Advanced Info Service (AIS), the country's largest mobile operator by subscribers, has signed a cooperation deal with Gulf Energy Development and Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) for a foray into the data centre business in Thailand.
The joint development agreement was signed on Wednesday and reported to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) yesterday.
According to AIS's statement sent to the SET, the partnership aims to jointly develop a data centre business in Thailand, capitalising on the growth potential of digital infrastructure in the country.
This partnership seeks to build data centres on greenfield sites that utilise the latest technologies and security as well as efficient energy management, integrating renewable energy to reduce its carbon footprint, said AIS.
AIS chief executive Somchai Lertsutiwong said the joint development had been studied for months. The planned data centre will be a perfect combination of the three parties' competencies, he said.
"With our business ecosystem, the data centre would be operated with innovations, efficiency and cost effectiveness management," said Mr Somchai.
The budget for the construction of the data centre has yet to be determined while the exact location for the centre is likely to be determined in June this year, he said.
It could take 18 months for the construction.
"Some details may have to meet requirements from our potential customers, such as giant tech companies," said Mr Somchai.
The latest move is in line with AIS's direction to create digital service business as a new source of revenue, he said.
Apart from the planned data centre development, Mr Somchai said that the company plans to enter into two new partnership deals in this year as another drive to complement its existing digital services landscape.
The new partnership deals include a leading retail business. The company is also studying cryptocurrency and metaverse for its business benefit.
According to Gulf, the deal will be a significant step for the company to benefit from data management technology.
"The partnership aims to establish a high-quality data centre business which will utilise the latest technologies and efficient energy management, integrating green energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support sustainable business growth," said Yupapin Wangviwat, chief financial officer of Gulf.
The move comes as the country's largest private power producer by market value is expanding its renewable businesses. The company has invested in clean energy projects across Asia Pacific over the past five years.
The collaboration between AIS and Singtel is aimed at capturing Thailand's rapid growth in digital infrastructure that is driven by innovation, technology and a rising demand for data management and data storage from local as well as international organisations, said Ms Yupapin.
Gulf is the biggest shareholder of InTouch Holdings Plc, which holds a 40.44% stake in AIS. Singtel Strategic Investments PTE is the second biggest shareholder of AIS, with a 23.31% stake.
According to Singtel's statement sent to Singapore Exchange, the three parties have agreed to "expeditiously" establish a joint venture company to deal with the data centre business.
"Site selection has already commenced, and the company will start the development of best-in-class data centres utilising energy efficient technologies and green energy solutions in the coming months," Singtel stated.
The company indicated that the collaboration is part of Singtel's strategy to develop a regional data centre business with partners.
Under the deal, Singtel said, AIS can offer "a large local sales force with deep relationships with Thai enterprises, local data centre operations know-how and will be able to provide connectivity solutions for the data centre business".
Gulf meanwhile has an extensive local business network and access to land and power, including green energy, Singtel indicated.
Capital Nomura Securities indicated in its statement that the data centre business is likely to boost AIS revenue in the long run as the company's business-to-business earnings account for only 3-4% of total revenue at present, but grew 13% year-on-year in the first nine months of last year.