The BlueMed subsea cable has landed in Cyprus.

Sparkle this week announced the cable had landed at Cyta’s cable landing station in Yeroskipos.

The BlueMed cable is part of the Blue & Raman cable system built in partnership with Google, and is expected to extend to Mumbai.

The cable has four fiber pairs and a design capacity of more than 25Tbps per pair.

“This is a new [and] important stage for BlueMed, a project that embodies our commitment to innovation and collaboration, linking Europe with Africa and the Middle East through a state-of-the-art infrastructure,” said Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle. “Today we are also particularly glad to celebrate this milestone with our long-standing partner Cyta, confirming our shared commitment to strengthening connectivity in the Mediterranean basin.”

“The connection of Cyta to BlueMed will further enhance the Cyprus digital ecosystem and reinforce the island’s position as a key digital hub in the Eastern Mediterranean,” said George Malikides, chief technology officer of Cyta. “The arrival of BlueMed in Cyprus marks a pivotal step forward in our ongoing mission to strengthen the island’s international connectivity,” added George Metzakis, chief commercial officer of Cyta.

Laying of the cable began in 2023 with the main Tyrrhenian trunk from Genoa to Palermo and branches to Marseille and Bastia in France, Golfo Aranci in Sardinia, and Pomezia and Rome, Italy.

Sparkle landed the BlueMed cable in Chania, on the Greek island of Crete, in May last year.

Sparkle and Cytaa announced BlueMed would come to Cyprus earlier this year.

The Blue & Raman project was announced in 2020, with the latter part named after Indian Nobel Prize Laureate Venjata Raman, and represents $400m of investment. The cable will provide a different route through the Middle East rather than Egypt, which currently has a stranglehold on subsea cables running from Europe to Asia.

Cypriot telco Cyta’s offerings include fiber optic networks, island-wide 5G deployments, and extensive subsea cable connections.

Yeroskipos in Cyprus is currently home to the Hawk, Peace, Exlera North, Poseidon, and Tamares North cables. The Andromeda and Medusa cables are expected to join in the next few years.

Cyprus is home to two other cable landing stations, in Tefkros/Pentaskhinos and Ayia Napa, which host another six cables.