom and Grid Telecom to build subsea cable system connecting Europe and the Middle East

Athens, 18 May 2023: Tamares Telecom, a leading fiber-based international communications and data service provider and network operator, a subsidiary of Aluma Infrastructure Fund and Grid Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary, and the telecommunications vehicle of the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) of Greece, agreed to build ANDROMEDA, a subsea optical fiber cable system connecting Greece, Cyprus, and Israel. 

The strategic partnership between Grid Telecom and Tamares Telecom for ANDROMEDA will bring advanced data transport solutions, to create a new telecommunications corridor between Europe and the Middle East. Leveraging on the strategic positions of Greece and Israel, the transcontinental fiber cable system will also offer wholesale customers leading edge connectivity and international reach across the European continent, the Mediterranean and the Arabian Peninsula, through the development of an alternative international digital highway that is much needed by the regional economy.
Emerging as the prime 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 while creating a new carrier neutral, open-access, connectivity hub in the region. 
Tamares Telecom owns and operates TAMARES-NORTH, a high-capacity subsea cable system between Israel and Cyprus, with extensions to multiple international destinations, providing customized communication and cloud infrastructure solutions and services. The strategic agreement with Grid Telecom for ANDROMEDA is in line with Tamares Telecom’s strategy of strengthening its infrastructure, expanding its international network, and increasing its entry points to Europe by providing an eastern gateway via Greece through the new cable system. 
The ANDROMEDA system will connect Israel, Cyprus, and Greece through an alternative low latency path between Europe and the Middle East, extending through additional subsea and terrestrial links westwards to the Balkans and important destinations in Central and Western Europe, and eastwards to the Arabian Peninsula and other destinations.  

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 to build and operate the ANDROMEDA system will add explicit value to our robust reach in Europe and the Middle East. Our investments in new infrastructure projects and solutions reiterate our leading position thanks to the multiple layers of our infrastructure diversity, which include establishing new subsea cable systems and crossing routes that will cater for the rising market demand for high quality bandwidth data transport, through an alternative telecommunications bridge between East and West.”

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. In this context, the fact that Israel is fast developing into a key international telecommunications hub in the Middle East, creates strong synergies and win-win business opportunities. We are very pleased that the cooperation between IPTO’s subsidiary, Grid Telecom, and Aluma’s subsidiary, Tamares Telecom, has culminated in the agreement to build the ANDROMEDA subsea cable system, bringing a new international route that will enhance the strategic role of Greece as a neutral open-access connectivity node in the broader Balkans – Mediterranean region."

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 and Egypt, 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 also operates 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 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 in Israel and Cyprus, serving more than 5,000 customers across the globe. Tamares Telecom offers a wide range of wholesale services, including managed wavelengths, IP transit, DIAs and hosting. Tamares Telecom owns the TAMARES-NORTH submarine cable linking Israel with Cyprus, which was launched in 2012, and is being extended further to Marseille and mainland Europe. 

For more information, contact: 
Email: aviram@pr360.co.il

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), Inon Yogev (CEO), Muli Ravina (Chairman of the Investments Committee), and 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 infrastructures field 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: aviram@pr360.co.il