Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Feb. 28
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) fiber-optic line will be connected to the communication lines of the Caspian region via Baku and further to the communication network in Europe, the Turkmen Communications Ministry said in a message Feb. 28.
The construction of the TAP fiber-optic line started on Feb. 23 as part of the Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway (TASIM) project’s implementation, according to the message.
“Afghanistan may become the most effective route for providing shorter and more reliable data transmission between Europe and South-East Asia,” the message noted. “This may reduce the transmission time by more than 30 milliseconds.”
The TAP fiber-optic line in the future will be able to bring transit revenues worth up to $200 million (per year) and more for Afghanistan.
Five international fiber-optic communication lines are linked on the territory of Turkmenistan.
Two fiber-optic systems are operating in the country: the circular Ashgabat-Mary-Turkmenabat-Dashoguz-Ashgabat system and the radial Garabogaz-Turkmenbashi-Ashgabat-Mary-Turkmenabat-Atamyrat-Ymamnazar system, which are connected with networks of the neighboring countries.