SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) -- Google signed an agreement with Chile on Wednesday to deploy an undersea fiber optic cable connecting South America with Asia and Oceania, a first-of-its-kind project that aims to cement the South American country's status as a major digital hub.
The Humboldt Cable, envisioned for deployment in 2027, is a 14,800-kilometer (9,200-mile) submarine data cable that will connect Chile's coastal city of Valparaíso with Sydney, Australia through French Polynesia.
The initiative is being launched almost a decade after it was first proposed in 2016, and six years after the initial studies to determine its feasibility.
"This is the first submarine cable in the South Pacific, so it's an important commitment", Chilean Transport Minister Juan Carlos Muñoz told journalists.
Chile, home to one of Google's largest data centers in Latin America, is currently connected to the United States and the rest of the region via an undersea cable. This cable also provides Chile with a longer route to other continents.
Officials from both Google and the Chilean government hailed the project as critical infrastructure with potential to attract millions of dollars in investment from major tech companies, mining and banking firms in Chile and Australia.
"The idea of building this cable is that it can also be used not only by Google but also by other users, such as technology companies operating in Chile," said Cristian Ramos, director of telecommunications infrastructure for Latin America at Alphabet, Google's parent company.
Although Google did not disclose its total investment, Patricio Rey, general manager of local partner Desarrollo País, a state-owned infrastructure company, estimated the cable project's value at $300 million to $550 million, with Chile contributing $25 million.
The Humboldt Cable will establish Chile as a data gateway for the Asia-Pacific, while strengthening its relations with Asian nations, especially China, its largest trading partner. It also comes as demand for undersea cables surges due to increased reliance on cloud computing services.
The next stages involve installing the submarine cable, selecting and contracting a telecommunications operator, and constructing landing stations in Chile.
The initiative could heighten tensions as Chile finds itself caught in the middle of an intensifying rivalry between China and the Trump administration. Undersea cables have long been flash points in geopolitical disputes.
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