Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 30
By Huseyn Veliyev – Trend:
Russia proposed an alternative route of the Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway (TASIM) through the city of Makhachkala, bypassing the Caspian sea.
The alternative route proposed by Russia will solve the issue related to laying the Caspian segment of the highway, Deputy Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation Rashid Ismailov told Trend Nov. 30.
“As is known, cable layers operate in open seas,” he noted. “Attracting them to lay cable on the bottom of the Caspian Sea was one of the problems within the implementation of TASIM, therefore a route through Daghestan, which would also make it possible to cover the south of Russia, could become a solution to this problem.”
“Russia is a transit country,” Ismailov added. “We support the project and Rostelecom [one of the largest national telecommunications operators in Russia and Europe] will be involved in it in accordance with the plan we have. There are also financing issues concerning the project. The main player in the project is Azerbaijan, and this country should offer a final solution that satisfies all the sides.”
The construction of the Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway (TASIM) envisages the creation of a major transit link from Frankfurt to Hong Kong, which will bring together the largest information exchange centers of Europe and Asia.
TASIM project has been supported by the UN and as a whole it is of particular importance for the development of the region.
Russia (Rostelecom), Kazakhstan (KazTransCom), Turkey (TurkTelecom) and China (China Telecom) are also involved in TASIM project.
Azerbaijan is represented in the project by AzInTelecom Ltd of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Communications and High Technologies.
TASIM project is intended to bring together a total of 20 countries. Its implementation will eliminate the "information gap" among the countries of Western Europe and the Pacific Basin.