Bahrain-listed technology company Bjorn has been selected by the Kuwait Partnership Project Authority (KAPP) to build and operate a fixed telecommunications network development project under a 50-year public-private partnership (PPP) agreement.
Under the agreement, Bjorn will design, finance, build, operate and maintain a high-speed fiber broadband network across Kuwait, with a total investment of more than $2.8 billion over the term of the agreement, the company said in a press statement.
KAPP will hold 60% of the shares of the project company to be established, and Bjorn will hold 40%. Once the network is fully operational, KAPP plans to IPO a portion of its shares for subscription by Kuwaiti citizens.
10Gbps, 90% coverage target
The project aims to reach 90% of Kuwait’s available plots and provide 10Gbps symmetric connectivity in line with PPP requirements.
The award was selected ahead of several international competitors after Bjorn met technical and compliance criteria following a multi-stage qualification and bidding process.
In October 2024, Kuwait had pre-qualified four companies to bid on the project: Bahrain Telecom Company (Batelco), UAE’s e&, Canada’s Brookfield Corporation and Italy’s TIM Group.
Bjorn said the proposal was developed entirely in-house and highlights the company’s engineering capabilities and network transformation capabilities.
Last week, KAPP received conditional approval from the State Audit Bureau (SAB) to sign a contract totaling 9.928 million Kuwaiti dinars, the Arab Times reported.
Beyon has deployed an extensive fiber network in Bahrain, Jordan, the Maldives and the Channel Islands, delivering over 2.2 million homepath connections. In Bahrain, fiber penetration reached 95.4 percent following the 2019 structural separation reform that established Bahrain Network (BNET) as an independent wholesale infrastructure entity and Batelco by Bjorn as the retail telecommunications and digital technology parent company. In June 2023, the company officially changed its trading symbol on the Bahrain Stock Exchange from BATELCO to BEYON.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chairman of Bjorn Group, said Kuwait’s victory strengthens the Group’s commitment to delivering advanced digital infrastructure across the region and demonstrates the strength of the region’s ability to deliver projects of national strategic importance.
CEO Andrew Kvarses added that the experience of structurally separating BNET as an independent entity has given him “practical insight into managing large-scale fiber optic infrastructure under national regulatory frameworks.”
(Written by SA Kader; Edited by Anoop Menon)
(anoop.menon@lseg.com)
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