The arrival of 5G mobile network technology in Colombia marks a turning point in the nation's digital landscape, promising to revolutionize connectivity and unlock a wave of innovation. With its significantly faster speed, lower latency, and enhanced network capacity compared to prior generations, 5G holds the potential to transform how Colombians communicate, live, work, and interact with the world. But for this to happen, data centers must maximize power and thermal efficiency, especially for the leading telecommunication companies driving this transformation, in order to be operationally cost effective.
As the capital, Bogota stands out as the country's main data center hub, providing a high-tier in bandwidth capacity and connectivity, making it a prime location for digital infrastructure investments. In December 2023, the Colombian Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) announced the 5G spectrum auction results for the 3,500 MHz band. The auction raised 1.3 billion Colombian pesos, which were allotted for the network's implementation.
Arrival of 5G, the investment initiative
According to research’s the Colombian data center market will receive more than US$809 million in investments by 2029. From my perspective, key sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, logistics, mining and manufacturing will benefit from the improved operational efficiency and smarter ecosystems enabled by 5G.
Operators have already begun implementing 5G networks, which includes the installation of new antennas, base stations, fiber and network equipment, as well as upgrading existing infrastructure to make it suitable for the bandwidth and scope of the new network. It is estimated that by 2026, 54% of the Colombian population will have access.
Challenges in thermal efficiency
This 5G deployment also poses other significant challenges, especially in handling large volumes of data and the ever-increasing demand for mission-critical digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, and data protection. Data centers must consider the amount of information to be stored and processed, which translates into more powerful servers with greater capacity, higher energy consumption, and higher temperatures.
To support 5G demands, many data center operators would benefit from designs that: Minimize AC-DC conversions to save energy and boost efficiency, deploy DC Power UPS systems, upgrade to lithium-ion batteries offering better performance and efficiency over VRLA batteries and invest in advanced cooling techniques.
Vertiv identified key considerations for 5G access network, including:
- Ensuring adequate power and cooling capacity
- Mitigating high energy costs
- Management and monitoring of multiple access sites
To address the demands of 5G, IoT devices, big data, cloud computing, and the expected increase in processing power and high temperatures, Vertiv can provide energy efficient air-assisted cooling solutions, cabinets with heat exchanger doors, direct cooling to the microprocessor, and immersion of servers in non-conductive liquid, among other solutions and services.
For more information about Vertiv’s solutions, visit our dedicated page for the region here.
