Panama aims to become an internet and digital services hub for all of the Central American region, the Andean region, and the Caribbean, thanks to the new agreement between Sparkle, an internet service provider from Italy, and Trans Ocean network, a Panamanian telecommunications company, they plan to achieve this by opening a landing and connectivity hub called the Panama Digital Gateway, this will be a massive next-generation hub that will feature the latest technology and state-of-the-art infrastructure, all with the hopes of positioning Panama as a digital hub for the region.

With the rise of OTT services, ¨Fintech¨ (Financial Technologies), digital money transactions, brand new banking solutions such as Millicom’s new Tigo Money, which strays from older well established financial institutions and makes financial inclusion much easier, as well as digital money such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies, the need for fast and uninterrupted internet services become more important as time goes by.

The Panama Digital Gateway will be located in Panama City, this massive hub with over 600 racks, and will utilize around 5 MW of power along with the latest security technologies, this massive hub will be a gateway for Panama to consolidate its position as a digital hub for the region, The Panama Digital Gateway, plans to offer companies access to more reliable internet by making this hub a landing point, for existing and upcoming undersea cables, that will enable real-time digital services, and by using Sparkle's existing 600,000 km of fiber that spans from Europe to Africa, the Americas, and Asia.

The need for fast and reliable internet services has been steadily increasing throughout the years and in today’s market, having fast internet for your business is a necessity, without it your business will probably not get much recognition and won’t stay competitive for long, but it goes much further than that, fast and reliable internet services its key when it comes to OTT services, Fintech, and digital money transaction because as their names suggest they rely on the internet for the digital transaction and services to take place, and could potentially lose a lot of money if these transactions fail or if they cannot provide their services to their costumers.

In developed countries such as the United States where over 90% of its residents are enrolled in the banking system, digital transactions are the norm, however in Central America that number falls to less than 40% in most places, so the need to find other banking solutions for people that do not meet the requirements of some banks or that have been left out of the financial system for some reason has led to the creation of other financial solutions such as Millicom’s Tigo Money, which is a financial system that helps people make digital transactions without the need of a bank account, and whose business model is heavily reliant on the internet, and need fast and reliable internet services for all of these digital transactions to take place.

OTT services that bypass traditional companies and offer their services directly to their customers, such as Uber, Netflix, Whatsapp, or even solar panels, utilize a relatively new business model, that bypasses traditional infrastructure and instead use the internet to offer their services, for example, Netflix doesn't have to negotiate a contract with a TV company and use their satellite or cable infrastructure to reach its audience, in the same way, WhatsApp doesn't have to negotiate a deal with a phone company so that their customers can use their communications services, so in essence, the internet becomes their infrastructure and the need for that infrastructure to be as solid as possible increase exponentially.

“The development of infrastructures in the Americas represents a pillar of Sparkle’s strategic plan to consolidate its positioning in the telecommunications wholesale market while reinforcing its offering of digital solutions to enterprises.”, explained Elisabetta Romano, CEO of Sparkle. “The construction of the hub in Panama, a natural crossroad of Central America and a bridge between the Atlantic and the Pacific as well as a strategic hub between North and South America, is a project of fundamental importance for the landing of new submarine cables and the creation of an ecosystem of interconnected players.”