As digital transformation accelerates worldwide, demand for secure, high-capacity connectivity has never been greater. In this evolving landscape, Saudi Arabia is emerging as a main digital hub, connecting Asia, Africa, and Europe through resilient, low-latency infrastructure. At the forefront of this shift is Mobily, a key enabler of regional and international data flow through its strategic investments in DC, subsea, and terrestrial networks.
With one of the Middle East’s most advanced digital backbones, Mobily is rapidly establishing itself as a leading force in the wholesale telecommunications space. Its Wholesale arm operates an integrated portfolio that includes long-haul fiber and a diverse set of managed services designed to meet the evolving demands of cloud computing, AI, hyperscalers, and large-scale enterprises. Aligned with Saudi Vision 2030, Mobily’s infrastructure investments and innovation are reinforcing the Kingdom’s role as a global digital hub, driving growth, enabling next-generation platforms, and shaping the region’s future of connectivity.
With our Hybrid Digital infrastructure and expanded global subsea footprint, we are enabling state-of-the-art infrastructure while reinforcing Saudi Arabia’s role as a major digital hub. Our solutions are built for resilience, scalability, and localization, a key pillar of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. Mobily remains committed to enabling next-generation platforms through secure and future-ready interconnection, said Thamer Alfadda, SVP Wholesale at Mobily.
Powering the Future with a Hybrid Digital Corridor
At the center of Mobily’s strategy is the Hybrid Digital solution, a bold, end-to-end infrastructure model that combines DC and subsea cable systems with cross-border terrestrial fiber networks. This ecosystem is designed to provide seamless east-west connectivity, enabling global transit routes that are resilient to geopolitical risks and tailored to next-generation workloads.
A flagship element of this corridor is the Mobily Red Sea Cable (MRSC), Mobily’s first wholly-owned subsea cable system. Connecting Duba on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, MRSC enhances data flow between Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. Developed in partnership with Telecom Egypt, the project features synchronized landing station construction, technical integration, and cross-border capacity design, forming a critical link in the regional terrestrial and subsea architecture.
The MRSC is expected to be fully operational by early 2027, and it will serve as a key enabler for hyperscalers, OTT platforms, subsea projects, and operators seeking new, low-latency routes between Asia and Europe. It complements existing systems while adding capacity, diversity, and redundancy in a region increasingly prone to disruption.
Analysis of Saudi Arabia’s Coastline: A Gateway to Global Subsea Connectivity
Deepening Regional and Global Reach
Mobily currently operates four cable landing stations across the Kingdom, in Jeddah, Yanbu, Duba, and Al Khobar. Those stations serve as gateways for major cable systems including AAE-1 and TGN-Gulf, while also preparing to host the upcoming SMW6, MRSC, and Africa-1. Each landing station is interconnected with Mobily’s national fiber network, which spans 65,000 km, covering more than 35 cities and linking all neighboring countries.
This extensive reach supports a variety of use cases, from domestic broadband expansion and public cloud enablement to cross-border transit and hyperscale infrastructure deployment. The company’s role in regional data movement is backed by deep partnerships and long-term commitments to capacity, reliability, and localization.
Mobily’s participation in the Africa-1 subsea cable system—which landed in Duba in February 2025 and will go live by the end of 2027—will further elevate Saudi Arabia’s position as a critical subsea connectivity hub. In parallel, Mobily is forging partnerships around next-generation systems, having signed multiple Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with ongoing global projects. These forward-looking collaborations underscore Mobily’s proactive role in shaping the future of global interconnection and delivering on the Kingdom’s vision of digital leadership.
Investment and Innovation at Scale
To support its infrastructure strategy, Mobily has committed over SAR 3.4 billion (USD 905 million) in new capital expenditures across subsea cable systems, data centers, and backbone fiber networks. In 2024 alone, the company upgraded the AAE-1 cable, with further expansion toward Singapore and Europe underway. These enhancements are a direct response to growing demand from cloud providers, content platforms, and AI application developers.
As digital workloads become more data-intensive and latency-sensitive, Mobily’s spectrum-aware capacity models and cloud integration frameworks are setting new benchmarks for telecom innovation. The company’s infrastructure is built not just for today’s needs, but also for the scalable, intelligent networks of tomorrow.
Enabling Saudi Arabia’s Digital Leadership
Mobily’s role in Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation journey is both foundational and future focused. By enabling borderless, high-performance connectivity across terrestrial, data center, and subsea systems, the company is positioning the Kingdom as a regional digital hub and a critical node in the global digital economy.
Whether it’s addressing infrastructure needs, supporting government digital initiatives, or delivering flexible capacity to national and international partners, Mobily is paving the way for a more resilient and interconnected future in the region and beyond.
