Sparkle, the first international service provider in Italy and among the top global operators, has received the Best Subsea Innovation prize at the Global Connectivity Awards (GCAs) ceremony, held in London as part of the Capacity Europe 2026 event to celebrate excellence and achievement across the global connectivity sector.
Now in their 22nd edition, GCAs are among the leading international awards in telecommunications and digital infrastructure. Winners are selected by an independent panel of 35 industry experts through a rigorous evaluation process based on detailed criteria, highlighting the most creative, impactful, and high-quality initiatives driving progress across the connectivity landscape.
With the Best Subsea Innovation prize, already awarded to Sparkle in 2021, the jury recognized the company’s pioneering work in transforming submarine fibre-optic cables into intelligent sensing infrastructures capable of detecting seismic activity, monitoring environmental changes and helping protect networks. The judges described the project as “a complete success, highlighting the company’s commitment to subsea innovation and its proactive approach in ensuring the subsea industry operates as an integrated part of a broader global ecosystem.”
The award highlights the potential of this approach to bring together telecommunications, scientific research, technology partners and public institutions around shared challenges. By integrating sensing capabilities into submarine networks, Sparkle is helping pave the way for a new generation of smart cables, creating opportunities to support civil protection, environmental monitoring and the safeguarding of strategic underwater assets.
Building on its experience with INGV, the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, on seismic sensing through its MedNautilus cable system, Sparkle has expanded its activities through European and national research programs. These include the EU-funded ECSTATIC project, which uses Sparkle’s BlueMed submarine cable to validate fibre-optic sensing applications, and the Italian National Underwater Hub (Polo Nazionale della Subacquea - PNS)’s TARAS and SENSOMAR initiatives. Together, these collaborations help translate scientific research into practical applications for operational submarine networks.
By integrating these capabilities into its network infrastructure, Sparkle is developing a “multi-sensing” scalable model that maximizes the value of existing assets while keeping data within its operational perimeter. This approach opens new opportunities for wholesale operators, scientific institutions and public stakeholders, demonstrating how collaboration across sectors can generate benefits extending well beyond telecommunications.
“This award recognizes our commitment to pushing the boundaries of submarine telecommunications and exploring new ways in which our infrastructure can create value for society,” said Daniele Mancuso, Chief Marketing & Product Management at Sparkle. “By turning submarine cables into intelligent sensing platforms, we are expanding their potential and demonstrating how innovation and collaboration can deliver value far beyond connectivity. We believe in a vision of a wider ecosystem in which telecom operators, research institutions, technology partners and public stakeholders combine their expertise to address shared challenges and help shape a more resilient and sustainable digital world.”
About Sparkle
Sparkle is TIM Group’s global operator, first international service provider in Italy and among the top worldwide, offering a full range of infrastructure and global connectivity services – capacity, IP, SD-WAN, colocation, IoT connectivity, roaming and voice - to national and international Carriers, OTTs, ISPs, Media/Content Providers, and multinational enterprises. As a leading player in the submarine cable industry, Sparkle owns and manages a network of more than 600,000 km of fiber stretching across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, and Asia. Sparkle’s sales team has a global presence, with representatives in 32 countries.
Find out more about Sparkle following its X and LinkedIn profiles or visiting the website tisparkle.com
Media Contacts:
sparkle.communication@tisparkle.com
X: @TISparkle
Rome, 26 October 2026
