Chile has completed a study on the feasibility of laying the first submarine fiber-optic cable to Antarctica, which would link scientific bases of several countries across the Drake Passage. According to the source, the project is estimated at between 370 million dollars for the base option.
The study was commissioned by the Chilean regulator Subtel and carried out by the consulting firms Salience Consulting and Pioneer Consulting. The work began in February of last year and was financed by the Latin American and Caribbean Development Bank (CAF) together with the Chinese Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF). The result is a detailed report of nearly two thousand pages covering 55 Antarctic sites.
Currently, data from the continent is carried out in suitcases with hard drives, as noted by one of the heads of the pre-project team, Juan Pablo. The cable will make it possible to transmit information in real time, and the fiber-optic line itself, with integrated sensors, will be able to measure temperature, pressure and seismic activity directly from the bottom of the Drake Passage.
The source describes two main routes. The base option will connect Punta Arenas and Puerto Williams with three Chilean bases in Antarctica: a length of about 1600 kilometers, at a cost of 370 million dollars. The full configuration will stretch for 4100 kilometers and provide nine connection points, including bases of Argentina, Brazil, the United States and the United Kingdom, with an estimate of 620 million dollars.
The technology for implementation already exists, the report emphasizes, but the key obstacles remain attracting financing and political will. Chile will have to secure the support of other states conducting activities in Antarctica.
The completed report has been handed over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile. The ministry must present the findings to the National Antarctic Policy Council for final decisions. If the outcome is positive, the council will lead international negotiations, and the entire process from approvals to commissioning could take about eight years.
Thus, according to the source, the project opens the way to a permanent digital presence on the southernmost continent and turns the cable into an additional scientific instrument.
