Unisur

Overview

Unisur is a short regional submarine cable system spanning 265 km across the southwestern Atlantic, connecting Argentina and Uruguay. It serves the coastal corridor between these two neighboring South American countries and represents one of the earliest submarine cable links in the region.

Route and Landings

In Argentina, the cable lands at Las Toninas, located on the Atlantic coast of Buenos Aires Province.

In Uruguay, the cable lands at Maldonado, on the country's southern coastline.

Ownership and Operators

Unisur is jointly owned by Antel Uruguay and Telxius. Antel is the state-owned telecommunications provider of Uruguay. Telxius is the telecommunications infrastructure subsidiary of Telefónica, operating submarine cable and tower assets across multiple markets.

Status and Timeline

Unisur entered service in 1995, making it one of the earliest submarine cables to land in both Argentina and Uruguay. The system has been operational for approximately 31 years.

Regional Context

The Argentina–Uruguay coastal corridor is served by a small number of submarine cables. Among regional peers, Unisur is one of the shorter systems, though at 265 km it is comparable to Bicentenario (250 km, RFS 2011) and longer than the ARSAT Submarine Fiber Optic Cable (40 km). Larger transoceanic systems such as South America-1 and the South American Crossing, which also land in Argentina, operate at an entirely different scale, spanning 25,000 km and 20,000 km respectively. Malbec, the most recently completed peer cable in Argentina, entered service in 2021 at 2,880 km.

Measured performance over 73 ping tests in the past 60 days shows an average round-trip latency of 24.1 ms, with a best recorded result of 6.9 ms, reflecting the cable's short geographic span across the Río de la Plata region.

Strategic Role

Unisur provides direct submarine connectivity between Argentina and Uruguay along a 265 km coastal route. With only two landing points — Las Toninas and Maldonado — the cable establishes a focused bilateral link between the two countries. As one of just two submarine cables landing in Uruguay, its role in the country's international connectivity is considerable within that limited infrastructure base. Its 1995 ready-for-service date placed it among the first submarine cable connections established in either country.