Level 3 Communications announced construction of its newest data center in Bogota, Colombia, in response to increasing demand for IT services Monday.

The 500 sq m data center, designed to support managed services, is expected to be operational by the second quarter of 2013.

"The Colombian market shows a growing demand for colocation, housing, hosting and value-added services," Luis Carlos Guerrero, sales VP for Level 3's Andean region, said. "The trend to outsource these services to a trusted business partner – one that will support the customer in its expansion strategy – is crucial for companies today so they can focus on their core business."

The new facility is part of Level 3's push to add capacity to its 14 existing data centers in Latin America. The company has more than 350 data centers worldwide, all on its global network backbone.