Bahrain’s Beyon puts $250m into digital infrastructure 

Beyon Group

• Batelco parent company Beyon Group joins telecom consortium
• Subsea cable to connect Bahrain with 14 other countries
• System to provide superior broadband access

Tech company Beyon Group is investing more than $250 million in new infrastructure to support Bahrain’s digital transformation.

The parent company of telecoms operator Batelco said it has joined the Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 6 (SEA-ME-WE 6) consortium, which is building a 21,700km-long undersea telecommunications cable from Marseille in France to Singapore.

The cable will connect Bahrain’s 1.5 million inhabitants with 14 other countries.

Batelco will also build its own regional subsea cable (to be called the Al Khaleej Cable) to enhance the exchange of data. 

In addition, Beyon has revealed plans for Data Oasis, which will be the biggest technology hub in Bahrain and include a new data centre for the company.

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Beyon CEO Mikkel Vinter said that this investment was “the biggest of its kind in Bahrain’s history”.

He added that it “reflects the importance we place on meeting the requirements of the business industry and the growth of Bahrain’s digital ecosystem”.

The SEA-ME-WE 6 consortium will be capable of transferring more than 100 terabits per second and will support the heavily used routes connecting the Middle East towards Europe and Asia.

The consortium’s submarine cable connectivity to Bahrain and Al Khaleej Cable are expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2026.

Yue Meng Fai, the consortium’s management committee chairman, said: “With millions of people living and working remotely today, this new cable system will support all partners to provide superior broadband access along this multi-regional data superhighway.”

Last year, a new four-year strategy to push ahead with digitalising the Bahraini economy was announced.

The 2022-26 Telecommunications, Information Technology and Digital Economy Strategy was launched in line with the objectives of the country’s post-pandemic economic recovery plan.

In February Beyon announced a full-year 2022 net profit of $186.5 million, an increase by 7 percent compared to the previous year while revenue rose slightly to just over $1 billion.