The MedNautilus Submarine System is a the first and only protected submarine ring-configured backbone in the Mediterranean, connecting Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel and Cyprus, and serves the growing capacity needs of the region.

The origin of the MedNautilus project lies with the 2600 km LEV submarine cable system linking Mazara Del Vallo (Sicily, Italy) with Tel Aviv (Israel) and Yeroskipos (Cyprus). Lev continues to serve the telecommunications needs of Israel and Cyprus, which was ready for service in March 1999, with two fiber pairs. 

The whole MedNautilus project consists of segments deployed in 4 phases.

• Phase I links Catania with Chania, Haifa and Tel Aviv. This segment has been integrated with LEV cable to form a self-healing ring.
• Phase II links Catania and Tel Aviv.
• Phase III extends with branches connecting Istanbul (Turkey) and Athens (Greece).
• Phase IV connects Alexandria (Egypt)

The MedNautilus Submarine System is owned and operated by Mediterranean Nautilus Limited, an Irish based company and fully owned by Telecom Italia Sparkle.  The MedNautilus network provides end-to-end connectivity from the eastern part of the Mediterranean to major destinations in Europe and is the leading connectivity solutions provider in the region. It uses state-of-the-art DWDM technology offering seamless connectivity between Italy, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Israel and Cyprus by way of a 7,500 km backbone and is able to extend its reach to major cities in Europe, North America and the world thanks to protected interconnections with Telecom Italia Sparkle Pan-European and Global Backbones.

The MedNautilus Submarine System was orginally supplied by Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), ready for service in 2001, upgraded and deployed with Infinera DTN-X platform to deliver up to 100Gbps services in 2013.

In 2007, the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CYTA) constructed its private Minerva cable system, using a dedicated express fibre pair on the MedNautllus submarine system, directly connecting Cyprus and Italy.