Grid Telecom, a subsidiary of the Independent Electricity Transmission Operator (ADMIE) and Lamda Hellix, a subsidiary of Digital Realty, have announced the expansion of their cooperation in Crete.
As pointed out in the relevant announcement, the two companies are coordinating their investments aimed at developing the island into a strong telecommunications hub between Europe, Africa and Asia.
The two companies have launched a series of investments concerning intercontinental, regional and national submarine cable systems that will be shored οn Crete.
Following these, Lamda Hellix recently announced its plans to develop the first neutral Data Center named HER1 in Heraklion, which will be able to host these cable systems and allow interconnection between them, as well as with other telecommunications systems.
The new Data Center is an important part of Digital Realty’s integrated Mediterranean strategy, alongside the operation of existing centers in Marseille and Athens and others under development in Barcelona and Israel.
HER1 is expected to support the development of up to 6.5 megawatts (MW) of installed IT load, with the first phase scheduled for completion in 2025. It will be deployed within the Heraklion Industrial Area, as an optimal location with existing telecommunications infrastructure that can facilitate connectivity to existing land and subsea networks. Due to its proximity to the coast, it will also serve as a cable station for sealing submarine systems in the Heraklion area.
Grid Telecom, as stated in the relevant announcement, already offers multiple optical connectivity between Crete and mainland Greece. The ADMIE subsidiary adds hundreds of terabytes (TBps) of capacity, via the MINOAS East-West and APOLLO East-West undersea cable systems, providing four geographically alternative routes to mainland Greece with a total of 96 fiber pairs.
In addition, Grid Telecom announced its plans to develop an open access cable station on the southern side of Crete, which will act as a reception point for new subsea systems crossing the Eastern Mediterranean and will offer technical support and maintenance services at the level of infrastructure and operational applications . As part of the project, Grid Telecom will provide low data transmission delay and high reliability connectivity, through alternative fiber optic routes, to existing and new Data Centers in Crete, mainland Greece and neighboring countries, leveraging its potential as a neutral regional hub data.
Leveraging its network infrastructure in Italy, the Balkans and Central Europe, Grid Telecom has also developed the DWDM optical network, providing ultra-high-speed services, as well as co-location to ADMIE’s protected substation infrastructure throughout Greece.
Lamda Hellix and Grid Telecom’s investments are largely complementary.
For this reason, the two companies, which already cooperate for the Data Centers of Lamda Hellix in Athens, signed a Memorandum of Understanding that extends their strategic cooperation to the Data Center of Heraklion, where Grid Telecom also intends to install a high capacity point of presence.
