Zain Omantel International (ZOI), in partnership with Zain Kuwait, has enabled a Guinness World Record-breaking remote robotic surgery spanning 12,000 kilometres between Kuwait and Brazil, showcasing the power of ultra-low latency digital infrastructure in healthcare. The milestone was achieved through close collaboration with Kuwait’s Ministry of Health, Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital, the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), and international medical and technology partners.
The surgery saw a medical team in Kuwait operate on a patient in Brazil in near real time, setting a new record for the longest distance between surgeon and patient. ZOI delivered the international transport connectivity across Kuwait, Marseille, and São Paulo via Equinix SP4, while Zain Kuwait provided the local access networks. The purpose-built network achieved end-to-end latency of just 199 milliseconds, with an average bandwidth of 80 Mbps and packet loss limited to 0.19%, allowing precise robotic control despite the vast distance.
The achievement was formally recognised at a press conference at Zain Kuwait’s headquarters, where Guinness World Records certificates were presented to the Ministry of Health, the surgical teams in Kuwait and Brazil, Zain, and KFAS. The live operation ran on a resilient global network engineered for predictable latency, with multiple diverse routes in place to ensure continuity and reliability throughout the procedure.
ZOI said the project highlights how coordinated delivery across local access and international backbone networks can unlock new medical possibilities at a global scale. Backed by Zain and Omantel, the wholesale carrier continues to focus on low-latency, high-resilience infrastructure to support advanced applications across healthcare, industry, and digital services.
