Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend S.Babayeva / Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Azerbaijan, Ali Abbasov, said 18 May at the press-conference that the possibility of constructing the Caspian Underwater Segment of the Optical Cable Main - "Trans-Asia-Europe" (TAE) is planned to be discussed in Baku in June. According to Abbasov, the heads of the communication administrations of Turkey, Kazakhstan and Georgia have been invited to Baku. A consortium is planned to be created for the realization of the project. The cost of the cable constructed via the sea bed is approximately $7 - $10mln. The length of the TAE section between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan is 380 km. At the present time the route runs via Turkmenistan and Iran beyond the territory of Azerbaijan. To date, construction work of all segments of the fiber-optic cable TAE from Shanghai to Frankfurt except the Caspian underwater sections have been completed, that is why the information exchange via TAE Cable is possible only via the territories of Russia and Iran. If the project starts, Azerbaijan will become the key transit country in the region. The project will allow middle Asian countries to directly link with Turkey. At the same time Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia and other countries will have the possibility to establish a better connection to China.
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