Mexican telco Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex) has finished a US$70m, 8,400 sq m extension at its Triara data center in Queretaro, the largest data center of its type in Latin America.

The US$150m expansion brings total capacity at the facility to 37.5MW – double its previous capacity – while enhancing efficiency.

As part of the upgrade, Telmex said it invested in new 5,700 tonne cooling technology which reduces energy use by 40%.

It also installed a 3,000 sq m rainwater tanks to use for cooling, and a sewage plant powered by solar panels.

To date, Telmex has invested US$160m in the data center which is ISO 270-01 certified.

Telmex CEO Hector Slim said the telecommunications sector in Mexico demands a lot of investment at present to overcome issues with power supply and broadband access.

Telmex ha other data center facilities in Botota, Colombia and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

It said these data center are used to provide cloud-based services, colocation and web hosting for the public and private sectors.