Misplaced Pages

The Pakistan-China Fiber Optic Project is an 820 kilometer long optical fiber cable laid down between the Khunjerab Pass on the China-Pakistan border and the city of Rawalpindi. It has been constructed as part of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor at an estimated cost of $44 million. Groundbreaking on the project took place on 19 May 2016, in the city of Gilgit. The line was first envisaged in 2009, with Pakistan and China signing an agreement in 2013 to implement the project. However the project was not implemented until being included as part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. Placement of the line will take an estimated 2 years, and will bring 3G and 4G connectivity to the Gilgit-Baltistan region.

The line will connect the Transit Europe-Asia Terrestrial Cable Network with that of Pakistan, which currently transmits its telecom and internet traffic through four undersea fiber optic cables, with another three undersea fiber optic cables under construction.

466.54 kilometers of the route will be located in Gilgit-Baltistan, while 287.66 kilometers will be laid in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 47.56 kilometers will be in Punjab province, and 18.2 kilometers in Islamabad Capital Territory. which will be extended to Gwadar.

The project is financed by the Exim Bank of China at a concessionary interest rate of 2%, versus the 1.6% typical of other CPEC infrastructure projects.

The project has been completed and inaugurated in July 2018.

References

1. "India Snubbed: Pak-China Initiate CPEC Project in Gilgit-Baltistan". The Quint. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
2. "PM inaugurates Pakistan-China Fiber Optic project". The News. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
3. Khan, Mehwish (19 May 2016). "Pakistan To Deploy Fiber Optic Cable to Connect with China". ProPakistani. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
4. "PM performs groundbreaking of Pak-China optic fiber project". Dunya News. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
5. "India Snubbed: Pak-China Initiate CPEC Project in Gilgit-Baltistan". The Quint. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
6. "PM performs groundbreaking of Pak-China optic fiber project". Dunya News. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
7. "Pakistan to Get $44 Million Fiber Optic Back Haul to Link with China". ProPakistani. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
8. "Pakistan to Get $44 Million Fiber Optic Back Haul to Link with China". ProPakistani. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
9. "Optic fibre cable connecting Pakistan, China to be inaugurated today". The Express Tribune. 13 July 2018.
10. "China builds Digital Silk Road in Pakistan to Africa and Europe". asia.nikkei.com. NIKKEI Asia. 29 January 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
11. Naveed Butt (3 September 2015). "Economic corridor: China to extend assistance at 1.6 percent interest rate". Business Recorder. Archived from the original on 2 January 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
12. "Pak-China fibre optic cable to start functioning by year-end". The Express Tribune. 15 September 2018.

v t e China–Pakistan Economic Corridor
Background	China–Pakistan relations One Belt, One Road Maritime Silk Road Xi Jinping's visit to Pakistan 2015 Chinese employment in Pakistan Chinese immigration Chinese community
People	Xi Jinping Li Keqiang Nawaz Sharif Mamnoon Hussain Imran Khan Arif Alvi Shehbaz Sharif
Completed projects	Engro Thar Coal Power Project Gwadar East Bay Expressway Hakla–Dera Ismail Khan Motorway Hazara Motorway Hubco Coal Power Project HydroChina Dawood Wind Power Project Karot Hydropower Project Lahore Metro Matiari–Lahore HVDC Transmission Line Multan–Sukkur Motorway Pakistan-China Fiber Optic Project Port Qasim Power Project Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park Sahiwal Coal Power Project
Under-construction projects	Gwadar Port Gwadar International Airport Karakoram Highway Suki Kinari Hydropower Project
Proposed projects	Azad Pattan Hydropower Project Havelian Dry Port Karachi Circular Railway Karachi–Peshawar Railway Line Khunjerab Railway
Cancelled projects	Gadani Power Project
Incidents	Dasu bus attack Gwadar suicide attack Shangla suicide attack Chinese engineer blasphemy case
Related	Pakistan-China Joint Consultative Mechanism Special Security Division
Category

