Telecoms Ooredoo to build high-speed data network for GCC By Neil Halligan January 31, 2025, 10:22 AM Alamy/Hasan Zaidi Ooredoo's new 2,000km network will create a high speed connection corridor to Europe for the six GCC countries and Iraq GCC and Iraq connected to Europe 2,000km network 720TB/second data speed Qatari telelcoms company Ooredoo Group has signed an agreement with French company Alcatel Submarine Networks to build a new submarine cable and fibre network connecting seven countries in the region. The project, called Gulf in Fibre, will connect the six GCC countries — Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman — and Iraq with a fibre optic cable network, creating a new high-speed connection corridor to Europe, outside of the traditional routes for telecom and internet cables. Several telecom companies in the region are launching projects to connect Africa, Europe and Asia as concerns rise over security following attacks in recent years that saw data lines cut in the Red Sea. Ooredoo said the new strategic connection will transmit data at high speeds of up to 720 terabits per second and help meet growing demand in Europe and parts of Asia. It said the new network will consist of just under 2,000 kilometres of looped cable, and will benefit large-scale cloud service providers, business customers, governments, AI providers, data centres and telecom operators, giving reliability and security, as well as enhancing connection speeds. The project is due for completion in 2027. Saudi Arabia’s STC to build $9bn telecom network How the UAE can make its push into space pay off Gulf has a strong hand in Trump’s $500bn AI project “This aligns with Ooredoo’s ambitious strategy to lead in digital infrastructure by expanding network capacity and interconnectivity across the GCC and beyond,” said Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, group CEO at Ooredoo. Alcatel Submarine Networks manages more than 850,000 km of optical submarine systems globally. Alain Biston, CEO at ASN, described the Gulf in Fibre submarine cable project as “a game-changing initiative that will mark a turning point in regional connectivity across the GCC”. “This infrastructure will reliably deliver exceptional capacity and connectivity, empowering the region’s digital transformation ambitions and establishing it as a pivotal hub for global data exchange,” he said. Ooredoo is involved in several submarine cable projects. Ooredoo Oman last year signed an agreement to land 45,000km cable system in Barka and Salalah that will connect 33 countries across Africa, Asia, and Europe. The company is also involved in the Gulf Gateway Cable 1 project with the UAE’s e& to increase existing network capacity and has signed an agreement with Iraq’s ministry of communications to lay undersea cables at the Al-Faw station, connecting Iraq to more than 200 global undersea cables.