Qatar-based Ooredoo Group announced on Thursday that it has signed an agreement with Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) to develop a new subsea cable system linking seven countries across the Gulf region.
The new Fibre in Gulf (FIG) cable system will connect all six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—Qatar, Oman, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait—along with Iraq. Ooredoo has not yet disclosed the financial details of the investment or the expected date for the cable to be ready for service.
Designed with up to 24 fibre pairs, the FIG cable will offer a capacity of up to 720 Tbps. Ooredoo highlighted that the system will provide all GCC nations with a low-latency, shorter, and more secure route to a new corridor connecting to Europe.
Najib Khan, Ooredoo Group’s Chief Business Services Officer, stated that the FIG cable would greatly benefit hyperscalers, business clients, governments, AI providers, data centres, and telecom operators by enhancing capacity, network reliability, and security.
Ooredoo Group CEO Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo added that the project would significantly strengthen the region’s digital sector by facilitating the growth of cloud services, big data projects, and accelerating digital transformation.
“We aim to deliver cutting-edge technologies to the region while ensuring sustainable growth for our investors through long-term revenue opportunities driven by rising data demand and leadership in digital infrastructure,” he said.
