Manama, Bahrain - January 13, 2026 – Batelco by Beyon, the digital infrastructure arm of Bahrain’s principal telecom operator Batelco, has partnered with Qareeb Data Centers to launch what both companies are calling the Middle East’s first edge data center, marking a milestone in regional digital infrastructure development. The announcement was made today as part of a strategic long-term agreement to accelerate high-performance, low-latency compute services across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
Under the partnership, Qareeb will lease and operate its first edge data center within Batelco by Beyon’s newly developed Data Oasis campus in southern Bahrain, a site designed to support sovereign, cloud, enterprise, and artificial intelligence workloads. The facility, spanning approximately 6,000 square meters of scalable space, is designed to meet rising demand for localized compute and storage services from hyperscalers, cloud providers, and enterprise customers throughout the Middle East.
Edge data centers differ from traditional hyperscale facilities in that they place compute and storage capacity closer to end users and digital services, reducing latency for applications such as real-time analytics, autonomous systems, Internet of Things (IoT) services, and distributed AI inference. Batelco by Beyon and Qareeb said the new facility will act as a critical digital hub for such workloads while complementing existing cloud and core data center capacity in the region.
Hani Askar, Chief Global Business Officer at Batelco, said the agreement “represents an important step forward in translating our data center strategy into operational excellence.” He added that the collaboration strengthens Batelco by Beyon’s ability to serve customers with scalable and reliable infrastructure tailored for next-generation workloads.
Annemarie Van Zadelhoff, Chief Revenue Officer at Qareeb Data Centers, described the launch as “a significant milestone in delivering high-performance, scalable, and sovereign edge colocation for cloud providers, AI innovators, and enterprise organizations across the Middle East.” She noted that the edge facility will support customers as they deploy latency-sensitive applications near key demand centers.
The initiative builds on Batelco’s broader investments in digital infrastructure, including the recent commissioning of its White Space Data center at the Data Oasis campus. That facility was designed to serve a wide array of enterprise and government workloads, helping to establish Bahrain as a key regional hub for mission-critical IT services.
Qareeb Data Centers, which focuses on edge and sovereign infrastructure, said the partnership positions it to expand services across the Gulf and neighboring markets such as Egypt and Jordan, tapping into growing demand for localized compute power.
Industry analysts say the launch reflects a broader shift toward distributed data infrastructures in the Middle East, where edge facilities are increasingly valued for supporting real-time applications, regulatory data sovereignty, and hybrid cloud strategies. The Batelco–Qareeb edge center is expected to begin operations later this year, with capacity scaled based on demand and ecosystem growth.
