Italian international communications company Sparkle has launched the GreenMed project to develop a new subsea cable system across the Adriatic Sea connecting Italy to Southeast Europe. 

GreenMed will establish a corridor of fibre optic infrastructure, fostering connectivity across Central Europe, the Balkans, and Central-Eastern Mediterranean countries, the company said.

Starting from Italy’s Adriatic coast, it will run overland to Milan and then to the other major European internet and cloud nodes, linking Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece and Turkey. 

The project's objective is to contribute to the robust growth of the Balkan digital market, which is projected to grow by 25% CAGR between 2022 and 2029. This will be achieved by providing a secure and diversified route in addition to the existing terrestrial backbones, the company said.

"With GreenMed, Sparkle continues the expansion of its network by creating a route with highly innovative features that crosses the Mediterranean basin to support the demand for intercontinental connectivity and the growing digitalisation of the Balkan area,” said Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle, according to the company’s press release.

The inclusion of the Greek island of Crete in the system will also link it to Sparkle's BlueMed cable which connects Italy with France, Greece and other Mediterranean countries, ending at Aqaba in Jordan.