Digital Silk Way project promises development for Azerbaijan and Georgia
Date: 27/11/23
Azerbaijan and Georgia are set to become digital hubs in a fibre-optic telecommunication ‘corridor’ linking Europe to Central and South Asia. AzerTelecom is implementing the major ‘Digital Silk Way’ project that aims to develop the region’s digital ecosystem according to the world’s most advanced standards. Within Azerbaijan, construction of fibre-optic cables is underway and phase one of a backbone link across the Caspian Sea has begun, to connect Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan by the end of 2024.
The Digital Silk Way project is expected to create modern data centres and internet traffic exchange points in Azerbaijan and Georgia, making the region a potential destination for global ‘hyperscalers’ that provide services such as computing and storage at enterprise scale. In the wider region covered by the project, the aim is to reduce dependence on foreign internet providers, improve access to digital services for 1.8 billion people in Central and South Asia and contribute to economic growth. The flow of data between Asia and Europe is expected to accelerate data storage and processing infrastructure development along the entire route, create new opportunities for digital business, and strengthen trade and other ties.
Laying, upgrading and uniting the infrastructure
Within the framework of this ambitious project, AzerTelecom, together with partners in Kazakhstan, has started laying a 340 kilometre, 400 terabit-per-second fibre-optic cable along the bottom of the Caspian Sea between Sumgait in Azerbaijan and Aktau in Kazakhstan. A reserve channel with length of about 330 kilometers will be laid from the Kazakh port of Kuryk to Buzovna, near Baku. AzerTelecom and Kazakhtelecom signed a Shareholders’ Agreement in June 2023, representing their collaborative actions towards finalisation of this trans-Caspian fibre-optic (TCFO) infrastructure. This phase one link, initiated in 2018, will interconnect other segments of the Digital Silk Way route.
A TCFO connection between Siyazan in Azerbaijan and Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan is planned to follow in the second phase. Agreed upon in 2019, this component of the Digital Silk Way is being developed in collaboration with Turkmentelecom. This line will enable the transmission of internet traffic from Europe through Azerbaijan to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.
In the part of the Digital Silk Way project focusing within Azerbaijan, AzerTelecom cooperates with Azerbaijan Railways CJSC in the laying of permanent trunk fibre-optic cables along the protective zone of existing railway lines. This network will strengthen the country’s digital infrastructure and its broadband ties with neighbouring states, enabling multiterabit data transmission and giving an important impetus to the development of the telecommunications sector.
The European part of the Digital Silk Way route includes fibre-optic infrastructure between Bulgaria and Georgia along the bottom of the Black Sea, which is owned and operated by Caucasus Online, a telecommunication company operating in Georgia. This 1200 kilometre cable was constructed in 2008 with a capacity of transmitting 2 terabits per second. It is planned to increase the transmission capacity to at least 16 terabit/s.
Once the project has built or upgraded the required component parts of the network necessary for end-to-end connectivity, the Digital Silk Way aims to unite these components in a single, centrally-managed network and attract world-class communications, digitalisation and content providers.
Further information
AzerTelecom and Caucasus Online are part of NEQSOL Holding, which initiated the Digital Silk Way project in 2018.
The Digital Silk Way was selected as one of the five best infrastructure projects in Asia at the 2020 Global Strategic Infrastructure Leadership Forum held in the United States.
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