Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 19 /Trend, H.Veliyev/
Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of Azerbaijan expects to form a large political alliance to implement East-West information superhighway project, the head of department for international relations and work with non-governmental institutions of the Azerbaijani Communications Ministry Ayaz Bayramov told reporters.
According to Bayramov, negotiations are currently underway in this regard with interested parties.
"Memorandum on the establishment of the consortium on the project could be signed within the Bakutel - 2011 Azerbaijan International Telecommunications Exhibition (Nov. 23-26). I think that if this year a consortium is formed, then next year work could begin on forming an alliance," he said.
Countries such as Russia (through operator "Rostelecom"), Kazakhstan (operator "Kazakhtelecom"), Turkey (operator TurkTelecom) and China (operator ChinaTelecom), as well as Azerbaijani operators, have already been attracted to the project.
Azerbaijan's resolution to create the "East-West" information superhighway, adopted within the UN 66th plenary meeting will also eliminate all unsolved organizational issues on laying Caspian segment of fibre optic cable main.
The organization expressed support for the project, which aims to reduce poverty and increase economic growth. The project will serve as an engine for regional development.
The project "East-West" is designed to connect 20 countries in total. Its implementation will eliminate the "informational gulf" between Western Europe and the Pacific Basin.