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Ooredoo signs cable landing deals with Kuwait and Iraq

17 March 2025

Doha-headquartered Ooredoo Group has signed agreements with Kuwait and Iraqi authorities for its fibre-optic submarine cable network Fibre in the Gulf's (FIG) first two landing points.

Ooredoo Group signed an administrative license agreement with Kuwait's Communications and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (Citra) on 13 March and with Iraqi Telecommunications and Post Company (ITPC) on 16 March, according to local media reports.

FIG will have 16 fibre pairs and a capacity of up to 480 terabytes per second (tbps), creating "a high-capacity, fully integrated subsea network connecting all GCC countries and beyond".

According to Ooredoo, the FIG cable is set to start service in Q4 2027.

In January, Ooredoo Group signed an agreement to build a new submarine cable connecting seven countries in the region with France’s Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN).

In addition to Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq, FIG will link Oman, the UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Ooredoo said in January that the project will provide all GCC states with a “low-latency, shorter and secure route” to a new corridor connecting Europe with up to 24 fibre pairs and a capacity of up to 720 tbps.

It is unclear if the capacity published this March – 16 fibre pairs with a capacity of 480tbps –  comprises first phase of the overall project, or if the total capacity has been revised downwards.

Ooredoo is ramping up investment to secure its role as a leading digital infrastructure provider in the region.

Recent initiatives cover AI, data centres, submarine cable systems, fintech and Internet of Things technologies.

Last year, its subsidiary, Ooredoo Oman, signed an agreement to land the 2Africa Cable System in Barka and Salalah in Oman.

In September last year, Ooredoo signed QR2bn ($546.2m) of financing from three local banks to expand its data centre network.

Qatar National Bank, Doha Bank and Masraf Al-Rayan agreed to provide the 10-year financing facility to help expand the firm’s existing data centre network to meet demand for future AI applications.

The financing deal comes three months after Nvidia signed a deal to deploy its AI technology at data centres owned by Ooredoo in Qatar and five other countries: Algeria, Tunisia, Oman, Kuwait and the Maldives.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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