CTA: Your Bridge to LATAM IT Expansion

Prior to the global Covid-19 outbreak, Latin America was widely viewed as the world’s next great growth market. While the pandemic caused some significant economic disruption in the region, the outlook for a rapid and potentially dramatic recovery remains strong. Diego Anesini, Latin America research director for the global market analysis firm IDC, gave the region— commonly referred to as LATAM—a ringing endorsement for new business development: “Organizations in the region are back on their planned path towards their digital strategy, which is generating renewed opportunities for the technology market,” he writes. “Revenues from digital services and experiences will be responsible for at least U.S. $2 trillion in the region’s economy by 2026.”

Statistics show that LATAM is poised to be the next great digital frontier. Researcher and Latin America expert Fernao Kastrup cites an Accenture study finding the digitalization market in Colombia alone will increase to U.S. $78 billion by 2035. Similarly, over the same timeframe, the digitalization market in Brazil is expected to increase to a whopping $435 billion. And according to the Inter-American Development Bank, the government of Panama recently embarked on a nationwide effort to support digital innovation and cybersecurity throughout the country.

Sounds great, right? But the demographic, regulatory and economic diversity that makes LATAM such a promising new market could also be an immense obstacle to companies seeking to build or increase their business in the region.

As Kastrup cautions, “The region holds particularities that can make (digital transformation) a much more difficult process than in places like the U.S. and Europe.”

Latin America encompasses Mexico and the entirety of Central and South America, as well the Caribbean. As generally defined, LATAM encompasses about 8 million square miles across two continents, ranging from the southern U.S. border nearly to Antarctica, with a rapidly growing population of about 660 million people, nearly 10% of the total global population.

But while the region is often thought of as a single block with common languages and cultures, there are important national differences among the 19 countries commonly considered part of LATAM, including the amount of national investment in digital infrastructure and the percentage of the population with digital access. Kastrup points out, for example, that while 82% of Chileans had regular, reliable internet access, less than half the population (44%) in neighboring Bolivia could say the same.

If LATAM expansion is in your business plans, you’ll need a reliable IT partner with the technology, expertise, dedication, strategic vision and, perhaps most importantly, the local knowledge to make the transition seamless and profitable.

China Telecom Americas (“CTA”) has nurtured a significant presence in the region for years, which includes office locations in both Brazil and Panama. When you choose CTA as your bridge to LATAM, you will have the support of our skilled and experienced local team members, all of whom speak the local languages, understand the local conditions, and are well versed in negotiating the tangle of regulatory red tape encountered in cross-border commerce. As a result, CTA helps businesses launch faster, providing end to end design, engineering, provisioning and deployment of complex communication environments.

CTA is uniquely positioned to deliver exceptional communications and IT services to multinational companies seeking to build or expand their presence in the region. In recent years, CTA has undertaken a significant expansion of its LATAM network, developing an IP backbone infrastructure that connects CTA’s extensive global network with new Points-of-Presence (PoPs) in Fortaleza, Brazil; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; Lima, Peru; Panama City, Panama; and Mexico City.

Despite the challenges of the past few years in pandemic, LATAM is still a promising growth market, and CTA is equipped to be your hands-on, on-site team. To learn more, check out our website.