With its strategic position bridging continents, the region is witnessing an influx of ambitious subsea projects aimed at boosting capacity, improving latency, and connecting underserved areas.
Here's a closer look at some of the most exciting subsea cable initiatives that will shape the future of connectivity in Latin America and those already having an impact on the region.
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Humboldt
Length: 14000km
Estimated completion: 2026
Spanning 14000km and connecting Chile with French Polynesia and Australia, the Humboldt subsea cable is among the projects on this list year to be completed.
An ambitious direct fibre optic network link between South America and the Asia-Pacific region, the operation is set to be completed in 2026.
Behind the Humboldt include Google, Chilen construction firm Desarrollo País and French Polynesia’s OPT, with the group behind it have formed a special-purpose entity to own the submarine cable.
Some $400 million has been invested into the project, including $15 million from the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy (CDP).
The Humboldt subsea cable project aims to increase capacity and improve communication latency in Chile and South America and the wider Pacific region and will support traffic from technologies including 5G and the Internet of Things.
SAC-2
Length: 105,000km
Estimated completion: Q1 2025
Another of the newer cable projects on this list, SAC-2 expands fibre connectivity between Latin America and North America.
Forming part of the Firmina subsea system, Cirion Technologies’ SAC-2 is designed to complement the existing SAC, a 20,000km cable system with landing points in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Colón, Panama, and Lurin in Peru.
SAC-2 extends SAC to North America, adding landings that span from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on the East Coast of the US down to Cirion's carrier-neutral cable landing station in Las Toninas, Argentina.
The SAC-2 express route increases the throughput capacity of Cirion's existing subsea fibre services, providing businesses north and south of the equator with a connectivity boost.
GD-1 and LN-1
Length: 50,000km
Estimated completion: H2 2026
It’s a case of two become one as Liberty Networks and Gold Data combined their respective subsea cables to create one giant data super-highway.
Gold Data 1 system (GD-1) and Liberty Networks 1 (LN-1) are coming together to offer unique routes between the US and Mexico, Colombia, Panama, the Caribbean and more.
The subsea system will be split across two segments, with the northern segment, GD-1, which both companies will back and operate together. The southern leg of the system, meanwhile, LN-1, will be fully owned by Liberty Networks.
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TAM-1
Length: 7,000 km
Estimated completion: 2025
Construct has already begun on TAM-1, a 7,000km cable system connecting Florida with Central America and the wider Caribbean region before being eventually extended to South America.
Backing the TAM-1 are Trans Americas Fiber System, with Xtera lending its technology and system design expertise, including its high-performance optical amplifiers to deliver traffic directly inland to cities and data centre sites.
AT&T is also part of the TAM-1 project, acting as the anchor tenant and landing party for the cable system.
Tikal
Estimated completion: mid-2026
Announced in January 2023 as a joint project between Telxius and America Movil, the high-capacity subsea Tikal cable will connect Puerto Barrios in Guatemala to Boca Raton in Florida
The extension branch project will be led by Telxius independently, with the related supply contract in force with Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN).
The cable will land in Mexico through the extension to Cancun with the option to extend it further to Barranquilla, Colombia.
The Telxius network already spans 100,000km of terrestrial fibre as well as several subsea cable systems including Marea, Brusa, Dunant, Tannat, Junior, and Mistral joining Tikal.
Project Hostos
Length: 147km
Estimated completion: Unknown
The subsea project furthest away from being completed on this list, Project Hostos aims to connect the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
Caribbean Transmission Development Co. is trying to get the project off the ground, submitting a proposal to the US Department of Energy to kickstart the project.
Project Hostos involves a subsea transmission cable system that would stretch 147km from the Caribbean country to the overseas US territory, making it the smallest project on this list.
The project focuses on transferring energy between the two locations, with Caribbean Transmission claiming Puerto Rico is facing an “untenable energy crisis.”
Puerto Rico has an untenable energy crisis that fuels migration, discourages investment, and cripples the economy.
Recently launched projects
Firmina
Length: 14,517 km
Completed in: 2024
Firmina connects the East Coast of the US to Las Toninas in Argentina, with additional landings in Praia Grande, Brazil and Punta del Este Uruguay.
The cable is among the longest in the world capable of running entirely from a single power source at one end if the other goes down.
With 12 fibre pairs, the cable carries traffic at speed and securely between North and South America, giving users fast, low-latency access to digital services including suites from Google, a lead backer behind the project.
Malbec
Length: 2,600 km
Completed in: 2021
Launched by GlobeNet, the Malbec subsea cable connects Argentina and Brazil, providing direct connectivity to the nations.
Constructed during the height of the COVID pandemic, Malbec leverages spatial division multiplexing and high-end repeaters and transponders to provide faster, more reliable connectivity.
Facebook parent Meta was a key driver of the project, with the social media and now AI giant supporting other subsea projects, including Bifrost, Anjana, and 2Africa.
South Pacific Cable
Length: 7,300km
Completed in: 2021
The South Pacific Submarine Cable (SPSC), also known commercially as Mistral by Telxius, is a 7,300 km subsea cable system spanning the Pacific coast of Latin America. It connects Puerto San José in Guatemala to Valparaíso in Chile, with additional landing points in Salinas, Ecuador, Lurín, Peru, and Arica in Chile.
Jointly developed by Telxius and América Móvil, the cable system comprises six fibre pairs and boasts a potential system capacity of 132 Tbps.
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Do you want first-hand information and insights on Latam's submarine scene? The Capacity Latam event takes place in São Paulo in March 2025, with hundreds of attendees from across Latin American telecoms and connectivity. See more about Capacity Latam here.
