Node of a new submarine high-speed Internet route in Greece

Seventeen telecommunications companies signed an agreement in Hong Kong on January 27, 2014, for the construction and maintenance of an international ultra-high-speed submarine cable. It is called AAE-1 (Asia, Africa Europe-1) - a name that suggests that others may follow - with 100Gbps technology and a total capacity of 40Tbps.

This submarine cable creates an alternative route to the existing submarine cables that are characterized as overloaded, and also of low latency. Among the 17, the OTE Group through its subsidiary, OTEGLOBE.

^{See a map of submarine cables at submarinecablemap.com and focus on Greece}The project also includes China Unicom (China), Chuan Wei (Cambodia), Djibouti Telecom (Djibouti), Etisalat (United Arab Emirates), Mobily (Saudi Arabia), Omantel (Oman), Ooredoo (Qatar), PCCW Global (Hong Kong), Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited PTCL (Pakistan), Telecom Egypt (Egypt), TeleYemen (Yemen), TOT (Thailand), Viettel (Vietnam) and three other providers from other countries that are not named.

AAE-1 will have two alternative points of presence (PoP) in Asia (in Hong Kong and Singapore) and three alternative interconnection points in Europe (via France, Italy and Greece), thus providing alternative options to both consortium members and their customers.

The signing of the construction and maintenance contract marked the start of construction work. The new cable is expected to be completed in 2016.

Upon its completion and commercial availability, the UAE-1 will now interconnect Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Yemen, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greece, Italy and France.

AAE-1 is described as one of the largest submarine cable systems in the world, spanning approximately 25,000 kilometers, and will be one of the few that will interconnect Hong Kong and Singapore with the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

The construction of the new cable is expected to trigger rapid growth in the participating companies and countries, providing secure, reliable and ultra-fast connectivity.

OTE Group explains that with this investment through its subsidiary OTEGLOBE, Greece is emerging as a “dominant telecommunications hub in Europe.” OTE Group Executive General Manager, Mr. Zacharias Piperides, stated: “By taking advantage of our country’s geographical location and with an eye on the demands of the future, we have managed to bring to Greece one of the largest cable systems in the world, AAE-1, thus establishing Greece as the new major telecommunications hub of the Mediterranean and Europe in general. The benefit is great for our country and OTE Group, but it is equally great for our customers, as with this new significant investment we ensure the coverage of their ever-growing needs for high-quality global interconnection.”

This specific investment comes in addition to the €1.2 billion investments of the OTE Group over the next 4 years in Greece, a significant part of which concerns New Generation fixed and mobile telephony networks.