More Other Countries IP Communications Stories
September 07, 2012
TMCnet Contributor
Search giant Google (News - Alert) is expanding into South America. The company has reportedly chosen a site just outside of Santiago, Chile for its first data center to be located in Latin America.
The new center, which will cost roughly $150 million to build, is expected to house a vast number of servers. It will be located in the municipality of Quilicura, just outside of Santiago.
“Building this data center in Chile is an exciting step for us. As Internet usage in Latin America grows, people are looking for information and entertainment, new business opportunities and better ways to connect with friends and family near and far,” said Google on its blog. “We’re building this data center to make sure that our users across Latin America and the world have the fastest and most reliable access possible to all of Google’s services.”
The Associated Press (News - Alert) reports today that the new data center is a win for Chile, which has been actively campaigning to attract more high-tech businesses and investments in recent years. Google says it picked the site in suburban Quilicura because of the skilled workforce and infrastructure and business-friendly regulatory environment.
It’s unlikely that Google will be creating an enormous number of local jobs, however. Once the data center facility is complete, it is expected to employ only 20 people in the form of a few skilled computer technicians and perhaps some security personnel to protect the company’s investment.
Google says the data center will be the most efficient and environmentally friendly in Latin America, built to the same high standards that Google uses around the world.
Edited by Braden Becker
Want to learn more about the growing communications opportunities in Latin America? Don’t miss LatinComm Conference & Expo taking place Oct. 2-5, in Austin, TX. Stay in touch with everything happening at LatinComm. Follow us on Twitter.