Uzbekistan Opens AI Data Centers and Signs Amazon Satellite Internet Deal
Uzbekistan’s state telecoms operator Uztelecom is expanding the country’s digital infrastructure with two new data centers, a satellite internet deal with Amazon, and a high-speed network designed to move large amounts of data between computing facilities. The projects were presented on September 22, the first day of ICTWEEK Uzbekistan 2026, the country’s largest technology week, which runs in Tashkent through September 25. [video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://timesca.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/document_5303308046666082166.mp4"][/video] The new data centers have opened in Bukhara and Kokand. They operate as part of the UzCloud platform and provide computing capacity to both government agencies and businesses. The facilities have servers with graphics processing units (GPUs) for training and running artificial intelligence models, machine learning, processing large datasets, and video analytics. Bukhara and Kokand are both more than 300 kilometers from Tashkent. Distributing computing capacity across different regions makes it possible to shift workloads to another site in the event of a failure. The designs of both data centers have received Tier III certification from the Uptime Institute. This confirms that the designs allow maintenance without interrupting operations. “We are expanding access to computing resources and artificial intelligence capabilities for the government and businesses,” Umar Izbasarov, Director of Uztelecom’s Department for Advanced Development and Investment Projects, said at ICTWEEK. Uztelecom has also signed an agreement with Amazon Leo, Amazon’s satellite internet network. UZ-SAT, a subsidiary of the Uzbek operator, will act as an authorized distributor of its services in Uzbekistan. Amazon Leo is a low-Earth-orbit satellite network being built out to include more than 3,000 satellites and designed to provide connectivity in areas where terrestrial networks are difficult or expensive to build. According to Uztelecom, its infrastructure currently covers 96% of Uzbekistan’s settlements, while its fiber-optic network extends for more than 378,000 kilometers. The satellite network is expected to complement it in remote areas and at industrial sites. “The partnership with Amazon Leo will allow us to expand connectivity in areas of the country where the use of traditional terrestrial infrastructure is limited,” UZ-SAT CEO Bakhrom Azimov said. Amazon’s satellite network would add another connectivity option for remote areas alongside fiber-optic and mobile networks. The announcement does not specify when services will become widely available to customers in Uzbekistan. The third project concerns how data is transferred between data centers. Uztelecom, together with Japan’s Toyota Tsusho, NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS, and NEC, is launching a pilot All-Photonics Network, or APN. The technology keeps data traveling as light for more of its journey, rather than repeatedly converting it into electrical signals. This can make connections faster and more energy-efficient. In the first phase, APN is expected to connect two Uztelecom data centers in the Tashkent region. The planned link is designed to provide bandwidth of up to 800 Gbps and latency of less than one millisecond. In 2027-2028, the network is expected to expand to the data centers in Bukhara and Kokand. “The growing needs of Uzbekistan’s economy require new data centers and network technologies capable of connecting them into a single high-performance system,” Izbasarov...
