Hot on the heels of signing a binding agreement to acquire specialist operator of transatlantic and intra-European subsea infrastructure Aqua Comms, digital infrastructure provider EXA Infrastructure has turned its attention to Europe by inking a deal with Ultranet to construct a “fully diverse, high-performance” fibre route spanning approximately 175 km, further strengthening connectivity between Milan and Genoa.
With more than 20 years of experience in building resilient networks, EXA Infrastructure provides critical modern infrastructure and engineering expertise to serve as the backbone for digital and economic growth. This includes networks for governments and enterprises; hyperscale infrastructure for global businesses; and ultra-low latency, high bandwidth networks for financial, gaming and broadcast services.
The company owns 155,000km of fibre network across 37 countries, including six transatlantic cables, and claims the lowest latency link between Europe and North America, EXA Express. More than 65,000km of the network is 400G enabled, offering further scalability and ensuring ultra-low latency and high bandwidth connectivity across continents.
Ultranet is an independent carrier-to-carrier operator and fibre infrastructure owner, managing a network of more than 12,000km across Italy. With two decades of expertise in infrastructure development, rapid deployment, and environmentally conscious building techniques, EXA regards Ultranet as an “ideal partner” for high-quality network expansion.
The reasons given for the move are clear, according to EXA – Milan is Italy’s leading tech hub, and Genoa is seen as becoming an increasingly strategic landing point for subsea cables and a potential beneficiary of investment in such critical infrastructure.
The project includes an extension of EXA’s Genoa Metro network to connect all existing Cable Landing Stations (CLS) – Lagaccio and Equinix – as well as Genoa Open CLS. Upon completion, EXA will offer an open landing platform for submarine cables and five distinct routes out of Genoa, ensuring triversity from both the Genoa CLS, Lagaccio and Equinix GN1.
Commenting on the move, Steve Roberts, senior vice-president of network investments and products at EXA Infrastructure, said: “This initiative aligns with EXA Infrastructure’s commitment to strengthening network resilience and expanding data transmission capacity, backed by its extensive experience in subsea and landing infrastructure. Partnering with Ultranet – a company with a proven track record in complex infrastructure projects – is a key component of this strategy.”
HGM Group, founded and owned by the Sangiovanni Family, is the parent company of Ultranet. Outlining what he felt the partnership with EXA could deliver, HGM chief commercial officer Claudio Centofanti said: “The majority of internet data traffic will flow through submarine cables, which are becoming a critical success factor. telco operators will require increasingly advanced, cyber-secure technologies and infrastructure, seamlessly connected via P2P to datacentres, edge datacentres and virtual datacentres.
“EXA Infrastructure has become a strategic partner for HGM Group. The Ultranet-EXA Infrastructure agreement establishes a mutually beneficial partnership, paving the way for future growth and innovation for both companies.”
The new deal complements other EXA European deals such as the partnership signed in October 2024 with advanced network solutions and IP Transit specialist Macarne to provide a critical backbone infrastructure.
