Silica Networks advances fiber deployment in Chile’s Ñuble

Silica Networks Chile, a unit of Argentina's Grupo Datco, is advancing with the deployment of a fiber ring in Pinto, a locality in Ñuble region.

The ring will serve as the backbone for fiber-to-the-home networks for around 2,200 households in Pinto’s El Ciruelito district. 

According to Silica, equipment and cables are being laid in the area. The project is being carried out in partnership with Copelec, a local electric power cooperative. Part of the fiber network will be above ground, with cables on electrical poles. 

Overall, Silica will be responsible for building seven fiber rings in Ñuble, a backbone ecosystem that is expected to connect more than 25,000 homes.

This entire network will also connect Copelec’s power substations and is expected to enable the provision of smart meter services and other smart grid applications by the cooperative.

Last month, Copelec connected its first transformer to Silica's Measurement, Monitoring and Control System (SMMC) for IoT solutions.

“We're installing fiber for [Copelec] members, something that electric power cooperatives have not made use of in the past. We're developing several products with them,” Datco president Horacio Martínez told BNamericas in April about the smart grid prospects.

LOS LAGOS

In addition to Ñuble, Silica is co-responsible for the deployment of a fiber backbone in southern Los Lagos region, part of a set of government-promoted regional backbone projects.

Last November, DigitalBridge's Mundo Pacífico and Silica were awarded a 5.74 billion-peso (US$7 million) contract to deploy a last-mile backbone in Los Lagos.

The network is expected to connect Puerto Montt, Castro, Chonchi, Quellón, Dalcahue, Queilén, Fresia, Frutillar, Purranque, Llanquihue, Los Muermos, Puerto Varas, Puerto Octay, Osorno, Puyehue, Río Negro, Futaleufú and Palena.

Silica had previously been awarded a contract for the deployment of two terrestrial networks of the FOA (Fibra Óptica Austral) backbone, covering Los Lagos and Aysén. 

The Los Lagos stretch in this project complements the Silica-Mundo regional backbone.

Silica Networks has to date deployed a neutral, wholesale fiber network that exceeds 14,000km, with coverage in Argentina, Brazil and Chile, and with access to the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts of South America.