Kazakhtelecom and AzerTelecom will form JV to lay fiber-optic communication line along bottom of Caspian Sea

ASTANA. June 23 (Interfax) - Telecommunications operators Kazakhtelecom and AzerTelecom have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture for the construction and operation of the Trans-Caspian Fiber-Optic Communication Line along the bottom of the Caspian Sea from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan, Kazakhtelecom's press service said.

The document was signed during the visit of Kazakh Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov to Baku.

"The document signed in the capital of Azerbaijan defines the purpose and objectives of the joint venture for the construction and operation of the Trans-Caspian Fiber-Optic Communication Line [...], detailing the management mechanisms," the report says.

The future line will become part of the large-scale Digital Silk Way project, which provides for the creation of a new digital telecommunications corridor between Europe and Asia.

As of today, the parties have already developed a high-level design for the future undersea line and approved a detailed roadmap for project implementation, the press service said.

Earlier it was reported that the operators intend to implement the project by the end of 2024. The main route of the undersea line will run from Aktau in Kazakhstan to the Azerbaijani city of Siyazan and will be more than 340 km long. A reserve canal with a length of about 330 km will be laid from Kazakhstan's Kuryk to the village of Buzovna near Baku.