With a large population, a strategic geographic position between Asia and Europe, and growing demand for digital services have long suggested Iraq could play a far greater role in the regional connectivity ecosystem, just like its other Middle Eastern counterparts.
Yet, for much of that time, structural gaps, from limited infrastructure to the absence of neutral interconnection points, have impacted progress.
Over the past few years, Iraq has begun laying the foundations for a more locally anchored, internationally connected telecoms market.
However, for DE-CIX’s global program manager, Marco Brandstätter, who is speaking at Capacity Middle East 2026, Iraq represents one of the most impactful telecoms markets in the Middle East today.
A market defined by scale & fragmentation
“The biggest difference that immediately comes to my mind is the number of ISPs in Iraq compared to other countries,” Brandstätter says.
Unlike markets such as the UAE, where a small number of operators dominate, Iraq’s ISP landscape is large and highly localised, with many providers serving specific regions.
While this helped meet local demand, it also revealed inefficiencies in how traffic was handled.
Before the launch of IRAQ-IXP powered by DE-CIX , much of Iraq’s internet traffic, including traffic between Iraqi networks, was routed outside the country, Brandstätter explains, increasing costs and latency and highlighting the need for a local interconnection point.
A very local internet exchange
The launch of IRAQ-IXP addressed a major missing piece in the country’s telecoms ecosystem. From the outset, its focus was on serving local operators.
The move comes as DE-CIX witnessed many Iraqi networks already peering in Europe, with much traffic coming from outside the region.
“We have 32 members, and all the eyeball networks, the operators and ISPs providing services to end users, are from Iraq,” he explains.
“If you compare this with the UAE IX, we only have two local eyeball networks,” he says. “Not because there aren’t more operators in the UAE, but because you have more than 40 networks coming from the region or internationally connected to the exchange.”
Rather than being a challenge, this distinction helped clarify IRAQ-IXP powered by DE-CIX ’s purpose and focus.
“This was not really a challenge, more something we needed to understand in order to address the market properly,” he adds. “We really concentrated on the local market because there was huge potential and a huge need for an internet exchange.”
“The market was mature enough, but there was no internet exchange- so it was the right time to start,” he concludes, underscoring the strategic timing behind the initiative.
Traffic patterns beginning to change
Once content providers began connecting locally via DE-CIX’s IRAQ-IXP powered by DE-CIX , which launched in 2024, traffic volumes rose quickly.
“When the first content came onto the exchange, we saw a huge pickup in traffic,” Brandstätter says. “The networks were ready – technically and in mindset – and the demand was clearly there.”
Today, the numbers reflect the readiness of the region.
“We have over 200 gigabits of traffic today and expect more than 300 soon,” he explains. “We already have 1.2 terabits of connected capacity.”
However, according to Brandstätte, just as importantly, global content providers were willing to invest.
“Content providers were ready to invest locally with caching nodes,” he says. “Now operators can peer locally and access content locally.”
A familiar mindset
Despite the market’s unique structure, Iraqi operators approach interconnection in much the same way as their regional counterparts.
“The mindset is the same everywhere,” Brandstätte explains. “Operators want peering for better latency, lower costs, optimisation and better resilience.”
As a result, he claims this helped accelerate adoption of DE-CIX’s IRAQ-IXP and made it easier to build momentum early on.
This comes as in its first year of operation, IRAQ-IXP became the third-largest exchange in the region by connected networks, a move attributed to a balance of demand and preparation.
“You need both need and readiness,” he says. “Iraq had both.” Alongside this, the region, according to Brandstätte, remains largely an access market with local users.
“The Iraqi government and regulator have done a lot in the last 24 months – new cables, new developments – positioning Iraq as a path between Asia and Europe,” Brandstätte explains.
One example is its involvement in the Fibre in Gulf (FIG) subsea cable system, which links Iraq with seven Gulf countries and is designed to carry large volumes of data between Asia and Europe .
These projects aim to improve capacity, reduce latency, and offer more resilient routes for international traffic. At the same time, Iraq has worked on land-based fibre routes that carry traffic across the country toward Turkey and into Europe, creating an alternative east–west corridor .
Geography, combined with these investments, gives Iraq a growing strategic relevance.
“Based on geography and these investments, Iraq has a real chance to develop into something bigger,” he says.
Competing in a region of hubs
Iraq’s ambitions sit alongside established regional hubs such as the UAE, which has invested heavily in cloud, data centres and artificial intelligence (AI).
“The UAE is making great investments in AI and will become a powerhouse,” he says. But, does not see Iraq’s growth as competing directly with those markets.
“I believe there is enough space for others,” he adds. “Anyone positioning themselves well and willing to invest has a chance. I would really wish for more neutral data centres in Iraq, including from international players,” he says.
Beyond transit connectivity, he believes Iraq’s biggest opportunity lies in attracting international players to operate locally.
“That’s when it really has the potential to become a regional hub,” Brandstätte concludes.
Source: https://capacityglobal.com/news/de-cix-iraq-connectivity/
