SKT: AIDC Revenue Soars on Pangyo Project...5GW Data Center to Be Built After Securing Customers

At the Conference Call: "Minimizing Direct Investment"

SK Telecom has attributed the rapid increase in its Artificial Intelligence Data Center (AIDC) business revenue in the second quarter of this year to the Pangyo Data Center project.

During SKT's conference call held on the afternoon of August 5, Chief Financial Officer Park Jongsuk stated, "This quarter, our AIDC business surged by 92.5% year-on-year, driven by the Pangyo Data Center, among other factors."

Park further explained, "Our ongoing AIDC business is progressing smoothly according to plan, and in May, we began construction on a new data center in the Seoul area."

Regarding the establishment of "SK Hyper," Park said, "One of the key prerequisites for the AIDC business is securing land and power. We established SK Hyper to preemptively secure these core assets and to create a flexible business structure that can actively utilize external funding."

He added, "SK Hyper will be dedicated to developing the AIDC business, and will focus on acquiring customers and leading business development based on the land and power it has secured. SK Hyper is an independent corporation established specifically to carry out the 15-gigawatt (GW) AIDC business, separate from SK Broadband's existing data center operations, and is equipped with its own personnel and organization."

SKT plans to combine the group’s strengths by leveraging SKT’s global customer network and business development capabilities, as well as SK Broadband’s expertise in data center construction and operation, to create synergy as the business moves forward.

Addressing certain concerns regarding the expansion of GW-scale large data centers, SKT stated, "The AIDC business requires significant investment, and it is not realistic for us to invest the entire planned amount ourselves. We intend to secure the necessary investment capital through a variety of external sources such as strategic partner investments and project financing."

The company also explained, "Unlike previous data center investment models, SKT will maintain business leadership in the GW-scale data center expansion while minimizing direct investment on its own part."

Park emphasized, "Considering the market concerns over the GW scale, the company is reviewing various options. Our overriding principle is to secure customers before building a data center, rather than constructing the data center first and then trying to fill demand." He added, "We also plan to obtain funding for data center construction from financial investors after securing customers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.