Tecto updates data center capex plan: US$2bn by 2028

Tecto Data Centers has announced a new expansion cycle in Latin America, with an updated investment plan of US$2 billion (bn) between 2026 and 2028.

According to the company, the amount combines the construction of new data centers with an integrated AI Grid and AI Factory strategy. The move also marks the expansion of the company’s commercial operations, with a new focus on the enterprise market in Brazil.

 The initiative reinforces the company’s execution capacity and its growth strategy, which will now serve not only hyperscalers, telecom operators, cloud and content providers, but also large Brazilian companies.

As part of the plan, Tecto foresees five new data centers throughout 2026, including the advancement of projects already under development, such as TPOA1, in Porto Alegre, with 200 million reais already announced, and TGRU1, in Santana de Parnaíba. 

This last one will have a planned capacity of up to 200MW and will be geared toward high-density applications, such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

Another approximately 500 million reais should be injected into Rio Grande do Sul’s connectivity ecosystem, covering TPOA1 in Porto Alegre and the extension of the Malbec submarine cable. The capex also includes a new submarine cable connecting Brazil to the US, Synapse.

Tecto will also use funds from a 233.46 million reais financing obtained from the Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES) for the expansion of the Mega Lobster (TFOR3), a data center inaugurated in October last year, in Fortaleza, currently the largest in the northeast of Brazil.

With 20MW of total planned capacity, TFOR3 was designed to serve high-demand applications such as artificial intelligence, cloud, and content distribution, combining scale and low latency in one of the country’s main connectivity hubs.

Enterprise

The entry into the enterprise segment is accompanied by a structural change in the profile of Brazilian companies, says the company, which have been accelerating the adoption of solutions based on artificial intelligence, cloud, automation and data analysis. 

This scenario requires digital infrastructure with high processing capacity, low latency, and closer proximity to users.

To meet the demand from different customer profiles, Tecto operates with an architecture based on the integration between AI Grid and AI Factory. The model combines data centers distributed regionally, the so-called macro edge, with large-scale structures focused on intensive processing.

"Tecto is entering a new growth cycle in Brazil, with a robust investment plan and a clear expansion strategy. Our goal is to combine scale, flexibility, and capillarity to serve both hyperscalers and large global companies, as well as Brazilian companies that need digital infrastructure that is increasingly critical for their operations and business", says Tito Costa, Tecto’s CRO.

In an interview with BNamericas in January, Costa provided an update on the company’s ongoing projects.

“We have started foundation and earthmoving work at the data center in Santana do Parnaíba, we are already halfway through the construction of T-REC 1, which is the data center in Recife. We are about to sign the CCV, purchase and sale agreement, for the projects in Belém and Brasília.

In Porto Alegre, we are already one step ahead and have signed the CCV. There, we are starting to hire consulting firms to be able to carry out the retrofit work. For Rio de Janeiro, we have already hired a consulting firm for the retrofit of our building there.

“We are also making adjustment works on the Barranquilla Beltway (Colombia), taking over a city government project to meet customer demand,” he said on the occasion.

Tecto has seven data centers in operation: three in Fortaleza (TFOR1, TFOR2, and TFOR3), one in Rio de Janeiro (TGIG1), and three in Barranquilla (TBAQ1, TBAQ2, and TBAQ3), in Colombia.

The company has also been building international and regional sales teams, with a local presence in the cities where it operates, to serve companies with greater proximity and agility, offering colocation, interconnection, and managed services solutions.

(The original version of this content was written in Portuguese)