iWorld
Flag Telecom enters deal with Qatar’s Qtel
MUMBAI: Reliance-owned Flag Telecom will now be present in Qatar, as the company has signed a deal with the country’s national telecom operator Qtel to provide high speed broadband services. As per the agreement, Qtel will provide a full landing station for Flag Telecom’s Falcon cable system in Doha and purchase of capacity on the new regional terabit/s cable system.
The deal follows similar agreements with Oman, Egypt, Bahrain, India and Kuwait. Once in service, Falcon will enable Qatar and Qtel to provide high-quality, direct international connectivity from Doha to the global business centres around the world, supporting the roll-out of advanced broadband services throughout the country, informs a company release.
Falcon, a new high-capacity resilient loop cable system will provide multiple landings throughout the Gulf region, with submarine links stretching from the Middle East to Egypt in the west and, initially, to India in the east. Across India the Falcon system can interconnect seamlessly with India’s domestic networks, including Reliance’s 80,000 km high-speed domestic infrastructure, allowing customers to access major cities and towns.
The capacity purchase will provide a many-fold increase in resilient international circuits into and out of Qatar and – for the first time – offer loop protection within the Gulf region. These circuits are expected to allow Qtel to compete favourably with other regional operators as they seek to establish pan-Regional activities and investment in overseas markets, the release adds.
Qtel CEO Dr Nasser Marafih said: ‘This significant investment represents a tremendous strategic step by Qtel and will greatly help us meet our stated aim of providing Qatar with the necessary infrastructure to meet the growing demands of our customers for fast internet access and value-added IP services. Our aim is to deliver cost-effective broadband services to every home and business throughout the country and Falcon will additionally provide us with direct, resilient, high-quality capacity between Qatar and the rest of the world. Looking to the future and the Asia Games in 2006, we are already planning that the new uninterrupted, high-quality circuits on Falcon will enable Qtel to meet the extremely robust requirements of the global media and information agencies as images are carried to global television audiences.”
Flag Telecom president Middle East & Africa Walid Irshaid said: “The deal underscores the regional importance of the reliable, terabit connectivity to and from the major business centres around the world. Falcon will bring a many-fold increase in capacity than existing regional links, and will enable Qtel to confidently roll out advanced broadband services. We look forward to gathering again to celebrate the inauguration of the Falcon landing station early next year.”
The Falcon system incorporates the Gulf region’s first self-healing submarine network ring, providing all countries connected to the high capacity cable with extremely reliable, high quality connectivity. It underlines the growing optimism in today’s telecommunications marketplace and provides the backbone to deliver advanced broadband services throughout the Middle East, Egypt and India, which have been traditionally underserved with high-capacity broadband connectivity. Branching units have been added along the entire Falcon cable route to allow additional countries to connect to the system as their communications needs continue to expand.
Gaming
MTG gaming chief Benninghoff joins NODWIN board as esports firm primes for IPO
The Gurugram-based esports firm is pursuing a public listing, has returned to profitability and is growing revenues by 42 per cent
GURUGRAM: NODWIN Gaming is moving fast. The Gurugram-based gaming and esports company has launched a pre-IPO fundraising round, appointed UBS as lead adviser for both the round and a subsequent public listing, and landed a heavyweight board director, all in one go.
The new board member is Arnd Benninghoff, executive vice president of gaming at Stockholm-listed Modern Times Group (MTG), who has overseen the group’s strategic investments and portfolio growth since 2014. He is no stranger to building things: Benninghoff has founded and built fifteen companies, served as chief digital officer at ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG, managing director of SevenVentures, and chief executive of Holtzbrinck eLAB. He began his career as a journalist at Deutsche Presse Agentur and various TV networks, holds a Diplom-Kaufmann in business and administration from the University of Münster, and previously sat on the board of Edgeware AB.
The numbers back the ambition
NODWIN is not pitching a story without substance. The company has returned to EBITDA profitability and posted a 42 per cent year-on-year revenue surge, reaching $58.5m in the first nine months of FY2026. The pre-IPO round will combine a primary issuance to fund global expansion through organic growth and acquisitions, alongside a secondary sale to give existing shareholders some liquidity.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming, said Benninghoff understands “the entire lifecycle of the gaming and media ecosystem, from the boots-on-the-ground reality of building startups to the strategic complexity of managing multi-billion dollar global portfolios.”
Benninghoff, for his part, said the company “sits at the intersection of sports, entertainment, and technology, making it one of the most exciting players in the global gaming landscape today.”
A portfolio built for the global south
Founded in 2014 by Rathee and Gautam Virk, NODWIN has quietly assembled one of the more compelling esports portfolios outside the Western hemisphere. Its properties include DreamHack India and Comic Con India, and it recently acquired StarLadder, the Ukraine-based tournament organiser behind premier events in CS:GO and Dota 2. The company also serves as a long-term strategic marketing partner for the Evolution Championship Series (EVO), the world’s most prominent fighting game tournament, helping push it into new geographies.
Its geographic focus spans South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Backers include Nazara Technologies, KRAFTON, Sony Group Corporation, JetSynthesys, and the founders’ investment vehicle Good Game Investments.
What comes next
With UBS running the books, a board freshly reinforced with European media and gaming expertise, and revenue heading in the right direction, NODWIN is laying the groundwork deliberately. The esports industry has burned investors before with big promises and thin margins. NODWIN’s return to profitability, combined with a real portfolio of owned intellectual properties across gaming, music and youth culture, gives it a more credible runway than most. The IPO clock is now ticking.
