- Two-day forum to be hosted at Swissôtel Wellness Resort Alatau, Almaty, on 25–26 September 2025
- Agenda focuses on peering, interconnection, Internet exchange points (IXPs), security and regional cooperation
What happened: The CAPIF 4 will take place in Almaty
The Central Asia Peering and Interconnection Forum (CAPIF 4) will convene on 25–26 September 2025 at the Swissôtel Wellness Resort Alatau in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The two-day event will bring together policymakers, network operators, Internet service providers (ISPs), and technical experts to explore ways of improving digital connectivity across Central Asia.
The Peering and Peering Forums 101 session led by Nishal Goburdhan of Packet Clearing House (PCH), offering a foundation in peering economics, transit, and best practices for interconnection. Sessions will also focus on measuring connectivity and pathways, with presentations from Piter-IX, RIPE NCC, APNIC, and regional experts.
Theconnectivity perspectives from major telecom operators such as Kazakhtelecom, Kyrgyztelecom, Tojiktelecom, and Uzbektelecom, followed by dedicated bilateral meetings to foster new peering agreements.
The participants will examine challenges in building and maintaining Internet Exchange Points (IXPs). Speakers from organisations including the Internet Society, DE-CIX, Eutelsat OneWeb and national agencies will address resilience, infrastructure, and capacity-building. Sessions will also cover DNS management, Internet security, and perspectives from Iran, before concluding with a reception.
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Why it’s important
Central Asia’s internet infrastructure faces unique challenges, with only 39% resilience compared to Asia’s broader 50% average, largely due to reliance on cross-border fibre cables from Russia, China, and Iran. CAPIF-4 addresses this by fostering local peering ecosystems, which can reduce latency and costs while boosting reliability. The regions digital growth is critical, with internet users in Southern Asia soaring to 1.42 billion in 2025. Yet, routing security remains uneven—Turkmenistan boasts 94% adoption, while others lag below 2%. By uniting stakeholders, CAPIF-4 could catalyse a shift, turning Central Asia into a digital hub.
The forum is a significant step in strengthening digital infrastructure and interconnection in Central Asia, a region that sits at a strategic crossroads between Europe and Asia. Better regional connectivity could reduce reliance on external transit providers, lower costs for ISPs, and improve Internet resilience for millions of users.
By bringing together stakeholders across borders, CAPIF 4 aims to foster collaboration on shared challenges such as regulatory frameworks, technical capacity, and infrastructure gaps. The inclusion of satellite providers alongside IXPs and telecom operators reflects the need for diverse solutions in connecting landlocked Central Asian states.
With RIPE NCC and local partners co-organising the event, CAPIF 4 builds on the momentum of earlier forums, reinforcing the region’s place in global Internet development discussions.
