Gulf AI Surge Redefines Data Highway Landscape

The Gulf region is reshaping its data highways to meet soaring demand for artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure.

New Routes for Intercontinental Connectivity

■The Fibre in the Gulf (FIG) project will span 2,000 kilometers of subsea cable delivering 720 terabits per second of capacity.

■Scheduled for completion by late 2027, it represents the GCC's largest infrastructure investment to date.

■The route will run from Oman through Iraq and Turkey into Europe, completely bypassing the Suez Canal and Bab-el-Mandeb Strait.

Geopolitical Tensions Shaping Infrastructure Strategy

■Houthi attacks have halted subsea cable construction in the Red Sea since 2024, forcing giants like Meta and Google to pull back.

■The U.S.–Iran conflict adds logistical and supply‑chain complexities for FIG, especially as it traverses the Strait of Hormuz.

■While construction in markets such as Syria and Iraq faces delays, these regions remain peripheral to the core growth strategy over the next two to three years.

Competitive Investment and Partnerships

■Ooredoo Group is steering over $500 million into the FIG initiative, cementing its shift from a traditional telco to a digital‑infrastructure provider.

■A partnership with du accelerates cable‑landing infrastructure in the UAE.

■Saudi Telecom Company (STC) is investing $800 million in the SilkLink project, a 4,500‑kilometer fiber network linking Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey.

■An Iraqi‑UAE consortium plans the $700 million WorldLink hybrid subsea‑terrestrial network to connect the UAE to Iraq’s Al‑Faw Peninsula and onward to Turkey.

Regional AI and Data‑Center Demand

■The UAE is building a 5‑GW AI campus, while Saudi Arabia's HUMAIN project targets 1.9 GW of compute capacity by 2030.

■Qatar’s data‑center developer Meeza delivered a 4 MW expansion for a leading global hyperscaler nine months ahead of schedule.

■Ooredoo’s data‑center arm Syntys aims for 120 MW of installed capacity by 2030, surpassing its 2024 target.

Defne Aydın – Director of Geopolitical Risk and European Markets: Infrastructure investments in the Gulf aim to mitigate the fragility of a data flow that still relies on 90% of traffic passing through Egypt and the Red Sea. These projects not only secure sovereign AI and cloud services but also inject a new dynamic into global trade routes by rerouting Europe‑Asia traffic. Investors should weigh the geopolitical risks—such as chokepoint disruptions—and the upside of a 30% annual growth in data traffic when assessing long‑term exposure to initiatives like FIG and SilkLink.