Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have launched a fiber-optic communications link across the Caspian seabed. The approximately 380-kilometer cable connects Aktau and Sumgait, with Presidents Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Ilham Aliyev announcing the launch in Baku on October 15.
Until now, a significant share of Kazakhstan’s international internet traffic has passed through Russian networks. The new route gives operators the option of directing data through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey. This is particularly important during outages or congestion on existing connections.
The cable, manufactured and tested in China, has a design capacity of at least 400 terabits per second and was laid by Kazakhstan’s Kazakhtelecom and Azerbaijan’s AzerTelecom. The project had been under discussion since 2019; in 2024, planned investment was estimated at more than $50.6 million.
Marine surveys began in August 2025. The underwater cable was laid the following August, and the line was launched in October 2026, 14 months after the surveys began.
Kazakhstan also hopes to use the new connection to attract technology companies. Bagdat Mussin, chairman of Kazakhtelecom’s management board, said the cable could support Kazakhstan’s Data Center Valley, a complex under development in Ekibastuz for cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
However, better international connectivity addresses only part of that challenge. As The Times of Central Asia previously reported, Kazakhstan must also secure affordable electricity and attract international customers if its data center ambitions are to succeed.
For now, the practical impact of the new connection remains uncertain. Operators have yet to disclose how much traffic it will carry or what share of traffic currently routed through Russian networks could be redirected.
