Zain Omantel is making a terrestrial longhaul fiber move to connect the Middle East to Europe. Today they announced a strategic agreement with Horizon Scope Telecom and the Iraqi Telecommunications and Information Company go connect the heart of the Middle East with Europe without passing through the Red Sea or the Mediterranean.
Instead they plan to go over land through Iraq and Turkey, presumably to Istanbul. From there they will be able to access fiber all the way into Western Europe, and specifically to the hub of Frankfurt. Over the past few decades, the instability in Iraq has been something infrastructure providers avoid, and this one has to pass from Sunni Arab areas through the Kurdish regions of both countries, and across Turkey’s mountainous interior. But with the Houthi rebels in Yemen making it dodgy to do things in that region, it is starting to look like a viable alternative route again.
That is not to say that Zain will be digging up much actual ground themselves. This looks more like the piecing together of routes with the help of Iraq’s infrastructure sector to do the unserved bits. And whether the combined route will be integrated well enough able to rival the many subsea cables through the Red Sea and Egypt remains to be seen.
It’s not the first time such a project has been envisioned, but perhaps the time is now right. No timescale was given, nor has a map been sighted. So, we’ll have to use our imagination for the moment.
If you haven't already, please take our Reader Survey! Just 3 questions to help us better understand who is reading Telecom Ramblings so we can serve you better!
Categories: Fiber Networks
Join Our LinkedIn Group
PNW on The Bear Has a Book: Bandwidth to Drop Soon!: “I worked for a short time as a GM for Zayo, reporting to one of his managers Glenn which was…” Apr 16, 14:16
Discuss this Post