Qatari telco Ooredoo Group has signed a landing party agreement with Iraqi Telecommunications and Post Company (ITPC) to land the Fibre in Gulf (FIG) subsea cable in Iraq.

Announced last month, the FIG subsea cable will connect Qatar, Oman, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq, providing 720Tbps of capacity across 24 fiber pairs.

The cable is set to be built by Alcatel Submarine Networks, with completion slated for Q4 2027.

Specific locations for the landing points have not been provided.

“This agreement is another step forward in the rollout of FIG, advancing Iraq’s digital infrastructure and enhancing its role in global data connectivity,” said Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Bin Nasser Al Thani, group regional CEO – Middle East, Ooredoo. “As demand for high-speed, reliable connectivity grows, Iraq is well-positioned to serve as a strategic hub, supporting innovation, investment, and long-term economic growth.”

Headquartered in Baghdad, Iraq, the ITPC is entirely owned and operated by the Iraqi government. The company operates and manages the public telephone network, the fiber optic network, and the microwave backbone for all of Iraq. It also provides a limited Fixed Wireless Local Loop (WLL) network, tower lease, and colocation facilities, as well as Iraq Post services.

The ITPC signed an agreement with Kuwaiti telco Zajil Telecom in April last year to build a communications route from the Gulf region to Europe.

Majority-owned by the Qatari sovereign wealth fund, Ooredoo operates across nine countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia. The company was the first in the region to become a Nvidia Cloud partner, as part of a deal signed in July last year. At the end of last year, the company looked to gain additional capacity from the Chinese tech giant for artificial intelligence.

Ooredoo Oman, an Ooredoo Group subsidiary, signed an agreement last year to land the 2Africa cable system in Barka and Salalah in Oman.

Iraq is currently home to the 2Africa, Falcon, Gulf Bridge International, and North Africa cable systems.