Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Interests of Kazakhstan in Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway (TASIM) project increased, Executive Director on Infrastructural Projects of KazTransCom JSC Alexandr Kislitsyn told Baku - based Trend news agency on September 20.

"The head of the presidential administration took the project under personal control. Accordingly, its importance in Kazakhstan has increased. Perhaps now we will make more efforts to promote the project faster," Kislitsyn said.

According to him, currently negotiations between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan on the construction of the Caspian segment of TASIM fiber-optic cable line are underway.

"Activation of relations [between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan] is continuing. We are currently conducting correspondence, telephone conversations. Practically all aspects of the relationship have been discussed," Kislitsyn said.

According to him, the representatives of the KazTransCom plan to arrive in Baku by late 2013 to discuss the construction of the Caspian segment of fiber-optic cable line in a bilateral format. Most likely, the meeting will be held in October-November.

Meanwhile, Kislitsyn believes that the construction of underwater cable line will not start in six months.

"In winter, no one will build anything. Construction on the water will begin when the ice will melt and the ground will thaw out ... If the soil is frozen we will not start works till early May," he said.

TASIM is a project of regional importance, which aims to lay a transnational fiber-optic line covering the countries of Eurasia from Western Europe to Eastern Asia. The project envisions the creation of a major transit link from Frankfurt, Germany to Hong Kong. The line will combine major centers of information exchange in Europe and Asia. The line will stretch through China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to Germany. A reserve North transit line will pass through the territory of Russia, Ukraine and Poland.

TASIM is a long-term initiative and will be implemented in two stages.

During the first phase leading regional countries and operators will create major Internet transit infrastructure, linking the West and East. The process is planned to be finalized in late 2013.

In the second phase of the project, TASIM is expected to provide the Eurasian countries that do not have direct access to open sea, including Central Asian states, with Internet connection at affordable rates. According to the plan, new fiber-optic lines will be constructed, while the existing lines will be upgraded and linked to the TASIM network.

The TASIM project will contribute to creating an open information society in the region, increasing the speed of Internet connection and promoting the development of Internet services, which, in turn, will lead to economic development, economic diversification and increased competition.