• The 340km Thetis Express cable system will run from Heraklion in Crete to Attica in Athens
• The new infrastructure will comprise subsea and terrestrial elements and ultimately connect to the 2Africa Cable

Vodafone’s wholesale division has unveiled plans to build a new 340km subsea cable system linking the island of Crete with mainland Greece and boosting internet connectivity for the island, which has a population of about 670,000. 

Vodafone Carrier Services will also build three new high-speed land-based cable systems to connect to the new subsea route, which it has given a fabulous name – the Thetis Express.

In Greek mythology, Thetis was a sea nymph who was married to Peleus, king of Phthia. She is, perhaps, best known for dipping her son, Achilles, into the river Styx to grant him immortality, except on his heel. He would later die by an arrow to the heel during the Trojan War, according to Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad.

Thetis is also a small rocky islet located just off Crete – but Vodafone confirmed it is named after the mythical character. The cable of the same name will connect datacentres in Heraklion, on Crete, with a facility in Attica in the Greek capital of Athens.

Vodafone is in the process of completing the necessary marine survey phase of the build with plans to complete the system by the second half of 2027, subject to issues such as weather delays.

The Thetis Express will comprise two marine segments measuring 129km and 163km each, offering a total capacity of up to 180 Tbit/s – the equivalent of 25 million users streaming 4K resolution video simultaneously.

Further plans include linking the Thetis Express to the 2Africa Cable system at its cable landing station in Crete. At 45,000km, 2Africa is one of the longest subsea cable systems in the world and will ultimately connect 46 landing stations across 33 countries throughout Africa, Asia and Europe.

Vodafone Carrier Services said it will leverage the Thetis Express alongside complementary terrestrial wholesale routes to offer a range of wholesale interconnectivity services to and from Greece to the rest of Europe, Asia and Africa.

- James Pearce, Editor, TelecomTV