(Reuters) – Italy’s Fincantieri and Telecom Italia’s submarine cables unit Sparkle said on Tuesday they agreed to develop solutions for the surveillance and protection of submarine telecommunications cables.
The deal aims to ensure the operational resilience of infrastructure which is considered key for Italy’s connectivity and growth in the technological sector, the companies said in a joint statement.
“With this collaboration, not only do we strengthen our commitment to digital security, but we also implement the development of underwater civilian operations alongside military ones,” Fincantieri Chief Executive Pierroberto Folgiero said.
The state-controlled shipbuilder is increasingly investing in the underwater sector as it sees it as a growing business given the existing geopolitcal tensions and the increasing reliance on submarine networks.
Sparkle owns a fiber-optic network of more than 600,000 kilometres, of which 90% is made of submarine cables. It has projects for their protection with several partners, including one signed with the Italian Navy in 2022.
(Reporting by Alberto Chiumento, editing by Giulia Segreti)
