The partnership will support the development of Digital Realty’s first data center in Crete, HER1, which is scheduled to become operational in early 2025 with an expected initial capacity of 1 MW. HER1 will serve as the first carrier-neutral facility in Crete, with intentions of addressing a significant gap in the region by allowing international and regional subsea cables to interconnect, a transformative step toward making Greece a major connectivity hub for Southern and Eastern Europe, as well as regions beyond.
"We are excited to build on our partnership with EXA to establish Crete as a major connectivity hub," said Fabrice Coquio, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Europe Med, Digital Realty. "By leveraging EXA's extensive network capabilities, HER1 will not only bridge critical connectivity gaps in the Mediterranean but also further position Greece as a strategic gateway for data traffic between Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, and beyond.”
With rising market demand for optimized traffic paths between Europe and the rest of the world, Greece’s geographic position presents a unique advantage. As a gateway to both Eastern Europe and other emerging connectivity markets, Crete is strategically positioned to handle high traffic volumes between regions, with HER1 expected to offer a critical interconnection hub for traffic to and from Northern Africa, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific, and the potential to become a key cloud and content hub serving these regions from Europe.
Steve Roberts, Senior Vice President Network Investment and Product Management at EXA commented: “Strengthening Crete’s connectivity landscape, EXA will deliver robust connectivity between Eastern and Western Mediterranean, linking established hubs such as Marseille with emerging and complementary markets like Rome and Barcelona, meeting the growing demand for reliable, diversified routes.”
EXA will be a key connectivity provider for HER1, supporting routes from Crete to Athens with redundancy across diverse submarine and terrestrial paths extending connectivity further into Eastern and Central Europe, including key locations such as Zagreb and Vienna. Additionally, EXA will offer network links between Heraklion and Chania on Crete, facilitating seamless connections between legacy subsea cables and new subsea cable projects that will use HER1 as an interconnection facility to exchange traffic and optimize capacities.
