Page 36 - SAMENA Trends - January 2022

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Telecom Egypt and GRID Telecom sign a strategic
MoU to connect Egypt and Greece

Telecom Egypt, Egypt’s first integrated telecom
operator and one of the largest subsea cables
operators in the region, and GRID Telecom,
subsidiary of the Independent Power Trans-
mission Operator (IPTO) in Greece, signed
a strategic Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) to connect Greece and Egypt using
submarine cable infrastructure. The MoU was
signed at IPTO’s headquarters in Athens by the
Managing Director and CEO of Telecom Egypt,
Mr. Adel Hamed and the Chairman and CEO of
IPTO, Mr. Manos Manousakis. Present during
the signing ceremony were Egypt’s Minis-
ter of Telecommunications and Information
Technology, Dr. Amr Talaat, Greece’s Minister
of Digital Governance, Mr. Kyriakos Pierraka- among the oldest civilizations known The Chairman and CEO of IPTO, Mr. Manos
kis, and the Chargé d' Affaires of the Embassy to humanity. The MoU signed between Manousakis, stated: “IPTO, building upon
of Egypt in Athens, Mr. Mohamed Elghazawy. the two companies will contribute to its ongoing collaboration with Egypt in
The strategic agreement sets the ground strengthening bilateral cooperations in the Energy sector, enters into a construc-
for the exploration of different connectivity the field of communications and infor- tive partnership with Telecom Egypt that
options between Greece and Egypt, as well as mation technology by maximizing data lays strong foundations for new interna-
the optimal utilization of Telecom Egypt’s and traffic that crosses the Mediterranean tional connectivity projects in the grow-
Grid Telecom’s state-of-the-art networks and Sea, through Egypt and Greece. This will ing field of telecommunications between
international reach, through their existing and lead to future discussions about accel- the two countries. IPTO’s agreement to
future optical interconnectivity to neighboring erating the construction of submarine work with one of the world’s leading sub-
countries. Bilateral talks between the Minis- cables between the two countries, which sea cables operators further advances
ters and high-ranking government officials will facilitate the massive flow of data our international growth strategy and
of the two countries also took place during worldwide, which continues to increase can actively contribute to Greece’s emer-
the signing ceremony, covering a number of exponentially. Egypt's distinct geo- gence as a key telecommunication hub in
topics, namely Artificial Intelligence, Innova- graphic location makes it a regional data the broader Mediterranean region.” The
tion, and Entrepreneurship. With a domestic hub, as it transfers traffic to Asia, Africa, Managing Director and CEO of Telecom
fiber optic network currently exceeding 4,000 and Europe through more than 13 sub- Egypt, Mr. Adel Hamed, commented: “We
km, Grid Telecom, IPTO’s vehicle in the tele- marine cables, which are scheduled to are pleased to work with Grid Telecom,
communications market, is already offering increase to 18 cables within three years. as this collaboration reinforces our strat-
diverse fiber connectivity between the island There are also plans in place to complete egy to further expand our international
of Crete and the Greek mainland, in addition to HARP, the submarine system that will be infrastructure and increase the geo-di-
its network infrastructure in Italy, the Balkans, circling the African continent by 2023.” versity of our assets. With Grid Telecom
and Central Europe, leveraging its position as a The Minister of Digital Governance of as an important strategic partner, we will
major, carrier-neutral hub in Europe. Telecom Greece, Mr. Kyriakos Pierrakakis, stated: be able to expand our reach to Europe
Egypt’s international network extends to over “Today, we welcome the signing of the via Grid Telecom’s extensive network
140 landing points in more than 60 countries Memorandum of Understanding per- in and beyond Greece.” The Director of
across the globe. The company has invested taining to interconnecting Greece and Grid Telecom, Mr. Georgios Psyrris, said:
extensively in its submarine cable infrastruc- Egypt via submarine cable infrastructure. "Grid Telecom, in its only three years of
ture, which is the shortest and most reli- Exploring the possibility to deep dive into presence, has achieved major domestic
able crossing path between Africa, Asia and underwater connectivity, we trust this and international business partnerships
Europe, making Telecom Egypt the partner-of- infrastructure that provides high quality, and is already recognized as a key pro-
choice for many international telecom players high volume of content and fast services. vider in the wholesale telecommunica-
over the years. The Minister of Communica- This is an important agreement between tions market. With this MoU, Telecom
tions and Information Technology of Egypt, Grid Telecom and Telecom Egypt as the Egypt becomes an important partner and
Dr. Amr Talaat, stated: “Egypt and Greece have cables' route enables connecting points strong ally for our regional expansion
deep rooted economic, political, and cultural of presence in our countries and across and highlights the strong market confi-
ties, which have united the two countries for continents, and secures the exponential dence to our Company’s further growth
over thousands of years given that they are growth of our respective digital markets.” prospects”.

36 JANUARY 2022