The European Union (EU) has expressed its intention to assist Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, in diversifying their internet sources. This announcement was made by Johannes Baur, the head of the cooperation department of the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan, KazInform reports.
Baur highlighted that the current internet traffic in Kazakhstan predominantly comes from China and the Russian Federation. To address this, Kazakhstan has been invited to leverage European satellite communications developed by SES. Notably, SES satellites operate in the medium orbit of the planet, in contrast to the low orbit of the American Starlink satellite system.
The EU aims to extend this initiative to other countries in the Central Asian region, with a particular focus on Uzbekistan. Johannes Baur outlined plans to present the project at the Central Asia-European Union summit scheduled for 2024. The EU has committed an initial allocation of €20mn for the project, earmarked for the entire Central Asian region.
"We want to present this project at the Central Asia-European Union summit, which will take place in 2024. First of all, the European Union will allocate €20mn. But this is the amount allocated to the whole of Central Asia. I think most of these funds will be sent to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan," stated Baur.
While specific details of the project remain undisclosed, it is anticipated that the European Investment Bank will play a pivotal role by providing substantial loans to the Central Asian countries involved.
This initiative follows the recent news that specialists from China are set to install 7,600 base stations with the GSM/UMS/LTD/5G standard in Tajikistan, marking a broader trend of international collaborations aimed at advancing digital infrastructure in the region.
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