Unidata ASN Unitirreno Subsea Cable Project Begins
Italian carrier Unidata has partnered with Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) to build the Unidata ASN Unitirreno subsea cable, a new system that links Sicily with Rome and Genoa on the Italian mainland. The route connects Mazara del Vallo on Sicily’s western tip to Genoa and includes a junction point near Rome.
For company and project details, visit Unidata and Alcatel Submarine Networks.
Unidata ASN Unitirreno Subsea Cable Delivers Open Capacity
The Unidata ASN Unitirreno subsea cable will be the first 24‑fiber‑pair open cable system in the Mediterranean. This design gives carriers, cloud providers, and content platforms flexible access and strong upgrade potential. In addition, a 16‑fiber‑pair branch will land near Fiumicino, close to Rome, where Unidata is building a green data center hub.
The system will support 20 Tb/s per fiber pair, reaching a total design capacity of up to 480 Tb/s. As a result, it will help operators scale bandwidth quickly while keeping long‑term capacity costs under control.
Low‑Latency Path and Future Growth
Overall, Unitirreno will span about 890 km. The route creates the shortest, quickest path from Sicily to Northern Europe via Genoa and Milan, with an expected latency of around 9 milliseconds. In practice, this latency is about half or less than many domestic terrestrial backbone alternatives, which benefits financial trading, cloud services, and other real‑time applications.
The design also includes stubbed branching units to enable future landings in Sardinia and/or Palermo. This approach lets Unidata extend the system later as demand grows along key Mediterranean corridors.
ASN Technology Powers Unitirreno
“ASN will design, manufacture, and deliver the Unitirreno system with the state‑of‑the‑art technology that has made ASN a leader in the telecommunications submarine industry,” said Paul Gabla, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at ASN. Together, Unidata and ASN expect Unitirreno to strengthen Italy’s role as a strategic connectivity hub between the Mediterranean and Northern Europe.
