The move is designed to strengthen regional connectivity and position the island as a strategic digital hub in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The wholesale telecommunications provider, a subsidiary of IPTO, said ARTEMIS will form a new digital corridor linking Crete and the Attica region, supporting Greece’s wider digital transformation and reinforcing its role in regional connectivity between Europe, the Middle East and beyond.
ARTEMIS will span approximately 280 kilometres, including its terrestrial segments, and will be equipped with subsea repeaters. The system will interconnect all cable landing stations and data centres in Crete and Attica, delivering transmission speeds of up to 30 Tbps per fibre pair. With a minimum of 24 fibre pairs, the cable will have an initial design capacity of at least 720 Tbps, providing headroom for medium- and long-term demand.
The relatively short transmission distance and the ability to expand the optical spectrum mean ARTEMIS is designed to support next-generation technologies. Grid Telecom said the system has the potential to exceed 1 petabit per second in total capacity, positioning it as the first petabit-class subsea cable in Greece and the wider Mediterranean region.
The new system will complement Grid Telecom’s existing subsea infrastructure, including the Minoas East-West and Apollo East-West systems, which already connect Crete to mainland Greece via four independent routes and a total of 96 fibre pairs.
Minoas East-West links Chania with the Peloponnese, providing a low-latency alternative route, while Apollo East-West delivers a direct Heraklion-to-Attica connection with no intermediate landing points.
As part of the project, Grid Telecom is moving ahead with the construction of new cable landing stations in Chania and Attica.
These facilities will support ARTEMIS and act as gateways for international subsea cables crossing the Eastern Mediterranean. The system will incorporate Open Cable Interface Equipment (OCIE), enabling direct integration with international cable systems and cost-efficient backhaul to data centres.
Grid Telecom said the investment underlines its role as a neutral wholesale provider, delivering open-access landings, diversified fibre routes and resilient, carrier-grade connectivity across Greece and neighbouring markets.
RELATED STORIES
Capacity Europe 2026
The 24th anniversary edition of Capacity Europe 2025 will bring together 3,500+ decision-makers from the global connectivity and digital infrastructure community.
