The great "technological" novel of the government of Cambiemos was the installation in the country of Amazon Web Services, the powerful "cloud" arm of the firm of Jeff Bezos.Already in 2016 there was talk of its possible realization, the hand of the renewed air that the Macri government brought with it and its strong commitment to direct foreign investment quickly translating into green shoots capable of boosting the local economy.Almost 4 years later, although the story seems closer to concluding, it does not stop adding chapters. The last one again inclined the balance to the side of the pampas, since information from Seattle, where Amazon's headquarters operates, ensures that the firm has decided to install a data center in the area of ââBahía Blanca.The Buenos Aires town rang several times as a candidate to receive the millionaire investment. However, the rough course the economy took made the project reconsidered. Thus, everything indicated that Chile would be the fisherman benefited from the "troubled river" of national finances.Now, the eyes are back on the Atlantic side: even, Jujuy and Pilar do not lose hope of being blessed by the touch of the "King Midas" of the cloud industry. Meanwhile, on AWS they make radio silence.The plan: abundant energy, lack of connectivityFor now, the US company analyzes investing a whopping $ 800 million in the games of Bahía Blanca and Colonel Rosales, within the framework of a 10-year plan and that, as a result of many comings and goings, many in the industry they already take "between tweezers".The reasons for such skepticism are several. First, no official source confirmed the information. Secondly, the specialists do not consider this to be the ideal moment of the country as for a disbursement of such size. Although the enactment of Law 27.506 on the Promotion of the Knowledge Economy and the tax benefits offered by the free zone regime in the area are encouraging, the macroeconomic disruption leads to a true minefield, in the short and medium term.Finally, in terms of infrastructure, there are still many items to cover, although advances made in renewable energy paved the way, at least in terms of energy consumption, a fundamental factor when facing the construction of these centers. data.It is, at that point, that the strong letters of the bahienses are located.- In March, Pampa Energía, from businessman Marcelo Mindlin, opened its second wind project, 20 kilometers from Bahía Blanca, which will provide 53 MW of renewable energy to the national system. The project had an investment of more than US $ 70 million and has a total of 14 wind turbines.- In July, the Pampa Energía III park, located in the city of Coronel Rosales, with identical characteristics, became operational. And the inauguration of a fourth establishment is expected by 2020, also in that locality.Marcelo Mindlin's group already generates 206 MW of wind power in southern Buenos Aires, almost 20% of the total country and 13% of renewable energy. A fundamental point is that it serves the large users segment through contracts between private parties. Amazon also wants its data center to be powered by 100% renewable energy, so it is, a priori, a possible perfect marriage between Jeff Bezos and Mindlin."Amazon could establish a MATER contract with Pampa, its most viable option. If you would like to buy energy to the market at term, it is your best alternative, since there are contracts between 45 to 62 dollars per megawatt / hour," iProUP assures a high segment source.It is not a common "electricity bill": in reality, it is millions of dollars a year destined to power an infrastructure that must remain active 99.95% of the time, in case it has the TIER IV rating .However, there are points to be resolved that put the so-called "Tango Project" between question marks. "The wind farms are intermittent, like solar energy. You don't have wind all day, nor do you have sun. There is no battery storage scheme and that is the great challenge that is coming," explains the same specialist.The source clarifies that CAMMESA (Administrative Chamber of the Wholesale Electricity Market) is simply limited to the role of compensator, since it "decides" where more or less energy is needed. Like the "clearing" of the checks, it is the one that determines how it was distributed and how payments should be directed, according to the consumption made.For the engineer Marina Rosso Siverino, President of the Commission of Technology, Innovation and Digital Transformation of the Argentine Center of Engineers (CAI), "for the investment amounts, which point to 10 years, I think it will not start with a major center , but with a modular construction that grows as you need it. "In addition, he explains that, in Argentina, "it is very difficult that there may be a TIER IV datacenter (like the one foreseen by Amazon) because of the electrical regulation. I don't think I can solve it, that's just a qualification and there are many others. I don't see it relevant to Amazon if the data center is my own, it is likely to be required of third parties. "Rosso Siverino also lists other obstacles that must be eliminated for the passing of rumors to reality: "Beyond the tax exemptions, today I could not export these cloud services through the 'stocks'. In addition, a Knowledge Pole should be developed as the from CABA, Mendoza and Córdoba, and adapt networks to provide better connectivity. "In that line, he warns: "These 'colossi' need to be served by more than one operator, with fully secured networks, even for different seas. Today there are very few cable companies in conditions of this and all must make investments to take time more narrow response. "Not only that, the management of these network services (NOC) is concentrated in the City of Buenos Aires. In that sense, it is not enough with the cable network that reaches Las Toninas to feed the Internet to the local market, updated infrastructure is also required for a solution of these characteristics.Although in Bahía Blanca they aim at creating a pole that can generate an innovation ecosystem around the data center and generate hundreds or even thousands of jobs in the technology industry, for now everything is in the field of planning.For now, sources close to the company confirm that the Tango Project includes up to 3 datacenters. To this end, he would have bought three properties, two in Bahia territory and a third in Colonel Rosales, destined for this plan. The largest is a plot of 100 hectares on provincial route 51, next to the Pampa Energía parks.Jujuy and Pilar, with different projectsCarlos Alfonso, secretary of Modernization of Jujuy, had revealed in June to iProUP that they were working to become "Argentina's data center." Strictly speaking, the province has a brotherhood agreement with its Chinese Guizhou pair, which is characterized by having developed the big data industry in that country.In addition, he stressed: "In La Quiaca we have a free zone of 90 hectares near to be inaugurated; moderate thermal amplitude and not very high temperature. In addition, it is an anti-seismic zone, we are far from the sea and we have renewable energy."To this is added the draft Law on the Promotion of Investments, an initiative that aims to grant tax benefits to firms in the technology branch that are installed in the province.As for the arrival of Amazon in Jujuy, the holder of the portfolio had confirmed at that time that Morales held meetings in the United States with executives of that company and clarified that "there was an approach between the parties."This bet is sustained: the northern province is in a non-seismic geographic center with relative short distance to 3 independent fiber roads - Chile, Brazil, Argentina -, has a good climate and a strong focus on renewable energy and Big Data. Therefore, do not get out of the fight for $ 800 million. Pilar, on the other hand, has already secured an investment of between US $ 20 million and US $ 40 million in an Amazon CloudFront Edge data center, destined for rapid content delivery. And it goes for more.The service, smaller than the Tango Project, runs on the facilities of EdgeConnex, a developer of data centers of type "Edge", that send data, videos, applications and APIs securely to its customers worldwide, With low latency and high transfer speeds.The bet is that the investment will continue to rise, hand in hand with one of the fastest growing businesses within Amazon's monumental business structure.As a review, in the first quarter of 2019, it reported a turnover of US $ 7.7 billion, a 41 percent increase over the same period a year ago, equivalent to almost 13 percent of sales Amazon totals.While Bahía Blanca moves towards a safe harbor and the rest struggle to keep at least a handful of those dollars, the industry awaits a confirmation that does not sink the expectations generated.It is that the endless history of the "Amazon in Argentina" project generated a Pavlovian effect even in the most optimistic: in the face of any developments in the front, the first reaction is suspicious.