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- The emblematic project, whose objective is to provide the necessary wholesale infrastructure to provide greater access to connectivity, will benefit more than 500 thousand people in 40 communities in the area. During the activity, WOM announced that it will connect 47 schools in the Province of Arauco, impacting more than 11 thousand students.
- With the South Central Macrozone, there are now three of the five macrozones that are already operational and have been received by Subtel.
Lebu, March 22, 2024 – The Undersecretary of Telecommunications (Subtel) and WOM Chile officially launched the National Optical Fiber (FON) project in the South Central Macrozone, after concluding the construction of a digital highway of more than 1,400 kilometers between the regions of Ñuble and Biobío, which will benefit more than 500 thousand people in 40 municipalities. With this launching, three of the 5 macro-zones awarded to the operator are already operational and received by Subtel.
Currently, the construction of the FON project, led by WOM, already has 7,415 kms built out of a total of 7,511, which corresponds to 99% of the total fiber laying. The project is being deployed in five macro-zones of the country, ranging from the Arica and Parinacota region to the Biobío region. The Central Macrozone (O’Higgins and Maule), North Central Macrozone (Coquimbo, Valparaíso and Metropolitan) and South Central Macrozone (Ñuble and Biobío) are operational.
The inauguration took place in the commune of Lebu, Arauco Province, and was led by the Undersecretary of Telecommunications, Claudio Araya; the Seremi of Transport and Telecommunications of the Biobío Region, Héctor Silva; the presidential delegate of the Arauco Province, Humberto Toro; and the CEO of WOM, Chris Bannister.
“This project will generate territorial equity through a high-capacity and stable telecommunications network. What we hope with this is that all the communes of these regions will have the same level of connectivity as any commune in the country, including the communes of the Metropolitan Region”, said the Undersecretary of Telecommunications, Claudio Araya, during the activity.
“This milestone confirms that we continue to make steady progress in projects that contribute to democratizing access to connectivity in the country. We maintain our commitment to all people living in Chile and we are confident that the deployment of this digital highway will enable access to connectivity services from north to south, especially in isolated areas, substantially improving education, health, quality of life and local economic development in the regions that will have coverage,” said Chris Bannister, CEO of WOM, during the activity.
“The digital connection brings development closer, brings the world closer to the province of Arauco (…). This allows to bring the business closer, where we raise the agri-food issue, artisanal fishing and tourism, therefore, from that route invite the world to come and invest in the province,” said the presidential delegate of Arauco, Humberto Toro.
The FON project will be the largest connectivity network in the country, and will provide better quality “wholesale internet” for places that currently lack connectivity, with an open and shared infrastructure, which any company -including new operators- will be able to use to deploy the last mile and provide telecommunications services to more than 2.5 million people in 143 municipalities located in 10 regions.
During the activity, WOM announced that in 2024 it will connect 47 schools in the Province of Arauco in coordination with the municipalities, by providing free internet for one year, impacting an enrollment of more than 11,000 students.
