Manama, Bahrain – Beyon has announced a major investment of more than $250 million in state-of-the-art digital infrastructure in Bahrain which will support the growth of the country’s digital economy.
Batelco, part of the Beyon group, has joined the SEA-ME-WE 6 (Southeast Asia – Middle East – Western Europe) consortium, which is building a 21,700 km-long undersea telecommunications cable system connecting Bahrain with 14 other countries, spanning the Middle East to Southeast Asia and Western Europe.
The cable system offers one of the lowest latencies available between the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Western Europe which will significantly boost Beyon’s global network infrastructure. It will have the capability of transferring more than 100 terabits per second.
The new subsea cable will create a layer of network diversity and resilience for the heavily used routes connecting the Middle East with Europe and Asia.
In addition to Beyon in Bahrain, the SMW6 consortium includes its sister company Dhiraagu in the Maldives and additionally Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company, Bharti Airtel (India), China Unicom, Djibouti Telecom, Mobily (Saudi Arabia), Orange (France), PCCW Global, Singtel (Singapore), Sri Lanka Telecom, Telecom Egypt, TM (Malaysia), Telin (Indonesia) and Trans World Associates (Pakistan).
The SEA-ME-WE 6 submarine cable connectivity to Bahrain and Al Khaleej Cable are expected to be completed by Q2 2026.
Batelco is also investing in the Al Khaleej Subsea Cable, to extend from Bahrain to other regional countries including Oman, UAE and Qatar. This fully owned subsea cable will help to diversify routes and augment international connectivity for the region.
Then there is Data Oasis, which will be the biggest technology hub in Bahrain and include a newly built advanced Data Centre for the company.
Beyon Data Oasis will incorporate the SEA-ME-WE 6 and the Al Khaleej cables into the Data Centre, therefore enabling hyperscalers and businesses to access seamless integrated solutions and helping to strengthen Bahrain’s position as a leading regional technology hub.
Furthermore, the new Data Centre will feature multiple Megawatt power capacity and utilize clean power technologies provided by the Company’s Solar Park, aligning with its sustainability plans to increase alternative power sources.
Beyon CEO Mikkel Vinter said, “Beyon is delighted to join hands with other leading international communication companies and join the SEA-ME-WE 6 cable consortium which will support and strengthen connectivity in the region.”
“We are also pleased to reaffirm our commitment to building state-of-the-art facilities that help to attract global tech companies plus leading local and regional companies, by building Beyon’s new Data Centre, which will be the biggest in Bahrain,” he added.
Beyon Chairman Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa praised the major announcements that were made today, noting that a robust connectivity infrastructure is central to the growth of the digital economy and that these major initiatives will support the acceleration of the digital future for Bahrain in line with the Kingdom’s vision 2030.