Telecom Egypt, a leading integrated telecom operator in Egypt, has teamed up with Zain Omantel International to create a cutting-edge digital corridor that will connect the Mediterranean Sea to the Arabian Sea and Arabian Gulf, forming a Eurasian data highway.
The infrastructure will span from Oman’s Arabian Sea and Gulf shores to Egypt’s Mediterranean coastline, utilizing a blend of terrestrial and subsea segments. The terrestrial segments will span Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, while the subsea section will directly link Saudi Arabia and Egypt through the Red Sea, featuring a high-capacity, repeaterless cable system.
The collaboration will provide Telecom Egypt and Zain Omantel International’s partners and customers with resiliency and reliability for their end-to-end solutions. Additionally, the infrastructure will be extended to Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, and Jordan through Zain Omantel International’s network and collaboration with licensed cable landing parties in each country.
This initiative allows subsea cable owners to connect to this open-access system, reducing construction costs and enhancing latency, resilience, and market response times. Telecom Egypt plans to develop new infrastructure across Egypt from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, extending to Europe. This will be complemented by Zain Omantel International’s robust infrastructure across the Middle East, creating a new network route with the shortest and enhanced latency profile.
Mohamed Nasr, Managing Director and CEO at Telecom Egypt, said, “We are excited to collaborate with Zain Omantel International on this strategic project; it’s a game-changer in the Eurasia route connectivity landscape. As we look for innovative ways to better serve our customers, we consistently strive to provide a seamless international connectivity network and increase our diversity layers without compromising quality, cost, or speed. We will leverage our established history in the subsea cables arena and our experienced and competent team.”
Sohail Qadir, CEO at Zain Omantel International, commented, “We are delighted to partner with Telecom Egypt on such a groundbreaking project. This one-of-a-kind infrastructure will be expanded to most of Zain Omantel International’s network footprint to maximize the benefit to our group operations across the region. This digital corridor’s value is enormous, and it will be widely realized in the region and beyond not only from a connectivity point of view but also on technological, commercial, and social levels.”
