Ooredoo partners with Batelco to launch ‘Global Zone’ in Kuwait
Extending the ecosystem platform to support the digital transformation in the region Global Zone, a carrier-neutral data center
KUWAIT: Ooredoo Telecom, the first to introduce innovative digital services in Kuwait, and Batelco, the leading digital solutions provider in Bahrain both announced yesterday the establishment of “Global Zone Kuwait”, which will offer an ecosystem platform to further support the enablement of digital transformation in the region.
In line with Batelco’s strategic agenda to cater to the ever-growing regional data demands, Batelco has selected Ooredoo as a strategic partner to enable the rollout of Global Zone’s regional expansion and support the growing regional ICT and connectivity needs. As a result of further growing Global Zone and expanding into new markets, a seamless data center interconnection is created and entirely powered by FASTtelco, the leading internet service provider (ISP) in Kuwait; acquired by Ooredoo in 2016. Featuring state-of-the-art high density designed systems, Global Zone Kuwait is being developed rapidly and supported by a superhighway network infrastructure. This entails Batelco’s wholly owned terrestrial cable system, Batelco Gulf Network (BGN), ensuring both cost effective solutions to the end customers and superior performance.
Through Batelco and Ooredoo Kuwait’s longstanding partnership, the two entities will be able to further strengthen their ties and help their customers and partners to reach new markets, while eliminating the complexity of getting connected to other players. Global Zone, a carrier-neutral data center, which was launched in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 2019, has a rich digital business solutions portfolio including Manama-IX, a carrier-neutral internet exchange, Cloud Connect solutions, and IPT solutions, which will also be available in Global Zone Kuwait, where Ooredoo Kuwait/FASTtelco and Batelco’s partners can avail of these solutions for their business needs.
In a statement delivered while announcing this partnership, Abdulaziz Al-Babtain, Chief Business Officer at Ooredoo Kuwait said, “The expanded partnership with Batelco will give FASTtelco - Ooredoo’s owned ISP - access to a new set of products to further grow its portfolio by offering AWS DX, Global Zone, MPLS and MN-IX.”
“The establishment of Global Zone Kuwait - this extensive regional footprint - will provide our clients with access to additional global fiber routes for minimized latency and ultra-high performance and I am certain that it will significantly boost FASTtelco’s capacity to support local and regional businesses and organizations to meet demanding cloud applications,” Al-Babtain added. Commenting on the occasion, Adel Al-Daylami, Chief Global Business Officer at Batelco said, “Batelco has always sought to broaden its reach, with the aim of meeting the needs of customers and partners across the region. Batelco also has a continued focus on developing the ecosystem required to meet the needs of its global customers and partners. We are very pleased to have Ooredoo Kuwait as a strategic partner to support our regional rollout plans for Global Zone to deliver enhanced services to our customers and to support business innovation that will ultimately benefit the entire region from carriers through to end users.”
Batelco’s expansion of Global Zone into the Kuwaiti market is essentially a stepping-stone into the ultimate rollout plan for the region that will eventually extend globally through Batelco’s strategic partnerships, robust global network, and digital ecosystem.