Qatar’s Ooredoo Group has announced plans to establish a new independent entity, Ooredoo Fibre Networks (OFN), to manage and expand its international connectivity and subsea cable infrastructure portfolio. The move reflects growing demand for high-capacity digital infrastructure driven by cloud computing, hyperscalers, and artificial intelligence workloads.
OFN will serve as a dedicated platform for executing strategic investments in subsea cable systems and terrestrial transport fibre, consolidating Ooredoo’s international connectivity assets under a specialised structure. The company aims to strengthen the group’s ability to scale infrastructure investments and capture long-term growth opportunities linked to rising global data traffic.
Khalid Hassan Al-Hamadi has been appointed CEO of OFN, bringing experience from senior leadership roles across Ooredoo’s regional operations. The new entity is expected to play a central role in positioning Ooredoo as a major connectivity gateway between Asia, the Gulf, and Europe, as demand increases for resilient and diversified data routes.
Among the key assets under development is the Fibre in Gulf (FIG) subsea cable system, a project spanning approximately 1,900 kilometres in partnership with Alcatel Submarine Networks. The initiative forms part of Ooredoo’s broader strategy to build one of the largest subsea cable and transport fibre networks in the GCC region.
The group has indicated that international infrastructure and subsea connectivity could grow from around 3 percent to 12 percent of total revenues over time, highlighting the increasing strategic importance of digital infrastructure assets. The carve-out of OFN is expected to be completed by 2027 and follows Ooredoo’s earlier spin-off of its regional data centre operations into Syntys.
