Supplier’s contract announced for Saudi-Europe cable project

STC Group-owned company center3 and Alcatel Submarine Networks are planning to connect Saudi Arabia with Europe by building the EMC West subsea and terrestrial data cables.

In fact center3, on behalf of the consortium partners of the EMC Subsea Cable Company and Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), has this week announced the signing of the supplier’s contract for the construction of these two major cables.

The second phase of the EMC System (EMC Global), which will connect Saudi Arabia with Asia, is being finalised and will be announced soon.

center3 is an integrated data centre and data provider in the MENA region, serving hyperscalers, content providers, cloud providers, and global international carriers and enterprises. 

The EMC (East to Med Corridor) project will enable Saudi Arabia, Greece, and Cyprus to leverage their geographic position, delivering what is described as a much-needed new data corridor. The key terms of the joint venture to build the EMC project were signed in July last year.

The EMC cable is designed, from its inception, to realise two national initiatives – Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and Greece 2.0 – by transforming Saudi Arabia into a digital hub’ that connects Asia with Europe and Africa and positioning Greece and Cyprus as the European Union’s ‘east data gateway’.

Saudi Vision 2030 is a strategic framework to reduce dependence on oil and diversify the economy. Greece 2.0 is a national recovery and resilience plan which will introduce fundamental economic and social reforms, 

ASN will soon begin to construct EMC West, linking Haql (Saudi Arabia) with Genova (Italy) and Marseille (France), via Cyprus and Greece. The two cables – consisting of multiple fibre pairs – will have branches in Cyprus, Crete, and Athens.

The EMC system is expected to be ready for service in Q1 2026.

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