Google announced Humboldt, a subsea cable route linking Chile, French Polynesia, and Australia. This will be the first cable directly connecting South America with Asia-Pacific.
The Humboldt cable is named for Alexander von Humboldt, a German polymath, geographer, naturalist and explorer who traveled extensively to the Americas at the turn of the 19th century.
Google says the Humboldt project is a reflection of its longstanding commitment to Chile, joining other infrastructure projects, including the Google data center in Quilicura in powering Google services, the Google Cloud region in Santiago supporting customers across Latin America, the cross-Andes terrestrial connectivity between Chile and Argentina, and the Curie subsea cable linking Chile, Panama, and the West Coast of the United States.
"Chile is a country that is at the forefront of technology and is a leader in the implementation of the latest generation networks. As a Government, we are working day by day to consolidate this position and create the conditions for new investments of this kind to continue to arrive. The interest of companies like Google shows that Chile is doing things right. The country is leveraging its potential to generate the growth that will help us improve the well-being and quality of life of the people. These are projects that create employment and later, when they become a reality, improve the working conditions of thousands of people, in addition to placing Chile as a leader in the region and strengthening its position as the gateway from South America to the digital world." - Juan Carlos Muñoz, Transportation and Telecommunications Minister of Chile
“Australia welcomes this new trans-Pacific cable connecting Australia and Latin America for the first time, supporting the growth of digital and economic ties. This new cable route will enhance Australia’s global connectivity and complement our work with Pacific countries to secure better access to the global digital economy.” - Hon Michelle Rowland MP, Minister for Communications of Australia.
