News

Illustrative image. The Antarctic Cable project aims to deliver high-capacity connectivity to scientific bases.

The seminar “Antarctic Cable: Connecting the Last Frontier” took place in Punta Arenas and brought together a diverse range of participants from across sectors. The event served as a key platform to explore the progress, challenges, and opportunities of the pioneering project that seeks to establish the first submarine fibre-optic connection between South America and Antarctica.

Organised by the Regional Government of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica, the Subsecretariat of Telecommunications (Subtel), the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) and the University of Magallanes. It brought together government authorities, scientific and academic representatives, members of the armed forces, business leaders and key figures from the national digital ecosystem.

Among the participants was Dr José Palacios, Chair of the Board of Chile’s advanced network REUNA (Member of RedCLARA), who underscored the relevance of the project from the perspective of National Research and Education Networks (NRENs). According to Dr Palacios, the Antarctic Cable is “a key piece in a chain that, connected to Research and Education Networks such as REUNA, will have global reach, enabling data from Antarctica to be transmitted to research centres around the world in just seconds.” He added that this advanced connectivity would not only expand Chile’s scientific capabilities, but would also position the Magallanes region as a strategic hub for global science, comparable to the role northern Chile plays in astronomy. “We foresee significant growth in both national and international scientific collaboration, with increasing information exchange and the generation of new knowledge,” he said.

The seminar featured three thematic panels: the first addressed the technical and strategic challenges of implementing the cable; the second focused on the specific needs of scientific communities operating in Antarctica; and the third presented successful case studies of submarine cable deployment in other regions. REUNA had a prominent role in the second panel as well, with Dr Palacios participating alongside representatives from the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH), Metcom/Vaisala, and Honeywell.

This seminar forms part of the ongoing pre-feasibility study for the Antarctic Cable project, which includes technical, legal, financial and environmental assessments to make this unique infrastructure viable. The initiative aims to strengthen scientific collaboration, digital sovereignty and regional integration from the southernmost edge of the continent.

Governor Jorge Flies, head of the Magallanes Regional Government, stressed the scientific importance of connecting Antarctica to the continent via submarine cable, noting that “Antarctica is in the DNA of the Magallanes region”, and that this project marks “a giant leap in a southern zone that currently lacks a submarine cable.” He added that the initiative is of global interest, involving not only Chile but also the network of international research bases located on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Claudio Araya, Undersecretary of Telecommunications, praised the seminar as a valuable opportunity for shared learning and highlighted the project’s complexity, which involves overcoming significant technical, environmental and geographical challenges. He also pointed out the potential for the cable to incorporate environmental sensors that would support monitoring of climatic, geological and oceanographic phenomena, further enhancing its scientific value on a global scale.

The event also featured contributions from national and international experts, including Professor Bruce Howe from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, who presented the Smart Cables initiative—an effort to equip submarine cables with sensors capable of measuring key environmental variables for climate research, sea-level monitoring and early detection of tsunamis.

REUNA’s active participation in this process reaffirms its mission to connect Chile’s academic and scientific communities with global knowledge infrastructures, promoting open science, international collaboration, and the strategic use of advanced connectivity technologies.

Note prepared with information from REUNA