This collaboration is intended to boost Saudi Arabia’s strategic plan to offer a low-latency route between Asia and Europe
Sparkle and Mobily have signed an MoU to jointly expand international connectivity solutions with Saudi’s Mobily leveraging Sparkle’s international subsea infrastructure. Specifically
The announcement was made during the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s inaugural Connected World KSA conference in which Mobily was a taking part as a Digital Infrastructure Founding Partner.
Under the MoU, Mobily is to acquire fibre from Sparkle’s submarine cable systems with strategic drop points in Chania, Palermo, Milan, and Marseille. The project is expected to be completed in 2025.
This builds on the new digital path announced in October 2024 by Sparkle and Mobily. Earlier this month Mobily announced its first subsea cable which will also be the first to directly link Egypt and Saudi, passing through the Red Sea with landing stations at Sharm El Sheikh and Duba.
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The intention is that as result of these two agreements, network providers, ISPs, OTTs, content and application providers, and enterprises will benefit from a reliable, low latency route with scalable capacity options.
Clients will also gain access to the networks of both Mobily and its partners, leveraging a portfolio of services including Layer-1, Layer-2, and IP solutions. They provide virtual access to major Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) and global connectivity.
Mobily’s offers “extensive services within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” and Sparkle also provides services across Italy and Europe.
“Our collaboration with Sparkle strengthens the resilience of global network connectivity between the East, the Middle East, and Europe. This partnership supports the expansion of data centers and fosters content diversification for OTT platforms and hyperscalers in the region, enabling robust digital growth and innovation” said Thamer A. Alfadda, SVP Wholesale at Mobily in a statement.
He also said the new agreement marks “an important milestone in our partnership”.
Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle, added,“We are pleased to cooperate with Mobily to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s primary and pivotal role in the digitalization of the region and reinforce the Kingdom as a strategic digital hub enabling better communication between Europe, the Middle East and beyond.”