Beyon Group’s Batelco to Invest in Two Cables and a New Data Center
By Dan Swinhoe, Data Center Dynamics
May 17, 2023
Bahrain technology firm Beyon Group plans to invest $250 million into two subsea cables and a new data center.
The company this week announced its telco unit Batelco has joined the SEA-ME-WE 6 (Southeast Asia – Middle East – Western Europe) consortium. Batelco will also invest to build a new regional subsea cable, the Al Khaleej cable, which the company will fully own.
The group also announced Data Oasis, a new technology hub that will include a newly-built data center.
The new data center is to be built on a 140,000 sqm (1.5 million sq ft) site located in the south of Bahrain. Precise location and specifications weren't shared.
The new facility will incorporate the SEA-ME-WE 6 and the Al Khaleej cables and be powered by a Beyon-owned solar park.
As well as a data center and cable landing station (CLS) in Hamala, Batelco currently operates a Tier III certified facility in Hamala to the west of the country. The site offers 2.7MW and capacity for 250 racks across a 12,330 sqm (132,700 sq ft) site that launched in 2021.
It also has a Tier III certified facility on the east side of the country at Ras Abu Jarjur, as well as an earth station.
New subsea cables to Bahrain
SEA-ME-WE 6 is set to run from Singapore to Marseille, France, with more than 10 stops across nine countries en route.
First announced last year, the 19,200k system is set to offer 126Tbps across 10 fiber pairs with a go-live date in 2025. It is being developed by SubCom.
The SMW6 consortium includes Dhiraagu in the Maldives, the Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company, Bharti Airtel in India, China Unicom, Djibouti Telecom, Mobily in Saudi Arabia, Orange in France, Singtel, Sri Lanka Telecom, Telecom Egypt, TM in Malaysia, Telin in Indonesia. and Trans World Associates in Pakistan.
