Turkmenistan plans to build two new fiber-optic data transmission lines to Iran and Kazakhstan. This was announced by the Director General of the Agency of Transport and Communications under the Government of Turkmenistan, Mammethan Chakyev, in an article for the newspaper “Neutral Turkmenistan”. The first line will run between the village of Garabogaz in the Balkan velayat of Turkmenistan and the village of Teymir Baba in Kazakhstan. The second line will run between the village of Etrek in the Balkan velayat of Turkmenistan and the settlement of Kummet Kovus in Iran. The construction of new communication lines will improve the quality and reliability of Internet connections in Turkmenistan, as well as expand opportunities for international cooperation in the field of telecommunications. According to Chakyev, Turkmenistan is currently connected to eight international fiber-optic backbone communication systems: Ashgabat - Guchan (Iran), Serhetabat - Herat (Afghanistan), Kerki - Akina (Afghanistan), Turkmenabat - Alat (Uzbekistan), Garabogaz - Kenderli (Kazakhstan) and Dashoguz - Gurlen (Uzbekistan). Mammethan Chakyev also reminded that an agreement was signed between the governments of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan on the joint construction, ownership and use of the entire Caspian fiber-optic communication system along the Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan route through telecom operators of the two countries. “The implementation of this project will connect the cities of Turkmenbashy and Siyazan and strengthen cooperation in the field of diversification and improvement of transit telecommunication routes between Asia and Europe”, - said the Turkmen official. According to the Director General of the Agency of Transport and Communications, over the years of independence, large-scale work has been carried out in Turkmenistan to develop telecommunications. Since 2007, the volume of the mobile communication system has increased 13 times, and the number of transmitting and receiving devices has increased 83 times. The volume of the wired network increased by 3,3 times, and the number of clients using the Internet service increased by 936 times. “As a result of the increase in Internet flows coming from outside, prices for Internet services are gradually decreasing, and favorable rates are being offered. Today, the number of Internet users in our country has exceeded 3 million people”, - writes Mammethan Chakyev in his article.