Saudi to fund Jordan's fiber optic project

Saudi Arabia will fund a $50-million project in Jordan to build a fiber optic network to cover the country’s central region and link hundreds of schools and other facilities, a newspaper in the Arab country said on Wednesday.

The Arabic language daily Addustour said two companies have submitted bids for the consultancy contract in the  project and that it will be awarded in January.

“The tender committee is evaluating the two bids…the contract will be awarded to one of those two firms at the start of 2016,” it said, quoting Nader Al-Thuneibat, secretary general of the Jordanian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

He said the fiber optic project has been divided into three parts, including the consultancy services, main construction work and equipment supply.

He said the two remaining contracts would be tendered in the first quarter of 2016 and that bids would be open for the private sector from Jordan and the Gulf countries.

Addustour said the state Saudi Development Fund is funding the fiber optic project, which will cover Jordan’s central region.