Trans-Caspian Kazakhstan-Azerbaijan fiber-optic line to launch in Oct - minister

ASTANA. Oct 6 (Interfax) - The Trans-Caspian fiber-optic communication line between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan is scheduled to launch in October, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev said.

"Some 390 kilometers of cable have been laid for the Trans-Caspian line, from the Sumgait shore in Azerbaijan to the Aktau shore in Kazakhstan. The launch is planned for this month," Madiyev told a government meeting on Tuesday.

Cable laying along the Caspian seabed began in July 2026. Construction of onshore infrastructure, commissioning and system testing were planned for the fall.

CaspiLink B.V., a joint venture between Kazakhtelecom and AzerTelecom International, is responsible for building and operating the line. The project is financed entirely by the operators' own funds, without budget funding.

The fiber-optic line is part of the Digital Silk Road megaproject, which envisages a digital telecommunications corridor through Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The Aktau-Sumgait route will link Kazakhstan's and Azerbaijan's digital infrastructure and become a direct high-speed data corridor between Asia and Europe.

The 380-kilometer underwater cable between Sumgait and Aktau is designed to carry up to 400 Tbps, allowing for the transmission of large amounts of data.