[In the AIDC Era, Telecoms Take the Lead] SKT Forms AIDC Triad... Attracts 3 Trillion Won Investment in SK Horizon

SK Broadband Spun Off to Form New Company
Groupwide Leadership by SK Telecom, Clear Division of Roles
Jaeheon Jung: "A Foundational Step toward Becoming the Asian AI Infrastructure Hub"

On July 27 of last month, SK Telecom established "SK Horizon," a specialized AI infrastructure company, by spinning off its subsidiary SK Broadband through a physical division, thereby accelerating its AIDC business. SK Telecom will oversee the group’s entire AI Data Center (AIDC) operations, while the newly established SK Horizon will focus on expanding its existing AIDC infrastructure business. SK Hyper, whose core business now centers on developing and constructing new GW-scale AIDC projects, will form a three-pronged system with the other arms, ultimately aiming to become a major global player in the AIDC market.

CEO Jaeheon Jung, in a recent message to SK Telecom members marking the launch of SK Horizon, stated, "We decided to spin off SK Broadband’s AIDC business division in order to enhance our expertise in AIDC operations and to establish a faster decision-making system," adding, "We have laid a crucial foundation for becoming the center of Asia’s AI infrastructure."

CEO Jung emphasized, "In the age of AI, competition ultimately comes down to who possesses the more powerful infrastructure," and continued, "Neither AI models nor services can exist without the underlying data centers and networks that support them."

SK Horizon: Operating and Expanding AI Infrastructure

In particular, the establishment of SK Horizon is intended to clarify the roles among affiliates with the clear goal of becoming an AI infrastructure company and to establish a rapid decision-making system. SK Telecom will oversee the entire AIDC business, while SK Hyper will prioritize new AIDC development starting with 5GW in 2029. Focusing on the creation of hyper-scale mega projects, the company is targeting 5GW in 2029 and 15GW by 2035 as part of its mid- to long-term GW-scale expansion plans. Securing large sites and power sources will be essential for this effort.

SK Horizon will be responsible for expanding key infrastructure such as existing AIDC facilities and submarine cables. It will lead the operation of a total infrastructure capacity of 318MW—including eight operating data centers (Seocho, two in Ilsan, Bundang, Gasan, Centum, Yangju, Pangyo, and others) and new centers currently under construction in Ulsan, Guro, and more—while also expanding the submarine cable business.

SK Broadband will focus on its wired, media, and enterprise businesses. CEO Jung stated, "With this additional restructuring, our company’s AI infrastructure operations framework is now clarified along three clear axes," and added, "We will continue to build a flexible and resilient foundation to stay ahead in the competition."

Jaeheon Jung, Co-Chair of the AIDC Alliance and CEO of SK Telecom, is delivering the opening remarks at the AIDC Alliance launch ceremony held at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul on July 29, 2026. Photo by Dongju Yoon

Along with this physical division, SK Telecom attracted an investment of 3.08 trillion won in SK Horizon from the global private equity (PE) firm KKR and the IMM Investment-Stonebridge Capital consortium. The deal involves SK Telecom selling existing shares for 1.8811 trillion won, while SK Horizon simultaneously issues new shares to third parties, raising an additional 1.2 trillion won. After the deal, the shareholding structure will be reorganized to 51% for SK Telecom, 29% for KKR, and 20% for the IMM consortium. The key aspect is that SK Telecom maintains control with a majority stake, while also securing a significant inflow of cash by selling its existing shares.

SK Hyper to Lead New AIDC Development

Minha Choi, a researcher at Samsung Securities, noted, "By separating the infrastructure business requiring large-scale capital investment into an independent company and attracting external funding, SK Telecom has created a foundation for aggressive expansion while minimizing the financial burden on the parent company," and added, "The cash inflow from the sale of existing shares will give the parent company greater financial flexibility and a wider capacity for capital management."

GSMA Intelligence, a market research arm under the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), also remarked recently on its podcast "Intelligence and Noise" that, "This is a shareholding structure that brings in external capital while maintaining management control," and stated, "In the capital-intensive AIDC business, this is an emerging model where telecom companies can reduce investment burdens while retaining business leadership."

Radhika Gupta, Head of Data Acquisition at GSMA Intelligence, commented, "Telecom operators no longer wish to remain mere ‘pipes’ through which data traffic passes, as in the past," and continued, "AIDC investments are both a means to secure new revenue sources and an opportunity for telecom companies to directly expand their presence within the AI value chain."

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