The Chilean Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications (MTT) has confirmed that it has completed the deployment of its 247 kilometres long Southern Fibre Optic (Fibra Optica Austral, FOA) rollout, delivering connectivity to more than 536,000 users in 15 districts of the southern zone of Chile.
The infrastructure will also benefit 19,000 companies located in the Los Lagos, Aysén, and Magallanes regions through land and underwater routes.
FOA will provide service to 30% of the Chilean territory and, together with Fibra Óptica Nacional (FON) and regional last-mile projects, will improve Chile's fibre optic infrastructure.
According to local media reports, the section inaugurated this week is the Los Lagos land trunk line (drawn in the photo), awarded to Silica Networks. The section is 247km long and crosses the municipalities of Hualaihué, Cochamó, Puerto Varas and Puerto Montt.
Subsidies for the construction of this project reached 64,000 million pesos (US$78.8 million).
The Undersecretary of Telecommunications, Francisco Moreno, said: “The inauguration of the last stage of the FOA project is great news in terms of digital inclusion for users in the southern part of the country. After four years of hard work, today we can say that the Austral Fibre Optic is a reality that promotes digital inclusion in the southern part of the country”.
