EXA Taps SOCAR Fiber to Cross Türkiye | Telecom Ramblings

EXA Infrastructure has been working hard to develop new paths to and through markets in the Middle East, and yesterday they unveiled plans for a brand new alternative. They are teaming up with SOCAR Fiber to develop a new terrestrial route across Türkiye to Georgia.

The plan leverages SOCAR Fiber’s infrastructure along the TANAP gas pipeline. SOCAR Fiber’s infrastructure stretches 1,850km across the width of Turkey, touching 20 provinces and 67 districts along the way. It’s a move reminiscent of the Trans Adriatic Express project in which they crossed Greece from Italy to Istanbul last year.

Put the two together and you have the makings of a new alternative path around the fiber choke point that is the Red Sea. All you need is the next leg either to the east through Turkmenistan or to the south through Iraq to the Persian Gulf. It is the latter path mentioned in the announcement that they seem to be looking at. No doubt an additional partner would be involved for that leg.

But perhaps just as important is the part of the agreement in which EXA gains the ability to market connectivity to other cable ends within Turkey, a market in which few European networks ever pass Istanbul in any force.

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Categories: Fiber Networks · Internet Backbones