Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 18 / Trend H.Valiyev /
The next meeting of the Transnational Eurasian Information Super Highway (TASIM) construction project will be held in the first quarter of 2013 in Baku, the head of the working group on the project, Ilyas Naibov-Aylisli told Trend on Friday.
According to him, among the main issues to be addressed in the upcoming meeting is creation of the consortium for the project and laying the Caspian segment of cable line.
Preparation of the Memorandum of Understanding on the project, which is quite an inherently complex document, also remains an open question.
The working group on the project includes representatives from Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey and China. Fundamental interest to the TASIM project is expressed by Ukraine and Georgia.
Start of operations within TASIM is expected by mid-year. The main issue facing today's agenda is the implementation of works on construction of optic cable line on the bottom of the Caspian Sea with involvement of Azerbaijani and Kazakh sides.
Kazakhstan is represented in the TASIM project by KazTransCom.
As executive director on infrastructure projects of of KazTransCom Alexander Kislitsin told Trend earlier, the construction of the Caspian segment of fiber-optic cable line of TASIM may be fully funded by Azerbaijan. According to him, Azerbaijan, as a party interested in the early realization of the project, expressed its readiness to find and attract investment capital for the project. At the same time, he noted, the operators of the project plan to rely on their own resources on construction of the remaining sections of the line.
Kislitsin added that unresolved legal status of the Caspian Sea should not prevent the implementation of the project.
According to him, the five-party agreements on the Caspian Sea mainly refer to the resources, and cable routing doesn't affect resources. In addition, the cable will be laid in the center of Azerbaijani-Kazakh borders and will be far from any disputed areas. He also added that the border between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan is clearly defined by the resolution of 2003.
Overall, the project considers laying of two cable lines, one of which will pass through the territory of Ukraine, and the second, through the territory of Turkey. Both highways will be independent and interchangeable. The operators of these countries will act as a link with major European operators.
As for TASIM's throughput, as stated earlier by Naibov-Aylisli, it will be calculated in terabytes. Information Superhighway TASIM, initiated by Azerbaijan, will match the class of networks Tier 1 or Tier 2 for its characteristics.
The first resolution initiated by Azerbaijan on construction of TASIM superhighway was adopted within the 66th plenary session of the UN. The organization expressed support for the project, which aims to reduce poverty and accelerate economic growth and will act, in general, as an engine for regional development.
Another resolution on the TASIM project "Increase of access to the Internet by creating a trans-European high-speed information highway" was unanimously adopted by UN General Assembly on December 21, 2012.
The resolution, proposed by Azerbaijan to support the project provides for the elimination of "digital divide" in the Eurasian region and strengthening the partnership between the private and public sectors.
The resolution considers Azerbaijan's proposal to establish a Eurasian alliance of telecommunications to improve the relations of the state, the private sector and civil society with international development institutions, whose main objective is to contribute to the development of means of transit industry in the region.
TASIM project aims to connect a total of 20 countries. Its implementation will eliminate the "information gap" between the countries of Western Europe and the Pacific basin.
