Vodafone to lay undersea cable Kardesa across the Black Sea: project details

Vodafone Group, together with its Ukrainian subsidiary Vodafone Ukraine, plans to lay the undersea cable system Kardesa across the Black Sea. This was reported by 'Glavkom', citing the Ministry of Digital Transformation.

The line will connect Ukraine, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Georgia, and in the future will become part of a corridor extending to the mainland of Asian countries. The network is expected to provide independent connectivity between the countries of the Black Sea region and reduce dependency on routes that pass through Russian territory.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine is involved in the project's implementation. Kardesa will provide a capacity of up to 500 Tbps, allowing the processing of traffic volumes from 5G, artificial intelligence systems, and streaming services. The cost of the project will exceed 100 million euros.

The construction of the first section will start in 2027 in Bulgaria. The Ukrainian part is planned to be implemented only in internationally recognized safe zones.

It is noted that the new generation mobile internet 5G will begin testing in three Ukrainian cities - Lviv, Kharkiv, and Borodyanka in the fall of 2025. Large-scale coverage of a significant part of the country's territory is expected no earlier than 2030.

The full launch of 5G technology in Ukraine has been postponed until the end of martial law. Currently, testing will allow evaluating the network's performance and preparing the groundwork for further scaling.

It should be noted that Russians are increasingly feeling the consequences of the actions of the authorities, who, trying to protect themselves from attacks by Ukrainian drones, are massively disconnecting the internet.

Vodafone, together with its Ukrainian subsidiary, plans to build the undersea cable project Kardesa across the Black Sea. This infrastructure will connect countries in the Black Sea region and Asia, providing independent connectivity and reducing dependence on routes through Russia. The project has a high capacity and advanced technical capabilities, allowing the infrastructure to adapt to the development of 5G and artificial intelligence technologies.