Iraq and Ooredoo to build internet transit route to Europe
Iraq has awarded Qatari telecoms company Ooredoo a contract to build internet transit capacity to Europe.
“Our policy prioritised establishing Iraq as a secure, high-speed internet transit route with low latency,” communications minister Mustafa Sanad told the state-run Iraqi News Agency.
Although transit routes through Arab nations were available, Iraq was chosen mainly because it offers a shorter distance to Europe and because of the government’s new incentivised pricing policy, he said.
He added that the country’s infrastructure is unaffected by weather conditions or regional conflicts.
In July, Sanad said Iraq aims to leverage its geographic position to become a regional hub for data exchange and communications after activating a 2,000-kilometre overland fibre-optic line.
The transit route connects southern Iraq’s Faw port to the Rabia border crossing near Turkey, carrying data directly into Europe.
In January 2025, Ooredoo signed an agreement with French company Alcatel Submarine Networks to build a new submarine cable and fibre network connecting seven countries in the region.
The project, called Gulf in Fibre, would connect the six GCC countries and Iraq with a fibre optic cable network, creating a new high-speed connection corridor to Europe outside the traditional routes for telecom and internet cables.