International data traffic between Europe and Asia could reach 611 terabits per second by 2030, with approximately 30% potentially passing through the Middle Corridor. Andrey Beklemishev, IDC’s Vice President for the CIS region, presented the forecast at a meeting of telecommunications operators in Almaty, Kazakhstan, DKNews.kz reports.
Huawei and Carrier Community organized the Central Asia Transit Roundtable as part of CIS GCCM 2026. Operators and industry experts from China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia discussed the infrastructure needed to handle rising traffic and attract international customers to routes through Central Asia.
Higher traffic demands capacity and alternative routes
IDC’s forecast for 2030 is more than 450 Tbps above the 2025 level. Artificial intelligence, cloud services and data centers are increasing demand for cross-border connectivity.
For Central Asian operators, that could mean additional business supplying international transmission capacity. Serving those customers, however, requires sufficient bandwidth, low latency and alternative routes to maintain connectivity when disruptions occur.
Beklemishev argued that the region’s competitiveness also depends on coordination between operators. He proposed common interfaces and standardized service-level agreements, or SLAs, for international customers.
SLAs define a provider’s commitments on service quality and availability. Consistent terms would make it easier for customers to compare offers and understand the service they are buying.
Wang Qi, Huawei’s Vice President for Central Asia, also linked the region’s transit prospects to infrastructure quality. In his assessment, Central Asia could develop a digital corridor combining low latency, high reliability and intelligent network management.
CaspiLink targets a fourth-quarter commercial launch
Nurlan Meirmanov, Chief Information Officer of Kazakhtelecom, presented CaspiLink, the subsea cable project crossing the Caspian Sea. The cable is approximately 380 kilometers long, with a stated capacity of at least 400 Tbps.
Commercial launch is planned for the fourth quarter of 2026. The connection is intended to add another route between Europe and Asia, reducing reliance on individual transit paths.
Route diversity matters because operators can redirect traffic when a connection fails. For Kazakhstan, the project could also expand its role in carrying international data traffic.
The country is developing domestic fiber-optic infrastructure and computing capacity for AI alongside its international connections. Those investments also serve local customers using cloud platforms, data centers and AI applications.
TNS Global is developing routes toward the Middle East
Anton Rukavishnikov, Chief Technology Officer of TNS Global, identified bandwidth, resilience and alternative routes as essential requirements as AI and cloud services expand.
According to the figures he presented, TNS Global has more than 14,500 kilometers of fiber-optic network and over 30 cross-border connections across five countries. The company continues to develop its East–West network and new routes toward the Middle East.
China Unicom Global also expressed interest in expanding regional cooperation. Ai Jinwang, Deputy General Manager for the company’s Eurasia region, outlined plans to strengthen cooperation with Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and other regional markets.
The company uses its global network infrastructure to provide high-speed connections between Asia and Europe. Developing additional routes forms part of that work.
Huawei sets out latency targets for an all-optical network
Gavin Gu, President of Huawei’s Optical Transport Network product line, presented a next-generation all-optical network concept for Central Asia. The proposed architecture sets the following latency targets:
- Up to 25 milliseconds for data transmission between Europe and Asia through Central Asia;
- Up to 15 milliseconds between national data centers;
- Up to 1 millisecond for access to regional data centers.
These are targets for the proposed architecture. For cloud applications and distributed computing, latency determines how quickly data moves between users and computing facilities.
Huawei’s proposed technology foundation is AI-OTN, combining two approaches: OTN for AI, optical transport networks designed to support AI workloads, and AI for OTN, using AI to manage those networks.
The architecture is intended to deliver high capacity, low latency, reliable and secure connections, and more automated network management.
Participants expect cloud services, data centers and AI computing to generate more traffic within Central Asia. International transit between Europe, Asia and the Middle East would add demand for backbone capacity, with overland connections along the Silk Road complementing subsea cables and the Northern Route.
For international customers, the choice of route will depend on measurable service conditions: available capacity, latency, backup connections and operators’ commitments to maintaining service quality.
Our earlier report examines the completion of the Caspian cable’s marine installation and the project’s next stages.
