The BlueMed submarine cable system in Italy is scheduled to start production in 2020

Sparkle, Telecom Italia's international services unit, announced a long-term investment in the BlueMed submarine cable system, a submarine cable system connecting Palermo and Genoa
.

According to reports, the system will cross the Tyrrhenian Sea and connect the Sparkle Sicilian hub open data center in Palermo, which serves 18 international cables, and the new open landing station in Genoa is directly connected
to Milan's rich digital ecosystem.

In addition, BlueMed will have several branch paths within the Tyrrhenian Sea and will support the further expansion
of the southbound in Sicily.

With a capacity of up to 240 Tbps and a length of approximately 1,000 km, BlueMed will provide advanced connectivity between hubs in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and continental Europe, with up to 50%
less latency compared to existing land cables connecting Sicily and Milan.

In addition, Sparkle's new open landing station in Genoa will be a priority channel for other upcoming submarine cables, strengthening Italy's role
as a digital gateway between Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe by enabling a diverse European entry channel.

According to the plan, the BlueMed submarine cable system will be put into operation
in 2020.