SANTIAGO, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Chile's telecommunications ministry on Tuesday announced the installation of a new submarine cable to boost connectivity among Latin America's Pacific coast countries, with mooring points in Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Guatemala.

Transportation and Telecommunications Minister Gloria Hutt, visiting the northern Arica and Parinacota region, one of the sites where the so-called Mistral cable will be moored, said such initiatives "are fundamental for digital connectivity, since they are the basic infrastructure of the Internet."

She added, "That is why we are celebrating the installation of the Mistral cable, because 99 percent of Arica's data will be transmitted through it to various parts of the country, something essential now that we are experiencing a pandemic, as a result of which many activities are being done remotely."

According to the deputy minister of telecommunications, Pamela Gidi, the Mistral or "South Pacific Submarine Cable" will serve as an underwater highway connecting communities in Chile's Arica and Parinacota region with the rest of the country, as well as other countries.

"This infrastructure will contribute to improving the quality of service for thousands of inhabitants of the country and will be fundamental for the development of 5G, a network that will allow mass access to telemedicine and the new features of the 4.0 digital economy," Gidi added.

Chile's tract of cable will be approximately 7,300 kilometers long and have a capacity of 132 Terabytes per second, which will "considerably" improve the connectivity of millions of people both in Chile and in Latin America and prepare for "the growing demand of future connectivity," the ministry said in a statement.