Singapore to Colombia: 292ms via Paris and Miami — The Latin America Problem
Based on real RIPE Atlas measurements from GeoCables monitoring infrastructure, March 2026
Singapore and Colombia are on opposite sides of the globe — but the surprising thing about the 292ms route between them isn't the latency, it's the path. A packet from Singapore doesn't cross the Pacific to reach South America. Instead, it goes west through the Indian Ocean, up through Europe to Paris, then jumps the Atlantic to Miami, and finally enters Colombia from the north. This is the "Latin America Problem" — why the continent is served by the internet's most circuitous routes.
The Traceroute
| Hop | Location | Network | RTT |
|---|
| 1 | (LAN) | — | 9ms |
| 2 | Singapore, SG | SPTel (AS23856) | 2ms |
| 5 | Singapore, SG | Level 3 (AS3549) | 14ms |
| 6 | Paris, FR | Level 3 (AS3356) | 151ms |
| 7 | Paris, FR | TELXIUS Cable (AS12956) | 157ms |
| 8 | Ashburn, US | TELXIUS Cable (AS12956) | 236ms |
| 9 | Miami, US | TELXIUS Cable (AS12956) | 248ms |
| 10 | Bogotá, CO | TELXIUS Cable (AS12956) | 289ms |
| 13 | Quibdó, CO | Colombia Telecomunicaciones (AS3816) | 292ms |
Singapore to Paris in a single hop:
137ms — that's the Indian Ocean + Middle East + Mediterranean in one BGP segment. Then TELXIUS (Telefónica's submarine cable subsidiary) carries the remaining journey from Paris to Colombia.
Why Singapore Goes West to Reach South America
The intuitive route from Singapore to Colombia would go east across the Pacific:
- Singapore → Australia →
Southern Cross or
Spcsmistral → Chile → Colombia
- Theoretical RTT via Pacific: ~220ms
But Level 3 (now Lumen) routes Singapore-bound traffic for South America via its European hub — because Level 3's primary transoceanic capacity between Asia and the Americas runs through its European backbone, not directly across the Pacific.
TELXIUS: Telefónica's Cable Empire
Once traffic reaches Paris, TELXIUS Cable (AS12956) takes over completely. TELXIUS is Telefónica's infrastructure subsidiary, operating:
-
MAREA: Virginia → Spain (the highest-capacity transatlantic cable)
-
SAm-1: US East Coast → Caribbean → South America
-
Brusa: Brazil → US → Spain
- Numerous Pacific and Caribbean cables
TELXIUS's routing Paris→Ashburn→Miami→Bogotá is textbook Latin America connectivity: everything goes through Miami. Miami is the de facto internet capital of Latin America, hosting over 130 subsea cable landings and interconnects for the entire continent.
The Miami Bottleneck
Miami's dominance as Latin America's internet hub creates a geographic bottleneck. Traffic from Singapore, Europe, Africa, and Asia all converge on Miami before being distributed south. The
NAP of the Americas in Miami is one of the world's most important internet exchange points for the Western Hemisphere.
For Colombia specifically, main international cables include:
-
SAm-1: Colombia → Miami → US East Coast
-
AMX-1 (América Móvil): Caribbean → Mexico → Colombia
-
SEACOM/Tata: emerging alternatives
Monitoring Status
-
Current RTT: 292ms |
Carrier: Level 3 → TELXIUS Cable end-to-end
-
Path: Singapore → Paris → Ashburn → Miami → Bogotá → Quibdó
-
Key insight: South America's internet still flows through Miami regardless of origin continent