The Pakistan-China Fiber Optic Project is an 820 kilometer long optical fiber cable connecting Pakistan and China; it was laid down between the Khunjerab Pass on the China-Pakistan border and the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi. Inaugurated in July 2018, the cable was 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. The line was built collaboratively by Pakistan's Special Communications Organization, China's Huawei, and China Telecom.