How do you view current connectivity demands globally and in the Middle East?
There has been a big ramp-up in demand for connectivity from hyperscalers and OTT players, and the supply side of connectivity is trying to catch up. I think that will ease in time because there’s a tremendous amount of capacity that will eventually be delivered, but it highlights the importance of predicting what future demand might be.
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Another major consideration is the need for diversity. In the Middle East, this has been highlighted by the Red Sea cable outages early last year – but even well before that, the extremely high dependence on the Suez Canal for Asia- and Gulf-to-Europe connectivity requirements was a concern.
In what ways is GBI addressing these challenges and what advances is it making in the market?
At GBI, we’ve added much-needed diversity via the North Express Route [NER] we’ve developed through Iraq to Turkey as an alternative to the pathway round the Arabian Peninsula and through Suez that we also offer via our South Route.
The NER offers the lowest-latency route from the Gulf to Europe, and more and more customers are committing to this exciting new development. We now have three major hyperscalers using the corridor, while we went from capacity demands for tens of gigabits at the start of 2024 to over 1.2Tbps now.
In addition, we’ve stepped up the level of service deployment to give customers the assurance they can rely upon this route, prioritising the delivery of robust connectivity for the most demanding hyperscaler requirements. This is paying off, with customers now seeing the corridor as a true future-proofed alternative to existing options and GBI as a trusted partner for end-to-end connectivity.
Furthermore, in January we announced a landmark dark-fibre deal with Iraqi telecoms player iQ Networks. This is a pioneering move in that market, giving us owned infrastructure and further supporting the NER.
How are GBI and the industry meeting potential challenges posed by cable cuts?
Addressing such challenges is about always having contingencies, making sure that in the event of a cut you know immediately what you need to do to ensure service continuity. When the recent outages happened, we prioritised supplying restoration capacities for other carriers so their customers weren’t affected longer than they needed to be.
There’s now acknowledgment across the industry that we have to rely upon partnerships agreed in advance to deliver continuity, as cables are going to inevitably get cut. In the past, that sort of commitment was only made at the time cuts happened, with high prices often charged for diverting traffic to another network.
Which other areas of business is GBI pursuing?
Obviously, the core one is about supporting hyperscalers and carriers in meeting demands in the Gulf. But going forward, the data centre business is booming while also being undersupplied in this region, with a need for more players in markets like Qatar. We’re therefore investing in that business in the next 18 months, initially in Qatar and maybe elsewhere once established.
Another major current strand to our business is the relationship and contract we now have with Starlink, for which we provided ground-based infrastructure for the company’s link-up with Qatar Airways on in-flight internet. We expect that relationship to go from strength to strength as Starlink broadens its service across the region and beyond. There’s also a big opportunity in areas inadequately supported by mobile, and in sectors like oil and gas.
How do you see 2025 going for GBI?
Much of last year was about starting the journey with hyperscalers in giving confidence to the NER as a long-term alternative to the Red Sea. Now, 2025 is about stepping up volumes and commitments, plus bringing in new customers to benefit from this corridor and deepening our relationship with partners.
Through the type of investment we’re making in Iraq, meanwhile, we’re investing in the localisation of services and their evolution on a consistently available basis, helping improve latency and access to local content. We had many successes last year and GBI is on a strong growth curve, providing customers with choice and a trusted proposition for access to content and end-to-end transit management.
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