AWS Considering Argentina, Chile For New Datacenter

Why choose? Looks like AWS has a decision to make. The cloud giant is expanding its presence with a new datacenter in South America, and is deciding between Argentina or Chile for the location.

And yet, it may end up choosing both.

Amazon Web Services already operates a datacenter in Brazil, but as this report reveals, it is now time for another location. AWS had previously shown interest in launching one in Chile, but very recently the president of Argentina met with AWS last year.

With the intention of bidding for the country to be the home to a new datacenter in South America.

Argentinian President Mauricio Macri met with Elaine Feeney, Amazon’s VP for global infrastructure expansion, this past November and pitched the idea when he was in New York on a US visit. As a matter of pure fact, an Amazon team also recently visited Argentina to assess the market for cloud services.

And, of course, learn more about the taxes in place in the country.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet also paid a visit to Amazon headquarters in June, and interestingly, AWS signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Chile to modernize government services within the country.

A few months later, Sebastian Beeche, the technical head of Chilean ministry revealed that Amazon had expressed an interest in placing a datacenter in Patagonia.

This is region shared by Argentina and Chile, and is at the southern end of South America.

One clear reason for this expansion was due to the relative economic and political stability, and cooler climate. In addition to that, AWS is also interested in a new $550 million to $650 million submarine cable project that would stretch some 20,000 kilometers from Patagonia to China.

20,000 leagues under the sea?

Easy enough decision some may say.

And yet we may see Amazon going forward with both plans.