By Bosphorus News Energy Desk
Syria is adding new submarine connections to its international internet network as work advances on the high-capacity cable linking Tartus with the Republic of Cyprus, the Communications and Information Technology Ministry said on September 13.
Marine survey work is under way on the Cyprus route, preparations are continuing for a Syrian landing station on the Medusa submarine system, and negotiations are under way over additional cables serving Tartus and the Mazra'a area of Latakia, according to the ministry.
The Tartus-Cyprus project covers about 240 kilometers and is designed with 24 fiber pairs. Initial capacity is planned at 31 terabits per second, with the system capable of reaching 370 Tbps. Service is targeted for early 2028.
The Syrian Telecommunications Establishment, Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (Cyta) and U.S.-based UNIFI Communications signed the construction and maintenance agreement in Damascus on July 28. NSW, a Prysmian subsidiary, is supplying the submarine cable, Elettra TLC is responsible for marine installation and Nokia is providing the first-phase optical transmission equipment.
SANA's English service called the project "Ebla" on September 13 and referred to the older Syria-Cyprus cable as "AUGER." Cyta's own records identify the cable placed in service between Cyprus and Syria in 1995 as UGARIT, while its 2009 records show that Cyta and the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment later agreed to upgrade the system.
Earlier Syrian and consortium documents identify the new project as Ugarit 2. The route, capacity, contractors and timetable published by SANA match those announced for Ugarit 2, but no separate official notice confirming a change of name to Ebla has been published.
Bosphorus News reported in August that Ugarit 2 would connect Tartus with Cyta's Pentaskhinos landing station, opening access to Mediterranean cable networks extending toward Europe and other regional markets.
The September 13 ministry update places that project inside a wider network.
Syria is preparing a landing point for Medusa, while its SilkLink program is intended to carry international capacity inland through an open-access fiber network. Communications and Information Technology Minister Abdulsalam Haykal also said talks were continuing over further submarine connections to Tartus and Mazra'a in Latakia.
The ministry tied the additional routes to reducing the risk of disruption when individual connections fail.
That vulnerability became clear on June 15, when the Tartus-Alexandria submarine cable was damaged near the Syrian coast. The Syrian Telecommunications Establishment described the incident as sabotage and said a large share of the country's international capacity had been affected. The cable returned to service two days later.
During the outage, international traffic was carried through the existing Ugarit cable to Cyprus and a terrestrial connection through Türkiye. Syrian Telecommunications said the Türkiye route had recently been rehabilitated with an initial capacity of 1 Tbps.
The network is being built around several external gateways rather than a single route. In June, Syria was using the existing Ugarit cable to Cyprus alongside the terrestrial connection through Türkiye. Ugarit 2 would sharply expand capacity through the Republic of Cyprus, Medusa would add another Mediterranean path, and additional landing points are now under discussion along the Syrian coast.
The Cyprus connection itself is not new. Cyta records date UGARIT to 1995, and the authority later worked with its Syrian counterpart to increase the system's capacity. Cyta had also pursued another Syria-Cyprus cable under the ALASIA project, although its 2018 annual report said conditions in Syria prevented the cable-laying contract from being completed.
The new projects would give Syria more international capacity and more options when a connection fails. Ugarit 2 is already under contract and marine survey work is proceeding, while Medusa and additional landing points would add further routes after the June damage to the Alexandria cable exposed Syria's dependence on a limited number of international connections.
Sources: Syrian Communications and Information Technology Ministry via SANA, Syrian Telecommunications Establishment, Cyprus Telecommunications Authority, UNIFI Communications, Bosphorus News review and reporting.