Major U.S. hyperscalers running data centers in the Gulf to power apps and online services for millions of users are channeling data out of the war zone through fiber-optic cables that an Iraqi telecom has strung alongside crude-oil pipelines.

[...]

The demand for diverse fiber routes out of the Gulf is “ultimately driven by hyperscalers such as Google,” Paul Brodsky, a senior research manager at TeleGeography, which tracks telecommunications infrastructure worldwide, told Rest of World.

[...]

IQ Networks began building the route in 2010 as an alternative to the submarine cables that carry almost all Gulf data to Europe. The company, based in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, runs fiber from the southern tip of Iraq to the Turkish border. It is now extending the network through gas-pipeline corridors across Turkey to the European border, with the first link expected early next year, Frank said.

When that extension is complete, cloud providers will — for the first time — have the option of an unbroken land-based fiber path from the Gulf into the European network, connecting onward to Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London, and Marseille, from where their data connects back to U.S. users.

The advantage of this alternative route is that oil and gas pipelines come with their own security perimeters, access roads, and maintenance corridors already built around them, allowing a telecom company to lay fiber without digging new trenches through difficult terrain.

Iraq avoided the fate of earlier overland routes that collapsed because of a sustained period of stability, and because existing pipeline infrastructure provided ready-made corridors for laying fiber, Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at network intelligence firm Kentik, told Rest of World.

[...]

Cloud providers increasingly want to buy raw fiber strands on this route, known in the industry as dark fiber. The buyer installs equipment at each end, sends laser light through the strands to carry data, and controls everything from security to how much traffic they push through.

[...]

IQ Networks maintains the physical cable but cannot see what travels through it. That level of control matters to companies such as Amazon and Google because no government or third party sits between them and their data.

[...]

The land route is faster. Data traveling through submarine cables from the Gulf to Europe takes about 150 milliseconds. The Iraqi terrestrial route cuts that to roughly 70 milliseconds — a difference that matters for video calls, financial transactions, and applications that run on artificial intelligence, according to IQ Networks.