Russia-Iran-Azerbaijan venture to improve Caspian connectivity

Privately owned Iranian company Iran Mobin has formed a 50/50 equity joint venture with C-Ring Telecom, itself a venture of Russian long-distance operator Synterra and Azerbaijan’s AzTelekom, according to Synterra’s website. The project aims to collaborate on the planned rollout of a new fibre-optic ring around the Caspian Sea to handle Europe-Asia voice and data transmission and improve internet service delivery in the Caspian region. Iran Mobin will connect to the C-Ring network via the backbone of state-owned Telecommunication Infrastructure Company (TIC), Iran’s only provider of backbone infrastructure. Russian and Iranian state and company officials signed joint venture documents at a trade and economic cooperation summit in Tehran, whilst TIC also signed an agreement with another Russian carrier, Rostelecom, to share international transmission links.