Levan Buchukuri,
Head of the MAGTICOM Customer
Care and Marketing Department
The Conference Asia-Pacific Countries: Dialogue, Peace, Co-operation held in September 1990 in Vladivostok laid the foundation for the revival of the New Silk Road. At that conference Eduard Shevardnadze first proposed the idea of creating a ten-year program for bringing the European and Asian continents closer together. Within its framework was the revival of the historical Silk Road which was viewed in the context of new thinking. This idea, first proposed in Vladivostok, was picked up again in May 1993 in Brussels at the conference of the EU member countries and the newly independent Central Asian and South Caucasus states. It was here that the foundation was laid for TRACECA program (Transport Corridor - Europe-Caucasus-Asia) which is being successfully carried out by the EU TACIS (Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States) program. It was decided that the TRACECA program would be sponsored by the European Union. The World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development would be the main investors.
After the Vladivostok meeting, considerable preparatory work was done to re-animate the Great Silk Road (which historically served as a link between countries) as a modern and economically viable transport and communications corridor. This is particularly apt “now that electronic, transport, planetary, and space communications, and other achievements of modern civilisation have effectively created a single space which encompasses even the most isolated areas of the world.”
The summit convened in Baku September 7-8, 1998 on the invitation of the Georgian and Azeri Presidents, and with the support of the EU TACIS-TRACECA program became a hallmark in the development of TRACECA. This conference entitled the Revival of the Historical Silk Road brought together delegates from 32 different countries and 13 international organisations.
The main achievement was the signing by twelve heads of state of the Baku Agreement on the Development of the Europe-Caucasus-Central Asia Transport Corridor, one of the most important documents to TRACECA’s development.
Out of the twenty-eight projects of technical assistance, and twelve rehabilitation projects within the frames of TRACECA, several are aimed at the development and rehabilitation of the telecommunications systems in the region.
In the 1990s, the installation of a fiber optic cable along railroad routes had become common in Europe. This was necessitated by the need for timely transmission of information about shipments, as well as safety requirements. The necessity of transporting oil and petroleum products between the Caspian and Black Seas, along with other developments in the Caucasus have greatly increased the use of railroads. Security consideration has rendered it necessary to equip the railways with appropriate telecommunications and signalling systems.
For these reasons, the Presidents of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia
requested the European Union to finance within the framework of TACIS-TRACECA
Program the installation of fiber optic cable along the route. The modern
signalling systems equipped with fiber optic cable will connect 133 stations.
Approximately 15 million Euros were allocated for the project. The size
of this allocation indicates the level of importance attached to the communications
aspect of the route. The funds will be used for the purchase and installation
of equipment, and additional financing is envisaged for system testing,
and the training of personnel.
Initially, only the rail services will use the cable. Experts estimate
hat the railways will only require 20% of the capacity. In the future,
the remaining 80% can be utilised in other telecommunications application,
such as fixed telephone use and transmission of various data. In addition
to this, links will be established with regions which today are virtually
isolated from industrial centres. Another important aspect of the use of
the fiber optic cable is that it will eliminate the existence of telecommunications
monopolies observed in some of the Caucasus countries. This is the reason
why the EU has issued the requirement that the countries participating
in the project use the cable for general communications purposes at the
next stage.
| “When you want to save your country and your
people, and you know that this depends on those who sit around the same
table, you have to be a master at convincing others and obtaining their
trust for a certain period of time. Central to achieving this is being
frank and fair with them. Whether they share your views or not, you must
convince them of your honesty and frankness, and make them follow you.”
Eduard Shevardnadze Sakartvelos Respublika
|
* Installation of a 24-fiber cable, 12 fibers of which will be reserved for the transmission of railway data, and the remaining 12 for other future communications applications;
* Digital transmission of data between stations will be carried out with SDH (Sychronos Digital Hierarchy) technology, at 155 Mbps.The transmission speed between secondary stations may be 2Mbps;
* Replacing the existing telephone stations with modern digital stations;
* Modernising approximately 70% of telephone units and fax machines;
* Modernising secondary power supply sources of the telecommunications devices.
The second project, also deals with information systems and was discussed on April 8-9, 1997 at the TRACECA and BSEC (Black Sea Economic Co-operation) conference within the framework of the Pan-European Transport Corridor that will connect the Ukrainian port of Illychevsk and Poti Port. The budget for the project is approximately 1.5 Euros and is targeted at the installation of state of the art communications equipment in both ports.
At the Sofia meeting in 1998, the first steps were identified toward implementing the Black Sea Submarine Fiber Optical Cable System project, which will connect Odessa, Varna and Novorossysk Ports by a fiber optic cable utilising the SDH technology.
The project is due to be completed in the second half of the year 2000. The 1,300 kilometer-long submerged cable will allow the transmission of data at 2.5 Gbps (at a later stage, this speed will increase to 10 Gbps). The cable will also allow the simultaneous operation of 30,000 digital telephone channels, and the transmission of data at 64 Kbps. Later, internationally known consortiums such as Alcatel and AT&T are expected to become involved in the implementation of the BSFOCS project. The initial cost of the project is estimated at USD 55 million. In 1999, Tyco Submarine System Ltd became a participant in the project, whose state of the art WDM technology will be used for the implementation of BSFOCS. The Project has great significance for Georgia since it is intended to expand it toward Georgia. This will help create a modern, cohesive information space and allow the participating countries to send information to Central and East Asian countries via Georgia.
“The role of telecommunications grows day by day, and is becoming an indispensable pillar supporting regional economies. We are delighted to provide fiber optic cable for the BSFOCS project, after which this route will become part of the global communications network,” stated the European Director for Tyco Submarine Systems, Ltd.
The interest among BSEC countries in the development of regional telecommunications systems is rapidly growing. One example of this is the bulletin issued by the Turkish Foreign Ministry dealing with Turkish co-operation with other BSEC member states, and stating that “to establish and develop a single telephone communications and data transmission system is necessary.”
Many other countries are interested in participating in TRACECA projects. Since the meeting in Brussels, the Japanese Government, who has developed its own special program for the revival of the Silk Road, has become involved in the program through Asian banks.
Many commercial banks are also involved. Societe Generale, one of the ten largest banks in the world, is interested in several TRACECA projects in the energy sector, mass media and telecommunications. Although the main aim of the New Silk Road is the creation of the trans Asia-Europe corridor, development of the telecommunications infrastructure of the countries along this new transport corridor is one of the main guarantors of its success.