Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica has opened its new US$196m data center in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The Telefonica Vivo data center, in the town of Santana do Parnaiba, is 33,600 sq m and will be used to support its fixed and mobile telecommunications infrastructure.

Telefonica said since it purchase of Vivo in 2011 it has become one of Brazil’s largest operators, with a mobile market share of 29.56%.

Vivo is now the company’s services brand.

Telefonica said it has built its data center, which sits on 70,000 sq m of land owned by the company, with energy efficiency in mind.

Overall, the company is planning to invest more than US$11m in Brazil from 2011 to 2014.