Chile awards Los Lagos last-mile fiber contract to Mundo Pacífico, Silica

Telecom companies Mundo Pacífico and Silica Networks Chile were awarded a 5.74bn-peso (US$7mn) contract to deploy a last-mile fiber backbone network in Los Lagos region.

The result of a public tender for the Last Mile regional connectivity project in Los Lagos and Magallanes, the award was made on November 17 and announced on November 29 by Subtel.

The project will allow “providing fixed home internet access, through the deployment of fiber optic networks and/or wireless technology, to 172 locations in the region, benefiting more than 90,000 residents,” said the regulator.

The networks are expected to be deployed over the next months, benefiting the localities of Puerto Montt, Castro, Chonchi, Quellón, Dalcahue, Queilén, Fresia, Frutillar, Purranque, Llanquihue, Los Muermos, Puerto Varas, Puerto Octay, Osorno, Puyehue, Rio Negro, Futaleufú and Palena.

“In just over a year of being in government, we have managed to advance in the approval and signing of different 'Last Mile' projects throughout the country. As the [telecoms authority], we assume the commitment to improve people's quality of life through digital connectivity and that is why we have put all our efforts into projects like this one, which allow us to reach isolated towns with high-speed Internet,” Subtel chief Claudio Araya said in a statement.

DigitalBridge-controlled Mundo is the third largest fixed broadband provider in Chile, with 17.8% of total accesses as of June, according to Subtel data. 

However, it is ranked second among providers of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), with 25.9% of the market, behind Movistar, with its shared fiber vehicle On Net. Mundo has also been among the fastest-growing fiber companies in Chile.

Mundo had previously been awarded a contract for the deployment of the sixth stretch of Chile’s national fiber backbone FON (Fibra Óptica Nacional). That stretch comprised the so-called Macrozone south, that is, Araucanía, Los Ríos and Los Lagos regions.

Argentina’s Silica Networks, owned by the Datco group, operates 14,000km of fiber optics in Argentina, Brazil and Chile.

Silica had been awarded a contract for the deployment of two terrestrial networks of the FOA (Fibra Óptica Austral) backbone, covering Los Lagos and Aysén. Both deployments were completed in 2022.

The Austral submarine trunk line and Magallanes terrestrial trunk line were awarded in 2017 to Huawei Marine/Comunicación y Telefonía Rural (CTR) and Conductividad Austral Limitada, respectively, while the terrestrial cable contracts for Los Lagos and Aysén regions were awarded in 2019 to Silica Networks.

FOA was originally designed to connect 536,000 users in 15 districts of Los Lagos, Aysén and Magallanes in southern Chile via land and underwater routes.