Vodafone Will Build a Tier III Underground Data Center in Ukraine: How It Will Work with the Kardesa Digital Corridor
30 June 07:30
Vodafone Ukraine plans to build an underground data center that is set to become part of the country’s new secure digital infrastructure. The facility is expected to be certified to the international Tier III standard at both the design and operational levels. Vodafone Ukraine presented the project for the underground data center during the URC 2026 International Conference on Ukraine’s Recovery in Gdańsk, Poland, according to [Komersant], citing dev.ua.
Construction of the data center is planned to be synchronized with the implementation of the Kardesa project—a high-speed system of submarine fiber-optic cables across the Black Sea. It is intended to connect Ukraine with Bulgaria, Turkey, and Georgia, creating a new digital route between Europe and Asia.
What is known about Vodafone’s underground data center
The new data center will be designed for the secure storage, processing, and transmission of data.
The underground design is intended to enhance the facility’s physical security amid a full-scale war and Russia’s ongoing attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.
According to Vodafone Ukraine, the center is planned to be certified to the Tier III standard:
- at the design documentation stage;
- at the operational level;
- with redundancy for key engineering systems;
- with the ability to perform scheduled maintenance without interrupting IT operations.
The company has not yet disclosed the exact construction site, floor area, number of server racks, investment amount, or planned launch date.
For security reasons, some information about the future facility may remain undisclosed.
What Does the Tier III Standard Mean?
Tier III is one of the internationally recognized levels of data center reliability according to the Uptime Institute’s classification.
As the Uptime Institute explains, a data center of this class must have redundant components and alternative paths for power distribution and cooling.
The key feature of Tier III is that a single infrastructure element can be taken offline for scheduled maintenance or replacement without completely shutting down the data center.
This means that maintenance of the generator, uninterruptible power supply (UPS), cooling system, or part of the power distribution network should not interrupt server operations.
At the same time, Tier III does not guarantee absolute invulnerability. The highest level, Tier IV, additionally provides resilience against individual failures and equipment malfunctions.
Why Are Data Centers Built Underground?
An underground location can increase the facility’s resilience to external threats.
This design can provide additional protection against:
- missile and drone debris;
- blast waves;
- nearby fires;
- sudden temperature changes;
- unauthorized physical access;
- certain natural and man-made risks.
Underground facilities may also have a more stable temperature environment, which potentially facilitates the cooling of server equipment.
However, an underground data center requires more complex systems for ventilation, drainage, fire suppression, evacuation, and humidity control. Therefore, its level of reliability will depend not only on its location but also on the quality of its design and construction.
What data can be stored at the center
Vodafone has not yet specified the full list of future clients and services.
Potentially, the data center could be used for:
- telecommunications systems;
- cloud services;
- backup;
- corporate information systems;
- government digital platforms;
- banking and financial services;
- healthcare information systems;
- e-commerce platforms;
- artificial intelligence systems;
- international data exchange.
Of particular importance will be the ability to store critically important data directly in Ukraine while ensuring fast connectivity to international networks.
How the data center is connected to Kardesa
The construction of the underground data center will take place in collaboration with the Kardesa project.
This is a joint initiative by Vodafone Group and Vodafone Ukraine, which was officially announced in October 2025.
According to a statement from Vodafone Group, the submarine cable system will have landing points on the coast in:
- Bulgaria;
- Turkey;
- Georgia;
- Ukraine.
The route is expected to create a new digital corridor between Europe and Asia via the Black Sea.
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What will Kardesa’s bandwidth be?
According to Vodafone Group, the Kardesa system will add more than 500 terabits per second of bandwidth to the Black Sea region.
This is an extremely large volume of data transmission, necessary for the development of:
- fifth-generation mobile networks;
- artificial intelligence;
- cloud platforms;
- video streaming;
- the Internet of Things;
- enterprise systems;
- international digital services.
Higher bandwidth also helps reduce latency, speed up data exchange, and create backup routes in case other cables are damaged.
How much will the digital corridor cost?
The total cost of constructing and laying the Kardesa system will exceed €100 million.
Project management and technical implementation have been entrusted to the British company Xtera, which specializes in undersea telecommunications systems.
The first cable connection is scheduled to take place in Bulgaria in 2027. After that, the system is set to extend sequentially to Turkey, Georgia, and Ukraine.
Work on Ukrainian territory will be carried out only in internationally recognized safe zones.
The exact year of completion for the Ukrainian portion of the project has not yet been announced.
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