Consortium to be set up to lay Caspian segment of TAE optic line

The TAE project envisions a 16,800-mile telecommunications line through 20 countries, from Frankfurt am Main in Germany to Shanghai in China. The TAE fiber optic line is designed to transmit voice, data, fax and video information.

Ali Abbasov said the construction of the section could start by the end of 2007.

"After that, the cost of traffic exchanged between the East and West will fall, and its volume will increase," the minister said.

The cost of the project to lay the cable on the sea bottom varies between $7-10 million. The route between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan will be about 240 miles long.

By now, construction work on all segments of the TAE fiber optic line, overall investment in which totals more than $500 million, has been completed except for the Caspian underwater section, so data transmission is carried out through Iran and Russia. RIA Novosti