Fiber-optic line between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan launched along the Caspian seabed

The launch took place with the participation of Presidents Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Ilham Aliyev. The cable has 64 optical fibers, and its design capacity exceeds 400 Tbps, reports the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The essence in brief

• The Trans-Caspian fiber-optic line connects Kazakhstan's networks, which have access to China, with Azerbaijan's infrastructure, and further with the networks of the Caucasus and Europe.
• The cable has 64 optical fibers, and its design capacity is over 400 Tbps.
• Signal latency on the Aktau–Istanbul route will be 34 milliseconds.
• Transit traffic through Kazakhstan could more than double and reach 21.6 Tbps in the coming years.

How the traffic will flow

The line connects Kazakhstan's terrestrial networks, which have access to China, with Azerbaijani infrastructure and further with the networks of the Caucasus and Europe. This creates a new route for international traffic and a backup for existing channels. For operators, this means data flows can be distributed more flexibly and with less dependence on individual directions. For the region, the project opens an additional path for data transmission between the markets of Asia and Europe.

Line parameters

Tbps, or terabits per second, is a unit of data transmission speed. The ministry calls the 400 Tbps capacity a foundation for traffic growth and for services that require high speed and reliability. According to the technical parameters presented, latency on the Aktau–Istanbul route will be 34 milliseconds. Thanks to the new direction, transit traffic volume is forecast to more than double, to 21.6 Tbps.

How it was built

Less than two years passed from the start of active work in 2025 to the launch. The project required marine surveys, route coordination taking into account shipping, military and oil and gas activities, and complex cable laying along the bottom of the Caspian Sea. The ministry calls the launch the result of joint work by the two countries with the support of the heads of state.

What this gives data centers

The ministry links the new route to opportunities for data centers, cloud platforms and computing capacity for artificial intelligence. For international technology companies, high-capacity communication channels and low latency are important — this is a condition for choosing sites and serving foreign clients. Kazakhstan, by design, can grow not only data transit but also its own services for data storage and processing.

What this means for Kazakhstan

The marine stage of cable laying was completed in August: the cable along the Aktau–Sumgait route reached the coast of Kazakhstan. The project is being implemented by Kazakhtelecom and AzerTelecom International through the joint venture CaspiLink B.V., entirely at the operators' expense and without budget funds. Another cable is also being discussed along the bottom of the Caspian Sea — for transmitting electricity from Central Asia to Europe. It is still on paper: there is no feasibility study, it is to be completed by May 2027, and the memorandum with Siemens Energy contains no specific obligations.

Author's conclusion

The line gives Kazakhstan an additional outlet to European networks and a backup for existing channels. The expected result is transit growth to 21.6 Tbps and interest in the country from data centers and technology companies. How well these expectations are met will become clear from traffic growth and from whether technology companies come to Kazakhstani sites.