Chile plans submarine cable to Antarctica

Infrastructure association Desarrollo País, telecoms regulator Subtel and Magallanes region have signed an agreement on the deployment of a submarine cable between Antarctica and Chile.

The agreement involves a market consultation process for the preparation of a technical, legal, economic, and financial feasibility study.

“As a government we are determined to carry out this enormous project and, in this way, contribute strategically to the concerns of the international community and to expand the development of scientific cooperation,” transport and telecommunications minister Gloria Hutt said in a press release.

Earlier this year, Argentine company Silica Networks had also announced a US$2mn investment for an Antarctic cable feasibility study that includes its subsidiaries in Brazil and Chile.

The Chilean project is considered having a comparative advantage thanks to the Austral Fiber Optics cable, which is already installed and enables cost reductions and a high-capacity digital channel linking Antarctica and the world through Chile.

The newest cable plans involve a route similar to Silica’s, around 1,000km between Puerto Williams in Chile and Antarctica.