Alphabet’s Google initiated talks with the Italian government on Tuesday, according to a cabinet undersecretary, regarding plans to set up base stations in Sicily to build the infrastructure for a Mediterranean underwater fibre optic cable system.
Undersecretary of the Group of Seven Advanced Democracies, Alessio Butt, disclosed the development in a statement.
Submarine communications cables are installed on the ocean floor between land-based stations to transmit signals over long distances.
Beginning in the 1850s, the first submarine communications cables were installed to carry telegraphy traffic.
Google had earlier injected approximately $1.8 billion into Nigeria’s economy in 2023, due to economic activities generated by its diverse products and services, including Search, Play, Android, YouTube, Cloud, and Ads.
Google was highly intrigued, Butti told reporters. “We’re holding discussions about base stations in Sicily.”
Two undersea cable systems that connect Asia with the Middle East and southern Europe are already operated by Google in collaboration with Sparkle, a division of Telecom Italia (TIM).
“The government considers Sparkle as a strategic company as 95 to 99% of internet traffic passes through submarine cables and about 16% involves the Mediterranean Sea,” Butti said.
Google announced similar plans to build a new fibre optic cable called Umoja that will connect Africa to Australia in order to improve Internet connectivity throughout the continent.
We earlier reported that the successful launch of the first commercial 25 Gbps microwave link in the world in the E-band spectrum has been announced by Huawei Egypt and Vodafone Egypt.
This ground-breaking accomplishment showcases Egypt’s leadership in cutting-edge telecom technology throughout the Middle East and Africa and reflects Huawei’s dedication to advancing next-generation network solutions.
