VZCZCXRO0577
PP RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDIR
DE RUEHDO #0440 1890654
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 080654Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9221
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0278
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS DOHA 000440 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECPS EINV EFIN QA IZ KU
SUBJECT: NEW GULF FIBER OPTIC CABLE TO SIGNIFICANTLY EXPAND REGION'S 
INFRASTRUCTURE 
 
---------------- 
(SBU) KEY POINTS 
---------------- 
 
-- Gulf Bridge International (GBI), a new company representing a 
consortium of Gulf public and private investors, plans to lay a new 
fiber optic cable in the Gulf by Q1 2011. It has signed a $300 
million supply and construction contract with U.S. firm Tyco. 
 
-- The cable will have landings in each GCC state, Iran, and Iraq. 
 
-------------- 
(SBU) COMMENTS 
-------------- 
 
-- While GBI's timeline for getting its network operational is 
ambitious, successful completion of the project will represent a 
major infrastructure upgrade for the Gulf countries, enabling 
further economic growth and educational possibilities. 
 
-- The expanded bandwidth provided by the cable will also help the 
Gulf states realize their ambitious educational, science, and 
technology goals. 
 
End Key Points and Comments. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Ambassador and Econoff Fabrycky met July 6 with Gulf Bridge 
International (GBI) CEO and Board Member Ahmed Mekky and Business 
Consultant Mohamed Elagazy to discuss GBI's plans to build a new 
fiber optic network in the Gulf which will eventually link all GCC 
states, Iran, Iraq, and perhaps more regional states through 
horizontal expansion.  More detailed information on the project is 
available at www.gulfbridgeinternational.com. 
 
¶2. (SBU) According to the GBI officials, there is only one 
comparable existing cable in the Gulf, the Falcon cable owned by an 
Indian company (Reliance) which began operations in 2005.  A number 
of cables skirt the Gulf states on an east-west route, landing in 
Oman and then continuing to India in the east and the Red 
Sea/Mediterranean in the west.  (Note: As with South Asia, Gulf 
states saw a number of major disruptions to broadband services last 
year when undersea cables in the Mediterranean and the Gulf were 
cut, underscoring the lack of redundancy in fiber optic networks in 
this region).  The GBI plan calls for the cable to run out of the 
Gulf east to Mumbai and then on to the U.S.  From the west, the 
cable is to connect to Milan. 
 
Mix of Gulf Shareholders 
------------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) A mix of Gulf Arab public and private investors own GBI. 
The major shareholder (35 percent) is Qatar Foundation through its 
Knowledge Ventures subsidiary. (Note: QF is a sprawling social 
development organization run by the Amir's consort Shaykha Mozah. 
The Knowledge Ventures subsidiary is QF's profit-making arm and 
increasingly involved in educational and technology related business 
deals - e.g., it is the group responsible for QF's joint venture 
with Vodafone, the holder of Qatar's second mobile license). 
 
¶4. (SBU) According to Mekky, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) 
holds at least 5 percent of the company's shares and may expand to 
10 percent.  GBI is also in the final stages of securing Kuwait 
Investment Authority (KIA) participation.  Qatar's Al-Rayyan bank is 
underwriting the group's plan.  (Note: The bank's Chairman happens 
to be Dr. Hussein Al-Abdulla, the QIA's Managing Director.) 
According to Mekky, the venture will start with 80 percent equity 
and 20 percent debt, and the financing is on track to be completed 
by the end of July. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Despite the apparently heavy tilt toward Qatari investment 
in the project, Mekky assured that the cable had diverse 
participation from across the Gulf and would serve all telecom 
operators.  Surveying recent Gulf deregulation of the industry, 
Mekky projected there would be multiple users of the service, and 
GBI plans to keep the operator rights neutral. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Mekky also divulged that an Iraqi delegation from the Iraqi 
Telecom and Postal Company would be in Doha this week to sign a 
landing agreement with GBI. 
 
¶7. (SBU) In the second phase of operations, Mekky projected that GBI 
would undertake vertical expansion and provide services.  GBI is in 
talks with Google which is considering placing a data center in 
Qatar (the next closest one is in India). 
 
LEBARON