- SK Telecom launched SK Hyper to drive its data center expansion
- The unit will help execute SKT’s plan to invest $509.3 million in AI infrastructure by 2030
- Data center demand is surging across APAC, though analysts warn power availability remains a major constraint for the region
Korean operator SK Telecom (SKT) launched a new subsidiary dedicated to its data center ambitions, as it presses ahead with plans to invest $509.3 million (750 billion KRW) in AI infrastructure by 2030.
Dubbed SK Hyper, the unit is tasked with oversight of all the business development associated with standing up data center operations, including land acquisition, substation operations, construction, customer acquisition and commercialization. Chung Suk-geun, who is also head of SKT’s AIDC Integrated Development Division, will serve as CEO of SK Hyper.
"SK Hyper's role is to turn SK Group's blueprint for Asia’s AI Infrastructure Hub into reality," he said in a statement.
The move comes after SK Telecom announced it plans to build 15 GW of data center capacity in Korea by 2035, with an initial 5 GW tranche expected to start coming online in 2029. Its initial plans include AI data centers in Ulsan, a major industrial metropolis located in the southeastern part of the country, as well as facilities in the Chungcheong province in the west and Honam region in the southwest.
SKT said money for its data center projects will be provided to SK Hyper via “phased capital contributions as needed through 2030.”
In December, IDC predicted data center capacity in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan) would jump from 51.9 gigawatts in 2024 to 142.6 GW by 2029. Goldman Sachs analysts likewise characterized the outlook for data centers in Asia as “exceptionally robust.” Both, however, highlighted concerns about power availability across the region.
SKT isn’t the only operator to launch a new business unit for its data center plans. Japanese company NTT has long had both mobile (NTT Docomo) and data center (NTT Global Data Centers) subsidiaries. In Germany, Deutsche Telekom has used its T-Systems arm to build up a sovereign cloud business. Norway’s Telenor, meanwhile, launched Skygard in 2023 with investment partners to build co-location data center facilities for its AI factory plans.
Read more about what SK Telecom’s AI plans here:
Korean operators ramp up AI investments to make country an AI superpower
Here’s why SK Telecom is building its own AI stack
How South Korea became the memory backbone of the global AI infrastructure boom
SK Telecom doubles down on AI with OpenAI tie-up and new subsidiary