The Kalaam Network Optical Transit (KNOT) is a new fiber-optic terrestrial international cable system that enhances regional and international connectivity in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

The KNOT terrestrial cable system spans over 1,400km, providing capacity of 12.8 Tbps and beyond with lowest latency connectivity to the MENA region. Given the cable is carried over an optical ground wire associated with a regional high-tension electricity network (GCCIA), it reduces the risk of cable cuts significantly, as is evident from the very high availability of the GCCIA network over the past 5 years.

This KNOT terrestrial cable system is fully owned and operated by Kalaam Telecom Group, and supplied by Ciena.

The KNOT terrestrial cable system provides route diversity across the Middle East by connecting Kalaam Telecom's meshed transmission network across 12 countries, homing 16 Points of Presence (PoP) and further connecting the MENA region as a gateway through Kalaam Telecom's POPs in Europe and Asia. 

The KNOT terrestrial cable system is expected to go live in Q4-2020.