ClaroVTR is significantly expanding its Colina, Chile, data center.

The telco joint venture company is planning a 3,000 sqm (32,300 sq ft) expansion of its data center in Liray, Colina, bringing its total footprint to 5,000 sqm (53,820 sq ft).

ClaroVTR has spent $320 million on the data center, including this new phase of expansion.

Alfredo Parot, general manager of ClaroVTR, said: “We feel very proud and take a new and important step towards the consolidation of our services and leadership in the segment of large corporations and companies in the country. This third phase of our data center.”

Parot added: “This investment is yet another example of our great commitment and that of our investors, Liberty Latin America and America Móvil, with the development of our industry and growth in Chile. In addition, this investment directly contributes to the consolidation of Chile as a digital hub in the region.”

The expansion will see a new building added to the current facility. It consists of three clean rooms each with 1,000 sqm of floor space. According to the company, 40 percent of the new infrastructure has already been leased pre-completion by a variety of large, medium, and small companies as well as public institutions.

ClaroVTR is a joint venture between VTR Communication and Claro Chile that received the green light from the Chilean regulator, Fiscalia Nacional Economica (FNE) in October 2022. The JV provides fixed and mobile services including Internet, pay television, and text messages.

Minister of Finance Chile, Mario Marcel, noted the increasing technological investment in the country, noting that for it to continue they must “reduce uncertainty, resolve issues that are pending and, therefore, create a favorable environment for projects like this to materialize.”

AWS began planning a cloud region in Santiago, Chile, in the summer of 2022, applying for a $205 million data center permit in July. Around the same time, Huawei began the process of building its third data center in the country, and Ascenty launched its second data center.

More recently we have seen companies look to sell in the country, with GTD selling a stake in its data center unit to Macquarie Capital, and Sonda exploring the potential sale of its data center assets in Chile, Colombia, and Brazil.