Microsoft has launched a new cloud region in Chile, its first in the South American country.

The company announced this week that the new Chile Central region, located in the Santiago metropolitan region, is comprised of three independent physical locations - each with one or more data centers - is now operational.

Tito Arciniega, president of Microsoft Latin America, said: “Microsoft’s cloud data center infrastructure in Chile will play a fundamental role in our strategy for Latin America and will help establish a hub that radiates innovation from the region to the world. With Chilean companies integrated into the global economy and exporting goods and services worldwide, this new cloud region will support and stimulate economic growth, allowing businesses and governments to take advantage of the benefits of the cloud.”

Microsoft first announced plans to launch an Azure cloud region in Chile in 2020. In 2022, the company filed to develop a data center on a 6.8-hectare site located in the Quilicura area of Santiago.

Microsoft said its data centers do not use water for their cooling system, operating with non-evaporative closed-loop systems such as air-cooled coolers and direct expansion (DX) units.

Named customers in Chile include BCI, Codelco, Aguas Andinas, Banco Falabella, SQM, and Theodora AI, among others.

Patricio Subiabre Montero, BCI's operations and technology manager, said: “Banco BCI's collaboration with Microsoft has been fundamental to our digital transformation and multi-cloud operations strategy. The arrival of the new Azure region in Chile strengthens our ability to manage workloads in a hybrid and multi-cloud environment, accelerating the migration of critical applications and services, especially those with strict latency and data sovereignty requirements.”

Microsoft's global network now spans more than 400 data centers across more than 70 cloud regions.

Oracle has two cloud regions live in Chile – launched in 2020 and 2023. Amazon is developing its own footprint in Chile due to launch next year, while Google’s plans have been met with resistance over water use. Huawei’s cloud unit also has a presence around Santiago.

A version of this story appeared on our Spanish edition.