Dubai-based telco Du is set to host a new subsea cable in its landing station in Kalba, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The telecoms firm announced a partnership with Datawave Networks to land the Singapore-India-Gulf (SING) submarine cable system in the UAE. Du will also invest in the cable, though details weren’t shared.

Karim Benkirane, CCO at Du, said: “The SING submarine cable reinforces the UAE’s role as a global hub for data, cloud, and artificial intelligence. Our partnership delivers the scale, performance, and reliability required to support hyperscalers, AI innovators, and enterprises by creating a resilient alternative East-West connectivity corridor as the UAE and the region accelerate their digital ambitions.”

The cable is set to land in Kalba, UAE; Muscat, Oman; Mumbai and Chennai, India; Kedah, Malaysia; and Singapore. The system will reportedly feature 16 fiber pairs with a minimum design capacity of 18 Tbps per pair.

Cyprus-based subsea infrastructure provider Datawave first announced the project in April 2020, but little progress had been made until this year. In January, private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management said it would back the project, now set to go live in 2030.

Mark Wickham, CEO at Datawave, added: ” The connection of SING to the UAE underscores the country’s strategic importance and its influence in the global AI and data center sectors. Du’s commitment to advanced infrastructure aligns with our goals for SING, and we are therefore delighted to partner to build a strong and trusted subsea network addressing the future global digital needs of the region.”

Du currently operates five data centers across the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In April 2025, the company signed a $544.54 million deal with Microsoft to develop a new hyperscale data center in the UAE.

Du has previously been involved in the Oman Emirates Gateway, Peace, TEAS, Orient Express, Falcon, and Europe India Gateway subsea cable projects.

The UAE is the landing point for more than 20 current and planned cables. Kalba, on the country’s east coast, is the landing point for the 2Africa, Peace, and Africa-1 systems.