Argentina connecting San Juan province to Mendoza and Chile

Authorities in San Juan province, northwest Argentina, are planning to deploy an additional 100km stretch of fiber optics to connect the province with Mendoza province to the south and from there to neighboring Chile.

The company San Juan Innova, run by the provincial finance ministry, expects to lay a stretch of fiber in the first half of 2023 that would link the Ullum area with the El Leoncito astronomical complex in Calingasta. From there, the link would continue south to Uspallata, Mendoza, and then to Chile, Mendoza newspaper El Diario de Cuyo reported this week.

This section, which was not originally projected, would allow the closure of the fiber optic ring and give greater reliability to the provincial fiber network.

In October, the province began laying 500km of fiber optics for the San Juan connected project, the first phase of which will link some 30 towns in Calingasta, Iglesia, Jáchal and Valle Fértil.

A section of between Zonda and Ullum will also be added, as well as fiber in provincial capital San Juan, connecting from there to the node of the Refefo fiber optic trunk network of the state-owned firm Arsat.

The complete system consists of six fiber optic lines on medium voltage electric poles.

In January, the bids for the tender to purchase equipment to illuminate the optical fiber will be opened. The budget for this project is 1.5bn pesos (US$8.5mn).