New Data Cable Project Aims to Connect UAE to Turkey Via Iraq
An Iraqi-Emirati consortium is moving forward with plans to construct a $700 million data cable network linking the United Arab Emirates to Turkey, passing through Iraq. The project, branded “WorldLink,” aims to ease congestion and reduce data transit times, offering an alternative to routes currently reliant on the Suez Canal.
Ali El Akabi, head of Iraq’s Tech 964 – one of the three companies comprising the consortium – told Reuters the project will begin with a subsea cable running from the UAE’s Fujairah emirate to the Faw Peninsula in Iraq. From there, the cable will extend overland north to the Turkish border.
The consortium also includes Iraqi company DI Technologies and Emirati firm Breeze Investments. According to El Akabi, funding for the project will be entirely private, and the rollout is expected to occur in phases over the next five years.
The initiative comes just over a week after Saudi Arabia and Syria announced plans to establish a fiber-optic network as part of a broader investment package. Both the Iraqi-UAE project and the Saudi-Syrian venture reflect a growing regional competition to become hubs for AI infrastructure and data centers, driven by increasing demand for connectivity.
El Akabi, who is the son of Iraqi real estate billionaire Nimir al-Akabi, explained that WorldLink is specifically designed to cater to the needs of major cloud computing companies and international data transit operators, as well as applications requiring high capacity and low latency, such as artificial intelligence.
The project aims to alleviate congestion on existing data transmission routes between East and West, shortening transit times compared to traditional paths through the Suez Canal. This is particularly relevant given the increasing regional demand for digital connectivity and data centers.
Iraq is increasingly seeking to re-establish itself as a stable transit corridor after decades of conflict. In 2023, the country launched the “Development Road” project, a $17 billion plan to create a railway and road network connecting the Faw region in southern Iraq to Turkey, in an effort to strengthen its logistical position between the Gulf and Europe.
The Syrian telecoms ministry stated, in response to a request for comment regarding the UAE-Iraqi project, that “Additional infrastructure investment improves route diversity and resilience for everyone.” They added that the Saudi-backed SilkLink project is “designed to deliver low-latency and high- availability…and we expect to be highly competitive on both performance and resilience.”
Neither the Emirati nor the Saudi governments responded to requests for comment on the WorldLink project.
