Iraq Signs Qatar Deal for Digital Corridor From Singapore to Italy

Iraq and Qatar have agreed to route an optical cable across Iraqi territory, building a digital corridor that would run from Singapore to Italy over Qatar's Ooredoo network. Iraq's Communications Ministry announced the deal in a statement on Tuesday.

The corridor combines terrestrial and submarine cable infrastructure. Ooredoo framed it as part of Iraq's effort to become a transit hub between Asia, the Gulf and Europe.

Ooredoo Fibre Networks, the operator's international connectivity arm, is building it alongside iQ Networks and the Iraqi Telecommunications and Post Company, under separate agreements Ooredoo announced on October 7.

The work leans on the Fibre in Gulf subsea system, or FIG. That cable will support up to 24 fibre pairs and carry as much as 720 terabits per second, connecting Qatar, Iraq, Oman, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Ooredoo said FIG should be ready for service in the fourth quarter of 2027.

A separate Ooredoo agreement with ITPC, announced on March 16, 2025, covers landing FIG in Iraq and is meant to support the country's role in international data connectivity. From the Gulf subsea network the route continues overland through Iraq toward Türkiye and Europe. Implementation requires regulatory, governmental and other approvals.

Capacity is the easy part. Whether the corridor works as a transit route depends on wholesale buyers choosing it over established paths, and on those approvals clearing before the cable enters service.

Iraq has been assembling such links. It signed two transit cable agreements with UAE telecom group Etisalat and Bahrain's Alliance Networks, aimed at linking East and West through Iraqi infrastructure. Both contracts were signed in Qatar, with Communications Minister Mustafa Sanad overseeing the signing; the ministry announced them in a statement on November 9.

Ooredoo placed 43rd on a 2026 ranking of the 100 most valuable companies.