Abstract
Sino-Russian combined engagement and their individual involvements in the telecommunication sector had a limited effect on promoting regional cooperation in Central Asia. However, the focused nature of Chinese engagement developed more potential for regional cooperation compared to situational activities emanating from Russia. The limited effects on regionalization can be attributed to the nature of the telecommunication sector and the differences in the levels of political leverage held by Russia and China in Central Asian countries.
Telecommunication systems can enhance regional connectivity, but, compared to other networked industries, the sector possesses several attributes, which allocate to it additional roles in the regionalization process. First, telecommunication systems provide connectivity between people and organizations. However, in Central Asia, the states outside of the integration structures may be limited in communication with their geographic neighbors. Second, the communication networks are relatively cheaper to build compared to transportation and energy networks. In contrast to transportation and energy sectors which are mainly influenced by Chinese state, the mobile communication sector has been dominated by Russian private companies. However, lower costs also allow Central Asian states to maintain more control of the development of telecommunication systems and enable them to keep major powers in check. The third attribute of telecommunication networks is their ability to serve as the channel for spreading ‘soft power’. The actors, who control the means of communication and media, have the capacity to influence the type of information spread through these channels. This attribute is addressed in the separate, final, chapter of the book.
The first section of this chapter addresses the broad effects of major powers’ engagement on regional connectivity. The second section assesses how the relatively lower costs of the telecommunication sector attract smaller state actors and non-state actors and evaluates the roles of the two major powers in that context.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
“Chto izvestno o kompanii Huawei, kotoraya realizuyet proekt umniy gorod” [“What is Known About the Company Huawei, Which will Realize the Project “Smart City”], Kaktus Media, Januray 14, 2018, https://kaktus.media/doc/368666_chto_izvestno_o_kompanii_huawei_kotoraia_realizyet_proekt_ymnyy_gorod.html.
“First Fiber Optic Cable from China to Kyrgyzstan Built”, Aki Press, October 19, 2009, http://akipress.com/news:103811/.
“Forging a Shared Vision for Digital Transformation in Central and South Asia”, World Bank, February 17, 2016, http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2016/02/17/forging-a-shared-vision-for-digital-transformation-in-central-and-south-asia.
“In Tajikistan the Largest Power Transmitting Line, Connecting South and North” has been Launched”, RBK News, November 30, 2009, http://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/20091130121731.shtml.
“Integration processes in CIS Telecommunications Sector”, Eurasian Development Bank, Sector Report no 9, Almaty, 2010, 19.
“Internet-magistrali sever-yug ili nezamechennaya revolyutsiya” [“Internet-lines North-south, or, Unnoticed Revolution”], Kyrgyz Telegraph Agency, December 22, 2014, http://kyrtag.kg/standpoint/internet-magistrali-sever-i-yug-ili-nezamechennaya-revolyutsiya-.
“Kitay otkazalsya ot optovolokonnoy linii Tajikistan—Kitay” [“China Refused from Fiber Optic Line Tajikistan-China”], Profit.kz, March 5, 2013, http://profit.kz/news/9508/Kitaj-otkazalsya-ot-optovolokonnoj-linii-Tadzhikistan-Kitaj/.
“Kyrgyzstan ne poluchayet Internet cherez TAE,—rukovodstvo OAO ‘Kyrgyztelecom” [“Kyrgyzstan Does Not Receive Internet Through TAE (Trans Asia-Europe line)—Management of OAO ‘Kyrgyztelecom’”], Grazhdanskaya Initsiativa Internet Politici [Civil Initiative of Internet Politics], June 27, 2011, http://www.gipi.kg/kyrgyzstan-ne-poluchaet-internet-cherez-tae-trans-aziatsko-evropejskaya-magistral-rukovodstvo-oao-kyrgyztelekom/.
“MTS vozobnovlyayet rabotu v Turkmenistane!” [“MTS Resumes Operation in Turkmenistan”], MTS Website, August 30, 2012, http://www.mts.ru/news/2012-08-30-1764038/.
“Na imishestvo Huawei v Bishkeke nalozhen arest” [“Huawei Assets in Bishkek have been Arrested”], Sputnik News, November 15, 2015, http://ru.sputnik.kg/incidents/20151127/1020455913.html.
“Pakistan and Tajikistan Agree to Build Fiber Optic Network”, Fiber Optic Social Network, May 20, 2016, http://www.fomsn.com/fiber-optic-news/fiber/pakistan-and-tajikistan-agree-to-build-fiber-optic-network/.
“Press: Russia’s Megafon to Start Operation in Kyrgyzstan in Feb”, PrePaidGSM.net Forum, January 23, 2006, http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/showthread.php?t=780.
“SCO and Development of Energy Sector in Tajikistan,” Patriottj News, May 30, 2014, http://www.patriotj.com/publ/novosti_sng/novosti_sng/shos_i_razvitie_ehnergetiki_tadzhikistana/7-1-0-17505.
“Turkmenistan: Russia Suspends Gas Supplies”, Eurasianet, January 4, 2016, https://eurasianet.org/turkmenistan-russia-suspends-gas-supplies.
“Uzbekistan: Avariya na volokonno-opticheskoy linii lishila stranu Interneta na 4 chasa” [Accident on the Fiber-Optic Line Left the Country Without Internet for 4 Hours”] Fergana News, June 03, 2009, http://www.fergananews.com/news.php?id=12345.
