Sparkle and Valencia Digital Port Connect (VDPC), the Spanish telecommunications company, have agreed to land the Barracuda subsea cable at Sparkle’s Genoa Landing Platform.
As the first direct Spain-Italy submarine cable, the extension to Barracuda will expand access to major European internet exchange points (IXPs) because of Sparkle’s landing and international connectivity infrastructure.
Working in partnership with private equity firm Teset Capital, Sparkle and VDPC will establish the first direct high-capacity, low-latency submarine route between Spain and Italy. The cable extension hopes to create a 1,070km digital bridge between Valencia and Genoa. Designed with an “open cable system” architecture, Barracuda will feature 12 fibre pairs, each with a capacity of 32 Tbps.
In total, the project has an estimated total investment of €100 million and is scheduled to be completed in three years, with operations expected to begin in 2028.
“This agreement represents an important step in our strategy to position Genoa as a key gateway to Europe,” said Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle and chairman of the board at the Global Leadership Forum (GLF). “The landing of Barracuda will strengthen and expand the city’s digital ecosystem, while the additional capacity on the system allows us to further expand our resilient, high-performance Mediterranean network and better serve international connectivity demand”.
Under the terms of the agreement, Barracuda will land at Sparkle’s Genoa Landing Platform to promote resiliency and secure submarine cable landing on the Western Europe coastline. By landing in Genoa, VDPC will gain immediate access to major European hubs, avoiding the cost, time and administrative complexity of deploying a proprietary landing infrastructure.
Sparkle will also acquire infrastructure assets on the Barracuda submarine cable system between Valencia and Genoa and colocation in Valencia Cable Landing Station. This is a fully neutral, scalable infrastructure designed for Barracuda and up to three additional submarine cable systems.
The additional capability hopes to strengthen Sparkle’s connectivity across the Iberian Peninsula, serving both the local and growing West African market – in addition to reinforcing its strategic footprint across the Mediterranean.
Enrique Martín, CEO at VDPC said: “This agreement with Sparkle marks a key milestone in the Barracuda project and confirms that we are advancing in line with our strategic roadmap.”
He added: “Securing Genoa as our landing point and welcoming Sparkle as a long-term customer reinforces Barracuda and Valencia Cable Landing Station as strategic assets for international partners confirming the credibility of. our ambition to have the system fully operational by 2028.”
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