Kazakhtelecom officially obtains 50% stake in JV with AzerTelecom for laying fiber-optic line along Caspian Sea

ASTANA. Aug 24 (Interfax) - JSC Kazakhtelecom has officially obtained a 50% stake in the Caspinet B.V. joint venture with AzerTelecom created to implement the project to lay a fiber-optic communication line along the bottom of the Caspian Sea.

Astana-based Kazakhtelecom, whose securities are officially listed on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), informed KASE that it had obtained ownership of a 50% stake in Caspinet B.V. as of August 22, 2023, KASE posted on its website.

The name of the JV was not announced previously. Kazakhtelecom's public relations department confirmed to Interfax that this involves the project to lay the Trans-Caspian Fiber-Optic Communication Line along the bottom of the Caspian Sea from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan.

"The largest players on the telecommunications markets of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, JSC Kazakhtelecom and AzerTelecom LLC, on August 22 this year signed an agreement on registering the joint venture responsible for constructing and laying the Trans-Caspian Fiber-Optic Communication Line as part of implementing the project. The name of the Caspinet B.V. joint venture, in which Kazakhtelecom has a 50% stake, was disclosed on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange on August 23 this year in accordance with the requirements," Kazakhtelecom's PR department said.

As reported on Tuesday, Kazakhtelecom and AzerTelecom signed an agreement in Amsterdam to register the JV for laying the fiber-optic line along the bottom of the Caspian Sea.

AzerTelecom confirmed to Interfax that the Azerbaijani company owns the other 50% stake in Caspinet B.V.'s charter capital.

During Kazakh Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov's visit to Azerbaijan in June this year, Kazakhtelecom and AzerTelecom signed a shareholder agreement on establishing the JV responsible for constructing and operating the Trans-Caspian Fiber-Optic Communication Line along the bottom of the Caspian Sea from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan. The agreement also outlined in detail the actions of the parties as part of implementing the Trans-Caspian project.

The new fiber-optic line will be 380 km in length, with capacity up to 400 terabit/s.

Kazakhtelecom provides services in all market segments, including fixed telephony, broadband internet access, mobile communications, pay TV, and IT products. The company's infrastructure includes more than 85,000 km of fiber-optic lines throughout the country, over 14,000 base stations, and 27 data centers. The group at the end of 2022 had more than 1.8 million subscribers in the broadband sector, over 14.4 million in the mobile segment, and served 917,500 points of connection to pay TV.

AzerTelecom is part of NEQSOL Holding. The company is the leading communications operator in Azerbaijan and provides the country's connection to international telecommunications networks.