In what is said to be the first time Google has made a deal with an entire country, the Alphabet Inc-owned technology company has this week signed a major submarine cable agreement with the Chilean government.
The deal involves the deployment of a 14,800-kilometre submarine data cable across the Pacific Ocean to connect with Australia and Asia.
Claimed to be the first submarine cable in the South Pacific, scheduled for deployment next year and set to be operational by 2027, the cable will, the partners suggest, bolster Chile's digital connectivity with Asian nations, including China, its largest trading partner.
Indeed, Reuters reports that the initiative coincides with intensifying competition between China and the US for influence in Latin America, with submarine cables emerging as crucial infrastructure in their technological rivalry.
However, links with Australia seem to be an equally important driver for the cable’s development. The cable will connect Valparaiso in Chile's central region to Australia and could support mining operations in both Chile and Australia – for example, allowing mining companies that have operations in Chile and Australia, to have a shared command centre.
The cable could also play a part in advancing Chile’s ambitions to become a regional hub for Latin America. Cristian Ramos, head of telecommunications infrastructure for Alphabet's Latin American unit, has apparently said that the cable would be open for use by other entities, including technology firms operating in Chile. In addition, Desarrollo Pais, a state-owned partner in the venture involved in developing infrastructure projects, is reportedly looking into linking the cable to Argentina via a border crossing.
Reuters adds that unofficial estimates of the cable’s costs range from US$300 million to US$550 million, with Chile potentially contributing US$25 million.
The Chile-Australia link has been on the drawing board for some time, though not always involving China. In fact Google is not the only partner to have been announced over the years; 2021 saw the involvement of aSingaporean cable company called H2.
In addition, this is not the only submarine cable venture planned between Chile and other countries. As we reported in 2023, Chile is planning a submarine cable to link the southern tip of South America with Antarctica, primarily for research purposes.
