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Tajikistan has opened a direct internet route to China through the high-altitude Pamir Mountains. The new fiber-optic link, with an initial capacity of up to 1 terabit per second (Tbps), gives the country another connection to international communications networks and reduces its dependence on transit through neighboring countries.
The connection, built by state-owned Tajiktelecom and China Mobile International, was officially launched on October 17. The route runs from Dushanbe through Khorog, Kulma, and Karasu to Beijing. The Tajik section stretches 1,010 kilometers, including 435 kilometers through the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. At Kulma Pass, more than 4,300 meters above sea level, the cable connects to China’s network.
In July 2026, Isfandiyor Sadullo, head of Tajikistan’s Communications Service, said the international internet bandwidth available to the country had reached 500 gigabits per second (Gbps), double the level of the previous year. Plans call for increasing the new link’s capacity tenfold.
The connection always gives Tajiktelecom access to HKIX, a Hong Kong hub where international providers exchange internet traffic. This could give users and businesses in Tajikistan more direct access to overseas websites and services.
Tajikistan also hopes the new connection will attract investment in data centers and cloud services, drawing on the country’s hydropower resources.
The launch comes just two days after Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan inaugurated a fiber-optic cable across the Caspian seabed. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, the approximately 380-kilometer link connects Aktau and Sumgait, providing an alternative route between Central Asia and the South Caucasus that bypasses Russian networks.
Dmitry Pokidaev