Italian carrier Unidata has chosen Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) to supply a new subsea cable system, Unitirreno, that will connect Sicily with two cities on the Italian mainland, Rome and Genoa.

A press release said that the project will be the first 24-fiber pair open cable system in the Mediterranean region. There will also be a 16-fiber pair from a branch to Fiumicino near Rome, where Unidata is building a green data center hub. Cable performance will be capable of 20 Terabit/sec x fp -> 480 Terabit/sec. The layout represents the shortest, quickest path to Northern Europe from Sicily via Genoa/Milan: 9 msec. Latency will be half that or less than alternative domestic terrestrial backbone solutions.

Unitirreno will be 890 km long. It will connect Mazara del Vallo on the western tip of Sicily with Genoa on the mainland, and it will include a junction point near Rome. It will include stubbed branching units to allow future landings in Sardinia and/or Palermo.

“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, ASN’s chief sales and marketing officer.