Chile begins deployment of FON subsea cable stretch in Los Ríos

Chile has begun deploying a subsea fiber cable to connect the Niebla and Corral municipalities in the southern Los Ríos region as part of the national fiber backbone (FON) PPP project.

The 581km of fiber will be rolled out by Telefónica's Movistar in Los Ríos and will pave the way for the installation of 13 optical infrastructure interconnection points, as well as an exchange point in regional capital Valdivia, according to the Los Ríos government.

The deployment involves an estimated investment of just over 5bn pesos (US$5.3mn) by Telefónica and 8bn pesos by the Los Ríos government.

Activation is expected for the second half of 2025. 

The fiber network will be available for use by third-party carriers and is expected to benefit the towns of Futrono, Lago Ranco, Lanco, Los Lagos, Mafil, Mariquina, Coñaripe, Liquiñe, Neltume, Río Bueno, and Panguipulli, among others.

The entire FON project involves the deployment of more than 10,000km and is divided into six macrozones with separate tenders.

Five of the macrozones were awarded to WOM (Arica y Parinacota, north, center-north, center and center-south). WOM contracts later underwent revisions allowing for extended deployment deadlines.

The sixth stretch, comprising the southern macrozone (Araucanía, Los Ríos and Los Lagos regions), was re-tendered after the only bidder in the first process, Mundo, failed to meet certain economic requirements.

Telefónica won the new tender to build the section, beating offers by GTD and WOM.

In total, the south macrozone encompasses more than 2,500km fiber deployment, reaching 790,000 residents in 60 localities.