What happened
Qatar's Ooredoo Group is investing over $500 million in Fibre in the Gulf (FIG), a subsea cable system spanning almost 2,000 kilometres with planned capacity of up to 720 terabits per second, scheduled for completion in late 2027. FIG will connect Asia to Europe while bypassing the Suez Canal and Bab-el-Mandeb strait, routing instead from Oman through Iraq and Turkey. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are also building alternative routes: Saudi Telecom Company (STC) is investing $800 million in SilkLink (a 4,500-kilometre fibre network through Syria to the Mediterranean), and an Iraqi-UAE consortium announced plans for WorldLink, a $700 million hybrid network running from the UAE through Iraq and Kurdistan to Turkey.
Why it matters
Over 90% of Europe–Asia data traffic currently flows through the Red Sea and Suez Canal region, creating a critical chokepoint. Houthi attacks have halted subsea cable projects from Google and Meta since 2024, making alternative routes urgent for the Gulf's ambitions to become AI powerhouses. Gulf states are targeting 8–10 GW of collective AI compute capacity, but that growth depends on reliable data infrastructure independent of the Red Sea. Ooredoo CEO Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo noted that data flows increase by about 30% annually while no new capacity has been built in five to seven years, creating extreme growth pressure.
What to watch
FIG is scheduled for completion in late 2027; SilkLink's first phase is expected to start within 18 to 24 months; WorldLink is due to be rolled out in phases over the next five years. Ooredoo's data center company Syntys is targeting installed capacity of 120 MW by 2030 and expects to exceed targets set in 2024. Geopolitical constraints—particularly the U.S.–Iran war affecting access through the Strait of Hormuz—are currently delaying some markets like Iraq, though Ooredoo is continuing ground surveys and land-based construction.
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The Red Sea's volatility has created an urgent infrastructure crisis for the Gulf's AI ambitions. Houthi attacks have effectively halted subsea cable construction in the region since 2024, freezing projects from major players like Google and Meta. For Gulf states positioning themselves as AI powerhouses—the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar collectively targeting 8–10 GW of compute capacity—this disruption threatens their growth trajectory. The underlying problem is concentration: over 90% of Europe–Asia data traffic flows through a narrow corridor at the Red Sea and Suez Canal, and this dependency has become increasingly untenable as data demand grows approximately 30% annually while no new capacity has been built in five to seven years.
The response from Ooredoo and other regional players reflects a strategic shift toward sovereignty and diversification. Rather than relying on the chokepoint routes controlled by Egypt and vulnerable to geopolitical risk, Gulf players are investing in alternative pathways that also serve a secondary purpose: supporting the data residency requirements of "sovereign cloud" and "sovereign AI" initiatives. Ooredoo's CEO Fakhroo emphasized that these solutions require data to remain within national borders, a constraint that drives local demand and justifies the scale of investment. The terrestrial and subsea routes being built—FIG through Oman, Iraq, and Turkey; SilkLink through Syria to the Mediterranean; WorldLink through Iraq and Kurdistan—are all designed to create optionality and reduce dependency on a single corridor. This diversification is especially critical given ongoing volatility, including recent attacks on data centers in the UAE and Bahrain, which have not yet deterred regional demand.
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