Global Crossing Plans Data Center Upgrades at 15 LATAM Sites

SOURCE: BNAMERICAS
IP connectivity provider Global Crossing (Nasdaq: GLBC) is planning upgrades to its 15 data centers in Latin America in 2010, Gary Breauninger, Global Crossing’s CFO for North America and Worldwide Carrier Services, told BNamericas.
Also on the to-do list for 2010 are opening data centers in Madrid and Frankfurt and adding to other European data centers in London’s docklands and the recently opened one in Amsterdam. There are further plans for a data center in Paris, but it is not clear when that will materialize.
“Data centers are definitely a part of our investment portfolio for 2010,” Breauninger said.
Data center services have become the keystone of Global Crossing’s invest and grow element in its business, which includes hosting and managed services and collaboration. The company significantly boosted that end of its business in Latin America when it acquired Argentine-owned Impsat in 2007.
“We have a very efficient modular build out capability in Latin America, doing 10,000 square meters at a time, and thereby never extending too far out from a capital perspective, so we’ve been augmenting those data centers along the way, and we’ll continue to do so,” Breauninger said.
Global Crossing’s global CFO, John Kritzmacher, told BNamericas that the company is seeing strong growth in Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador, with customers seeking outsourcing and hosted services.
“Companies are looking to save some cash, or save some operational expenditure. Many are more akin to turning the keys over to a network provider that can do it for them, and do it much cheaper. Those things have positioned us pretty well and we’re seeing continued good performance in the region,” he said.
SAC, MAC, PAC
Global Crossing said in June it was significantly expanding capacity in its Mid-Atlantic Crossing (MAC), South American Crossing (SAC) and Pan American Crossing (PAC) undersea fiber-optic cable systems to meet growing demand for converged services.
Breauninger said those developments were on course, and some of those upgrades would be ready for service by the end of the quarter.
Upgrades to SAC will include adding capacity across all system segments, including the Trans-Andean Crossing (TAC) and the crossing between Panama, Venezuela and the Virgin Islands.
SAC includes approximately 12,000 route miles (20,000km) of fiber-optic cable and landing stations.