- SK Telecom’s AI data center revenue nearly doubled in Q2 2026, rising 92.5% to $95.7M
- The telco is pushing a 15 GW AI data center buildout through new infrastructure arm SK Hyper
- SK Telecom says AI infrastructure demand is structural as inference, public sector and enterprise AI use grow
SK Telecom’s efforts to build an AI Data Center business seem to be off to a running start, with unit revenue nearly doubling year on year to $95.7 million (KRW 136.2 billion) in Q2 2026.
Consolidated revenue was flat year on year at roughly $3 billion (KRW 4,359 billion), though net income jumped more than 450% to $327 million (KRW 466 billion). Mobile service revenue fell nearly 2% year on year to $1.8 billion (KRW 2,563 billion) as the company continued to work on “restoring customer trust.”
Though still a small portion of its overall revenue, the AI Data Center business seems to loom large in SK Telecom’s plans. The company last month spun up SK Hyper, a new subsidiary that will oversee its plan to build out up to 15 gigawatts worth of data center capacity.
“SK Telecom aims to move beyond being Korea’s #1 telecom operator to evolve into Korea’s #1 AI infrastructure company,” SK Telecom CFO Jong-seok Park said during the company’s earnings call.
Currently, the company has around 137 MW of capacity, according to its earnings presentation. But it is aiming to expand to 5 GW, with the first phases of new capacity coming online in 2029. Subsequent expansions up to 15 GW would be based on market demand.
Yijie Shin, from SK Telecom’s AI Business Development Office, said discussions with “global tech companies” are underway to better understand demand. But he also noted both SK Telecom and Korea have key advantages when it comes to AI infrastructure. These include access to power, connectivity and water as well as SK Telecom’s data center operations experience and full stack AI assets.
“In our view, demand for AI infrastructure is not a temporary phenomenon, but it is a structural trend driven by rising demand for inference power and expanded use of AI in the public sector and across industries," Shin said. “So, we predict the demand for AI infrastructure will continue to expand in the medium to long run.”
Asked whether its initial investment of $526.7 million (KRW 750 billion) would be enough to fuel its data center expansion plans, Park acknowledged it may end up spending more.
“Following our initial investment, we plan to secure necessary funds for the actual AI DC construction operation from financial investors and other financing schemes,” he said.
Read more about SK Telecom's AI push here:
SK Telecom spins up SK Hyper for 15GW AI data center buildout
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 AI infra boom