Former Cyprus Transport, Communications and Works Minister joins ‘Quantum Cable’ super-fast telecommunications project

* 160Tbps fibre-optic subsea data cable to handle up to 60% of the world’s internet traffic at peak time

NICOSIA, June 2018 – – Former Transport, Communications and Works Minister Marios Demetriades has joined the Quantum Cable team as Senior Advisor to the Strategic Council of the “massive data highway” project that will extend from Asia across the Mediterranean and on to the U.S.

Quantum Cable will connect Cyprus with Israel, Cyprus with Crete and Attica in Greece, and extend further to Italy, France and Bilbao, Spain reaching the 160 Tbps MAREA submarine cable stretching 6,600 kms across the Atlantic Ocean from Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA, to Bilbao, Spain.

The cable has the capacity to handle up to 60% of the world’s internet traffic at peak time or enough capacity to handle tens of millions high-definition video conference calls between Asia and Europe at the same time.

“Mr. Demetriades joins the Strategic Council at the most critical juncture of the Quantum Cable. His sound advice and experience will contribute significantly to the smooth development of the project,” CEO Nasos Ktorides said.

“As the project developer of the super-fast subsea data cable that has reached a mature stage and is proceeding according to schedule, we welcome Mr. Demetriades who will bring his experience and know-how in matters of communications, energy and business strategy,” said Project Director George Killas.

From 2014 to March 2018, Demetriades oversaw the transition of the Transport Ministry to one of the biggest contributors to the economy, undertaking reforms in air transport and overseeing major projects such as the commercialisation of Limassol Port, transformation of the Department of Merchant Shipping to the Deputy Ministry of Shipping and large-scale public infrastructure development projects.

During his term in office in President Nicos Anastasiades’ first administration, Mr. Demetriades supervised tax reforms and other initiatives that bolstered the international image of the maritime sector that now boasts one of the leading merchant shipping fleets in the world and a leading ship-management cluster.

Marios Demetriades was born in Paphos in 1971 and was educated at the University of East Anglia in Business, Finance and Economics in 1993. He worked at international advisory firms and held various managerial positions. He is a member of the CFA Institute (Chartered Financial Analyst), the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (Chartered Accountant) and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus (ICPAC). He is married and they have two children.

The Quantum Cable, with a capacity of up to 160Tbps will be laid at depths of more than 3,000 metres in parallel with the EuroAsia Interconnector and its operation is expected to commence simultaneously with the 2,000MW EuroAsia Interconnector “electricity highway”, thus achieving tremendous economies of scale.

The entire cost of the project is estimated at US$200 million which will be undertaken by Quantum. The Quantum Cable system will be in operation by October 2020.

“The Quantum Cable will have enough capacity to handle tens of millions of high-definition video conference calls between Asia and Europe at the same time, thus supporting the exponentially growing demand from Asia and Europe for high speed, secure connections for Cloud providers, Data centres and Online services,” Ktorides explained.

“Existing subsea cables in the Mediterranean currently have an average capacity of 3-4 Tbps, while the Quantum Cable will be up to 40 times faster,” he added.The MAREA project was initiated by Facebook, Microsoft and TE SubCom, a TE Connectivity Ltd. company and an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology.

About Quantum Cable: The Quantum Cable, the super-fast subsea cable of up to 160Tbps in the Mediterranean, is fully supported by the governments of Israel, Greece and Cyprus.

This follows a trilateral declaration of co-operation in Nicosia, on May 8, 2018, where Alexis Tsipras, Prime Minister of Greece, Nicos Anastasiades, President of Cyprus and Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, agreed “in the field of the Fiber Optic Undersea Cable, to support the deployment of new cable interconnections among the three countries through the electricity and telecommunications cable system EuroAsia Interconnector. Such infrastructure is a critical link between Europe, Middle East and Asia and will enhance the capacity of internet connections.”

For more information, please contact:
Press Office
Mr. Masis der Parthogh
++35722792200, Ext. 123
[email protected]