Batelco and Qareeb Data Centers Forge Partnership at Gateway Gulf Forum.

Manama: Batelco, part of the Beyon Group, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Qareeb Data Centres at the Gateway Gulf Investment Forum 2024. The MoU was signed by Maitham Abdulla, CEO of Batelco, and Annemarie Van Zadelhoff, Qareeb Data Centers Chief Strategy Officer, in the presence of officials from both companies. According to Bahrain News Agency, the collaboration aims to establish Bahrain's first White Space Data Centre as part of Beyon's Data Oasis, a project currently under development following Beyon's significant investment in global connectivity and digital infrastructure announced last year, which will be the largest technology hub in the Kingdom. As part of the agreement, Batelco and Qareeb Data Centres will explore developing activities such as setting up and delivering colocation services in Bahrain, as well as implementing Data Centre initiatives across the region. The partnership will also examine the feasibility of offering managed digital services to targeted customers, alongs ide both parties' existing service portfolios. Commenting on the signing, Abdulla said: "In line with the strategy of growing our presence in the digital infrastructure space, and specifically in the data centre market, we continue to explore potential partnerships that can positively impact these initiatives." Van Zadelhoff added, "The data centre market is experiencing significant growth regionally, with an undeniable increase in customer demands, particularly for local edge colocation facilities. We are excited to work with Batelco to provide an excellent starting point for our regional expansion plans."