Du Named as Landing Partner for Ooredoo's FIG Subsea Cable

Why It Matters

The FIG cable adds massive capacity and redundancy to Gulf connectivity, strengthening the UAE’s position as a global data and cloud hub and enabling faster digital transformation across the region.

Key Takeaways

• du becomes landing partner for Ooredoo's 720 Tbps FIG cable.
• FIG cable will connect Qatar, Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq.
• 1,931 km subsea system built by Alcatel Submarine Networks, due Q4 2027.
• Enhances UAE's data hub status, supporting hyperscalers and digital economy.

Pulse Analysis

The Gulf’s digital economy is increasingly dependent on high‑capacity subsea infrastructure, and Ooredoo’s Fiber in Gulf (FIG) project exemplifies that trend. With 24 fiber pairs delivering up to 720 terabits per second, the 1,931‑kilometre cable will be one of the region’s most powerful links when it goes live in late 2027. Built by Alcatel Submarine Networks, the system connects seven strategic landing points—Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq—providing redundancy that mitigates the risk of single‑point failures and supports the surge in cross‑border data traffic driven by cloud services and AI workloads.

For du, securing the landing partnership reinforces its portfolio of undersea assets, which already includes the Oman Emirates Gateway, Peace, SING, TEAS, Orient Express, Falcon and Europe India Gateway cables. By leveraging its Kalba and Dubai stations, du can offer carriers and hyperscalers a direct, low‑latency route into the Middle East, complementing the UAE’s broader strategy to become a global data hub. The added capacity is poised to attract multinational cloud providers seeking proximity to emerging markets, while also enabling local enterprises to adopt advanced digital solutions without bandwidth constraints.

Regionally, the FIG cable intensifies competition among existing and planned networks such as 2Africa, Africa‑1 and the upcoming Gulf‑East Africa corridors. The expanded bandwidth pool is expected to drive down transit costs, stimulate investment in data centres, and accelerate the rollout of 5G and future 6G services. As sovereign wealth funds and telecom operators continue to prioritize resilient, high‑throughput connectivity, projects like FIG signal a shift toward a more interconnected Gulf, positioning the area as a pivotal node in the global internet backbone.