Ooredoo's OFN signs fibre capacity deal with Iraq's iQ Networks
Ooredoo’s international connectivity arm OFN has agreed to buy dark fibre capacity from Iraq’s iQ Networks for data travelling through Iraq toward Türkiye and Europe. The arrangement complements OFN’s separate deal with ITPC to connect the Fibre in Gulf subsea cable system into Iraq. The partners say the combined terrestrial and subsea capacity will create a more resilient route for operators, cloud providers and data centres between the Gulf, Iraq and Europe.
OFN, the global connectivity unit of Ooredoo Group, will acquire unlit fibre capacity from iQ Networks, an Iraqi fibre-optic provider. This capacity is intended to move data across Iraq toward Türkiye and Europe.
The arrangement is separate from but complementary to OFN's agreement with ITPC to route the Fibre in Gulf subsea system into Iraq. That system is planned to link Qatar, Oman, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq, with capacity of up to 720 Tbps over 24 fibre pairs.
The new route could affect telecom operators, cloud providers, data-centre owners and, indirectly, consumers and businesses relying on digital services across the Gulf, Iraq and Europe. By adding a terrestrial path alongside subsea capacity, it may improve network resilience and reduce the impact of outages on some international traffic. Whether those benefits reach ordinary users depends on how operators use the capacity and price access to it.