SingTel to spend S$500m on Internet data centres in Asia
biz.thestar.com.my
SINGAPORE Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel) reportedly plans to spend S$500mil over the next 18 months to set up a network of Internet data centres (IDCs) across Asia.
The move will put it in direct competition with Hong Kong's Pacific Century CyberWorks (PCCW), which recently teamed up with Australia's Telstra Corp in a strategic alliance which will include establishing a regional and "potentially global'' network of IDCs.
Besides expanding its existing IDCs in Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia, SingTel would develop new centres in Thailand, Taiwan, India and China, the Singapore Business Times quoted the group's executive vice-president Lim Chuan Poh as saying.
SingTel may also expand into new markets should there be a demand, including possible acquisition of assets if the valuations and business fit were right, he said.
Lim stressed, however, that organic growth was the most efficient way for the group to move forward as there were not many credible IDC assets to take over.
Meanwhile, group subsidiary SingTel Mobile said it had set up a new business unit to oversee its regional expansion plans, which included taking "significant'' stakes in cellular operators in Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia.
SingTel, together with its subsidiaries and associates, has reportedly invested over S$5bil overseas so far.
Interconnected to SingTel's telecommunications network across the region, the group's IDCs will provide corporate users with secure and highly sophisticated facilities to house and manage data equipment and computer systems. Customers can also outsource their critical applications and network management to SingTel at the centres.
Asked about the competition, Lim said the current IDC market was fragmented and localised with no telecoms company in the same league as SingTel offering such a comprehensive regional network in Asia. |
