Optical & Fixed Networks

Ooredoo and IPTC sign deal to land FIG subsea cable in Iraq

Qatar-based Ooredoo Group announced on Sunday it has signed a landing party agreement with Iraqi Telecommunications and Post Company (ITPC) to land Ooredoo’s planned Fibre in Gulf (FIG) subsea cable in Iraq.

The FIG cable aims to connect all six countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council – Qatar, Oman, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait – and Iraq with 720 Tbps of capacity across 24 fibre pairs, which Ooredoo says surpasses the combined capacity of all existing and planned Gulf cables.

Iraqi Minister of Communications Dr. Hayam Al Yasiri said the FIG cable “strengthens Iraq’s role as a key transit point for global data [between Asia and Europe] while accelerating advancements in hyperscaler expansions, AI, cloud, and IoT.”

She added that the cable would provide government institutions, businesses, and individuals with unprecedented connectivity. “This will drive new opportunities for growth, innovation, and global integration,” she said in a statement.

Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Bin Nasser Al Thani, Ooredoo’s group regional CEO for Middle East, said the landing party agreement “is another step forward in the rollout of FIG, advancing Iraq’s digital infrastructure and enhancing its role in global data connectivity”

Ooredoo signed an agreement with Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) in January 2025 to build the FIG cable, which is currently slated to be ready for service in the fourth quarter of 2027.



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