v t e Belt and Road Initiative
Corridors and projects (2019 Joint Communique) Asia China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Trans-Himalayan Network/China–Nepal Railway China-Myanmar Economic Corridor Eastern Economic Corridor (Thailand) Two Corridors, One Belt (Vietnam) Economic corridor in Greater Mekong Subregion China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor/Laos-China Economic Corridor China-Laos-Thailand Railway Cooperation New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park Brunei-Guangxi Economic Corridor China–Central Asia–West Asia Economic Corridor Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-China International Highway China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan International Highway Eurasia New Eurasian Land Bridge Port of Piraeus China-Europe Land-Sea Express Line Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway/Alyat Free Economic Zone Trans-European Transport Network TRACECA/TITR China–Belarus Industrial Park China–Mongolia–Russia Economic Corridor International North–South Transport Corridor Africa Suez Canal Economic Zone Cape to Cairo Road Port Sudan-Ethiopia Railway Addis Ababa-Djibouti Economic Corridor Northern Corridor LAPSSET VICMED Americas Agua Negra Pass International Tunnel Theme Transoceanic fiber optic cable Polar Silk Road Air Silk Road Space Silk Road Digital Silk Road Global Energy Interconnection Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar Economic Corridor Related Projects Hulhumalé Sino-Oman Industrial Park China-UAE Industrial Zone Port of Haifa Lekki Free Trade Zone
Financial Concepts Internationalization of the renminbi Panda bonds Green finance Banking Policy Agricultural Development Bank of China China Development Bank China Exim Bank Sinosure Sino Guarantee Multilateral Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank New Development Bank SCO Interbank Consortium Platforms Funds Silk Road Fund Green Silk Road Fund China-Eurasian Economic Cooperation Fund China-ASEAN Investment Cooperation Fund Russia-China Investment Fund China-CEE Investment Cooperation Fund China-LAC Cooperation Fund Sino-Latin American Production Capacity Cooperation Investment Fund China-Brazil Fund China Africa Development Fund Credit lines Special Loan Program for China-Latin America Infrastructure Project China-Arab states special loans
Political Policy Leading Group Community of shared future for mankind Dialogue Belt and Road Forum 2017 2019 2023 Multilateral mechanisms (2019 Leading Group report) G20 APEC Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Asia-Europe Meeting Asia Cooperation Dialogue Caribbean Development Bank Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia ASEAN-China (10+1) Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Mechanism Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Greater Tumen Initiative Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Forum on China-Africa Cooperation China-Arab States Cooperation Forum China-CELAC Forum China-CEEC (14+1) China-Pacific Island Countries Forum World Economic Forum Boao Forum for Asia
Category

v t e China–Pakistan relations
Diplomatic posts	Ambassadors of China to Pakistan Ambassadors of Pakistan to China
Diplomacy	Sino-Pakistan Agreement State visit by Xi Jinping to Pakistan Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
Incidents	Anti-China terrorism in Pakistan Karachi Chinese consulate attack Gwadar suicide attack University of Karachi bombing Shangla bombing
Economic relations	China–Pakistan Economic Corridor China–Pakistan Free Trade Agreement Trans-Karakoram Tract Quadrilateral Traffic in Transit Agreement Heavy Mechanical Complex Saindak Copper Gold Project
Energy relations	Chashma Nuclear Power Plant China–Pakistan Power Plant Corporation Karachi Nuclear Power Complex Khan Khwar Hydropower Plant Nandipur Power Project
Related	Border Hong Kong–Pakistan relations Danyor Chinese Cemetery Pakistan Embassy College Beijing Pak-China Friendship Centre Badr-1 Paksat-1R Zong Pakistan The China–Pakistan Axis
Category:China–Pakistan relations

• China–Pakistan Economic Corridor
• Nawaz Sharif administration
• Fiber optics
• Optoelectronics
• Optical telecommunications cables
• Internet in Pakistan