“V Alma-Ate obsudyat problemy trans-aziatsko-yevropeiskoy VOLS” [“The Problems of Trans-Asia-Europe Fiber Optic Cable System Will Be Discussed in Almaty”], ComNews, March 30, 2005, http://www.comnews.ru/node/45822.
Barry, Andrew, “Technological Zones”, European Journal of Social Theory, 9, 2, 2006, 239–253.
Bhutta, Zafar, “Pak-China Fibre Optic Cable to Start Functioning by Year-end”, The Express Tribune, September 16, 2018, https://tribune.com.pk/story/1804386/2-pak-china-fibre-optic-cable-start-functioning-year-end.
Chorshabiyev, Payrav, “Optical-fiber Communication Line Will Link Tajikistan and China”, Asia Plus Media Group/Tajikistan, December 4, 2008, http://news.tj/en/news/optical-fiber-communication-line-will-link-tajikistan-and-china.
Cooley, Alexander, “China’s Changing Role in Central Asia and Implications for US Policy: From Trading Partner to Collective Goods Provider”, Prepared Remarks for “Looking West: China and Central Asia”, U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, March 18, 2015, https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Cooley%20Testimony_3.18.15.pdf.
Data of Press Freedom Ranking 2018, Reporters Without Borders (n.d.), https://rsf.org/en/ranking_table?sort=desc&order=Ranking, accessed May 7, 2018.
Kudryavtseva, Tatyana, “Iz-za stroitel’stva volokonno-opticheskoy linii svyazi ‘Osh-Irkeshtam’ gosudarstvu nanesen uzherb v 188 millionov somov” [“The State has Incurred 188 Million Som Worth of Damages from the Construction of FOCL ‘Osh-Irkeshtam’”], Information Agency 24kg, June 30, 2015, http://24kg.org/kriminal/15337_iz-za_stroitelstva_volokonno-opticheskoy_liniy_svyazi_osh_-_irkeshtam_gosudarstvu_nanesen_uscherb_v_118_millionov_somov_obnovleno/.
Kulikovskiy, Aleksey, “Krupnaya telecommunicatsionnaya companiya Kirgizii mozhet byt’ privatizirovana Kitayem” [“Large Kyrgyz Telecommunication Company may be Privatized by China”], News-Asia, March 28, 2013, http://www.news-asia.ru/view/ks/4491.
Libman, Alexander, “Regionalisation and Regionalism in the Post-Soviet Space: Current Status and Implications for Institutional Development”, Europe-Asia Studies, 59, 3, (May 2007), 401–430, 408.
Malecki, Edward J., Hu, Wei, “A Wired World: The Evolving Geography of Submarine Cables and the Shift to Asia”, Annals of the Association of American Geographer, 99, 2 (2009), 360–382.
Pashayev, Fikret, “Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway (TASIM) Project, and Eurasian Connectivity Alliance (EURACA) Initiative,” Round Table on Telecommunications Connectivity in Central Asia, Almaty, Kazakhstan, June 3, 2014, http://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/Mr%20Fikret%20pashayev.pdf.
Putz, Catherine, “Kyrgyzstan Declared Energy Independence,” The Diplomat, September 01, 2015, http://thediplomat.com/2015/09/kyrgyzstan-declares-energy-independence/.
Rolland, Nadege, “A Fiber-optic Silk Road,” The Diplomat, April 02, 2015, http://thediplomat.com/2015/04/a-fiber-optic-silk-road/.
Ruddy, Michael, “Expanding Regional Connectivity in Asia and the Pacific,” Terabit Consulting, http://www.terabitconsulting.com/downloads/expanding-regional-connectivity-in-asia-and-the-pacific.pdf, accessed September 22, 2016.
Tynan, Deirdre, “Central Asian: Are Chinese Telecoms Acting as the Ears of Central Asian Authoritarians?” Eurasianet, February 15, 2012, http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65008.
Unleashing the Potential of the Internet in Central Asia, South Asia, the Caucasus and Beyond, ADB Consultant Report, Asia Development Bank, December 2015, 9.
Vinokurov, Oleg, “Informatsionniye magistrali sovremenosti” [“Information Highways of the Modernity”], Turkmenistan Zolotoy Vek[Turkmenistan Golden Age], March 24, 2015, http://www.turkmenistan.gov.tm/?id=8447.
Yesaulenko, Aleksey, “Tranzitniy ‘pirog’ na dvoih” [“Transit ‘Pie’ for Two”], Network World, 9, June 20, 2006, http://www.osp.ru/nets/2006/09/2054863/.
Yusufrzai, Amin, “Ground Breaking of $44 Million Pak-China Fiber Optic Cable Today,” Propakistani, May 19, 2016, https://propakistani.pk/2016/05/19/ground-breaking-of-44-million-pak-china-fiber-optic-cable-today/.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Krasnopolsky, P. (2022). Laying Wires—Making Friends: Russia’s and China’s Engagement in the Telecommunication Sector and Its Effects on Regional Cooperation. In: China, Russia and Central Asian Infrastructure. Palgrave Series in Asia and Pacific Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4254-9_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4254-9_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-19-4253-2
Online ISBN: 978-981-19-4254-9
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)