Doha, October 07 (QNA) - OFN, Ooredoo Group's international connectivity arm, and iQ Networks, a leading Iraqi fibre-optic infrastructure provider, have signed an agreement to purchase multiple dark fibre pairs for transit connectivity across Iraq.

Together with OFN's separate FIG landing arrangement with the Iraqi Telecommunications and Post Company (ITPC), the agreement supports the development of an integrated subsea and terrestrial connectivity corridor through Iraq towards Turkiye and Europe.

The agreement will support the terrestrial component of a planned integrated connectivity route linking Asia, the Gulf, Iraq and Europe. The Fibre in Gulf (FIG) subsea cable system will bring high-capacity connectivity into Iraq, while the OFN–iQ Networks agreement will enable the route to extend overland across the country towards Turkiye and Europe.

The combined infrastructure is intended to provide an additional geographical route for international data traffic, strengthen route diversity and enable customers to scale their transmission capacity according to their requirements. It will serve the growing international connectivity needs of AI providers, hyperscalers, cloud providers, content companies, data centres and telecom operators.

Khalid Hassan Al Hammadi, Chief Executive Officer of OFN, said: "This agreement marks the next phase of a disciplined, multi-stage infrastructure programme and further strengthens OFN's international connectivity portfolio. By bringing together FIG's subsea capacity and iQ Networks' terrestrial infrastructure, we are advancing a more integrated and resilient connectivity proposition for international customers."

Leveraging Iraq's geographical position and terrestrial fibre infrastructure, the initiative will also support the country's ambition to become a strategic regional hub for international data transit and capture greater value from the traffic crossing its territory.

FIG is being developed as the largest subsea cable system ever built in the GCC. With up to 720 Tbps of capacity across 24 fibre pairs, it will connect Qatar, Oman, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq through a single high-capacity Gulf loop.

The FIG landing arrangement signed with the Iraqi Telecommunications and Post Company (ITPC) supports the planned landing of the subsea system in Iraq. This arrangement is separate from, but complementary to, the OFN–iQ Networks agreement announced today.

Together, the two arrangements will connect FIG's subsea infrastructure with dark fibre transit across Iraq, supporting an integrated international connectivity route towards Turkiye and Europe. (QNA)