(Tiper Stock Exchange) – Sparkle, first operator of international services in Italy and among the first in the world, announces thelanding place of BlueMed submarine cable in Palermo and the completion of the laying in the Tyrrhenian section Genoa-Golfo Aranci-Pomezia-Palermo. The news was given this morning during a press conference in the presence of Roberto Lagalla, mayor of Palermo, of the ambassador Richard Guarigliageneral secretary of the MAECI, and of Enrique BagnascoChief Executive Officer of Sparkle. BlueMed is the new Sparkle cable that will connect Italy with France, Greece and various countries bordering the Mediterranean. The cable is part of the Blue Submarine Cable System projectcreated in partnership with Google and other operators.
With four pairs of fibers and an initial throughput of over 25 Terabits per second (Tbps) per pair, BlueMed will offer high-speed Internet connections and high-performance connectivity solutions to Internet Service Providers (ISPs), carriers, telecommunications operators, content providers, businesses and institutions, to support the growing connectivity needs and digital evolution of connected countries .
There laying began in January with the branch in Sardinia (Golfo Aranci) and continued between February and March with the landing in Pomezia, on the Roman coast, and in Genoa. From the Ligurian capital, the cable continues south to Palermo from which it will proceed through the Strait of Messina in the Mediterranean Sea up to the Red Sea. The first Genoa-Golfo Aranci-Pomezia-Palermo section will be operational as early as the end of May, while the further extension towards Corsica in Bastia will also be completed in the autumn.
From the landing point in Palermo the cable will reach the neutral data center Sicily Hubtechnological heart and intelligence of the Sparkle network, the most effective exchange point for Internet traffic in the Mediterranean thanks to its proximity to Africa and the Middle East – among the areas of the world with the greatest growth in the use of digital communications – and to the connection with all international cables landing in Sicily.
With full BlueMed integration, the Sicily Hub strengthens its role as a digital ecosystem in the Mediterranean where telecommunications networks and “over the top” content providers converge (media, gaming, e-commerce and social networks), to the benefit of the users’ browsing experience.
“The BlueMed submarine cable – he commented Roberto Lagalla, mayor of Palermo – represents a globally avant-garde technological tool and this infrastructure will make Palermo an internet hub of international reference. Having BlueMed available really means making Palermo and Sicily a nerve center for the Mediterranean countries as regards technological innovation and digital evolution. For this reason, I thank Sparkle, global operator of the Tim Group, for the important and strategic investment made in Palermo and Sicily, convinced that this infrastructure will be able to offer a significant improvement in internet services both for citizens and for telecommunications operators , companies and institutions”.
“With the landing of BlueMed in Palermo – he declared Enrico Bagnasco, Chief Executive Officer of Sparkle – we complete the laying of the Tyrrhenian stretch of one of the most advanced digital infrastructures in the world and at the same time we strengthen the centrality of Sicily in the global Internet system” and added: “Thanks to BlueMed, the Sicily Hub in Palermo is destined for a further expansion and growth, confirming itself as a strategic asset in the digitization of the country and a fundamental hub for data traffic in the Mediterranean region.”
There centrality of Sicily for Sparkle it is also reflected in training activities in the area. The most recent example is the participation as Main Partner for Sicily a “YEP – Young Women Empowerment Program” of the Ortygia Foundation dedicated to the professional development of female students of Sicilian universities.
Furthermore, in order to stimulate research and promote knowledge of undersea digital communication infrastructures, Sparkle today announces the first edition of the “Sparkle Dissertation Award” with which it intends to reward master’s degree theses of students of the University of Palermo who offer an original contribution to the evolution of the sector.