Cyta Strengthens Its Telecommunications Hub in the Eastern Mediterranean

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Cyta Strengthens its Telecommunications Hub in the Eastern Mediterranean

By Mr Yiannis Koulias, Director, National & International Wholesale Market, Cyta

Cyta (Cyprus Telecommunications and provides products and services Authority) is the primary to telecommunications operators telecommunications provider in the and business customers around the Republic of Cyprus. The company world. Cyta operates a state-of-the-art is a customer-driven enterprise telecommunications network and has operating in a competitive market and an impressive submarine cable and provides the full spectrum of advanced satellite teleport infrastructure. The telecommunications products and company couples a strategically situated services. Cyta is a major provider of telecommunications gateway in Cyprus fixed and mobile communications and with POPs in major telecommunications the major Internet Service Provider in centers in Europe. Cyprus. It also offers broadband access Taking advantage of the island’s via ADSL and was among the first privileged geographical location at providers to bundle this technology with the crossroads of three continents IPTV. The company has solid finances the company’s extensive submarine with long term profitability and expanding fibre optic cable network connects turnover. Cyprus with neighbouring countries and Cytaglobal, is the International thereafter with the rest of the world. Wholesale Division of Cyta and is a Cyta participates in various regional semi-autonomous strategic business and global cable systems such as the unit, specialising in providing global SEA-ME-WE 3, which links Western Yiannis Koulias, Director, National & electronic communication products Europe and South Eastern Asia, via the International Wholesale Market and services. Cyta, through Cytaglobal, Mediterranean and the Middle East,

is active in the international market and the MED NAUTILUS System which t

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t connects the Mediterranean with Western a high-capacity resilient ring connecting major satellite systems. The company Europe and beyond. Cyta’s international Cyprus with its two neighbouring shares multiyear experience in satellite telecommunications hub is further countries. communications as it has been running enhanced through the MINERVA cable In June 2009, Cyta and Telecom satellite services since 1980. Services subsystem, the first submersible ring Egypt announced their agreement to offered via Cyta’s satellite teleports connecting Cyprus and Europe directly. cooperate through extension of Telecom include a broad collection of products In December 2010, Cyta and Egypt’s TEN submarine cable system ranging from satellite television on MedNautilus, announced a new to Cyprus, thereby creating reciprocal permanent and occasional basis, to sub-network system connecting Eurasia and Eastern Mediterranean international telephony, monitoring Israel to France. MedNautilus is the business opportunities. As part of this services, data and internet connectivity. Mediterranean operations of the Telecom strategic cooperation, Cyta acquired The teleports also offer VSAT services, Italia Sparkle Group and is the only ALEXANDROS subsystem consisting of a hosting services to third parties and telecommunication submarine cable ring fiber-pair connecting Cyprus to Egypt and serve as a video head-end for Cyta’s IPTV in the Mediterranean since 2001. The a fiber-pair connecting Cyprus to France. offering in the Cyprus market. MedNautilus network provides end-to-end ALEXANDROS subsystem complements After Cyprus accession in the connectivity from the eastern part of the existing Cyta’s international facilities, European Union, Cyprus has now Mediterranean to major destinations in enhancing the robustness of international become Europe’s furthermost border in Europe. access through physical diversity and the Eastern Mediterranean. Cyta aims to The TELMAR subsystem leverages significant increase in bandwidth. become the Telecommunications Bridge the recently upgraded LEV cable, Cyta also operates an extensive between East and West and an excellent connecting Israel to Cyprus, provides satellite network consisting of centre of telecommunications services in new multiple wavelength links between two separate teleport sites with a the broader Easter Mediterranean region. Israel and France and represents a new complement of more than 25 satellite connectivity option created to serve the earth stations, providing connectivity For more information please visit: growing need for diversification of the with Intelsat, Eutelsat, SES World www.cyta.com.cy Israeli market. Cyta and MedNautilus Skies, AsiaSat, ABS, Arabsat and other www.cytaglobal.com intend to use existing Cyta’s MINERVA cable subsystem and MedNautilus cable facilities in addition to TI Sparkle’s Pan European Backbone to offer protection to TELMAR. To this perspective, the parties will upgrade the MINERVA subsystem with more 10Gbps wavelengths which will also be employed to increase Cyta’s current IP connectivity to TI Sparkle’s IP Backbone Seabone in Catania. Cyta and MedNautilus also intend to lit-up a new fiber of the MedNautilus system connecting Haifa to Pentaskhinos, in order to create the first fiber ring network between Israel and Cyprus. Earlier in 2010, Cyta finalised an agreement with the Syrian Telecommunications Operator, STE and the Lebanese Telecommunications Operator, OGERO, for the upgrade of the existing submarine cable systems UGARIT, BERYTAR and CADMOS, forming Landing of Alexandros subsystem at Pentaskhinos, Cyprus