SK Telecom Targets Asia AI Hub With 15GW Data Centre

South Korean telecoms operator SK Telecom has unveiled ambitious plans to build an AI data centre with a combined capacity of up to 15GW.

SK Telecom is pursuing this initiative to establish South Korea as a leading Asian digital infrastructure centre. 

The telecoms giant is developing domestic computing resources to meet growing demand for AI model training and inference workloads. SK Telecom considers advanced computing infrastructure a crucial factor in determining national economic competitiveness.

The telecoms provider is coordinating this initiative with South Korea's "AI G3" government strategy. This national programme seeks to establish the country as one of the world's top three AI powers alongside the US and China. The scheme also supports government goals for regional economic distribution.

Building capacity across multiple regions

SK Telecom’s first step towards its ambitious goal is a site presently under construction in Ulsan. 

The telecoms operator intends for this to grow into a cluster with a capacity of more than 2GW in the southeastern Gyeongsang region. SK Telecom intends for this to bring AI infrastructure investment from global technology firms to South Korea. 

An additional 1GW facility is scheduled for the southwestern Jeolla region. These initial projects will together deliver 5GW of domestic capacity.

The telecoms provider will bring these first facilities online in phased deployments beginning in 2029. 

Hitting SK Telecom’s 15GW objective will require massive capital investment. The company calculates that building a typical 1GW AI data centre involves projected costs of approximately KRW70tn (US$45.6bn). These huge costs reflect the expense of deploying advanced computing equipment combined with current memory hardware pricing levels.

The telecoms operator anticipates funding this major expansion through internal company resources, strategic partnership capital, long-term customer agreements and project finance.

Responding to worldwide capacity gaps

A key motivation for this infrastructure expansion is a projected deficit in global data centre capacity.

Consultancy McKinsey & Company forecasts that worldwide data centre demand will grow by between 19% and 22% each year. 

This continuous expansion is projected to exceed new capacity delivery. The consultancy predicts a supply gap of around 15GW in the US market alone by 2030.

As a result, major technology corporations are extending their infrastructure spending beyond the US towards international markets. South Korea offers particular competitive advantages for these installations. The nation holds a powerful manufacturing position in essential artificial intelligence components, including high-bandwidth memory (HBM).

The country’s national power network provides reliable electricity supply – underpinned by baseload nuclear generation and liquefied natural gas facilities.

Additionally, the country has proven gigawatt-scale infrastructure management experience gained through decades of operating large-scale semiconductor manufacturing plants.

These elements collectively position the nation as a compelling location for strategic infrastructure deployment.

Leveraging group-wide resources

Constructing this sophisticated infrastructure demands integrated semiconductor provision, energy systems and operational knowledge. 

SK Group states that it possesses these essential capabilities throughout its diverse business units. The expansion programme will deploy these comprehensive resources, with individual affiliates providing particular technical expertise. 

The telecoms operator will serve as the lead coordinator for the overall initiative, directing the design, build and operation stages for the proposed data centres.

"This AI data centre project is aimed at preemptively preparing the computing infrastructure that the global AI ecosystem needs," says Jung Jai-hun, President and CEO of SKT. "We will work closely with the government, industry, and local communities to help Korea grow into Asia's core AI infrastructure hub."

At the SK AI Summit 2025 held last November, Jung outlined the operator's wider vision. The presentation featured a strategy for developing international partnerships and expanding the initial Ulsan site beyond 1GW. The telecoms provider also recently revealed intentions to run a next-generation installation designated as an AI Factory. The operator plans to commence operations at this location in 2027 before scaling it to gigawatt capacity.

SK Telecom views the roll-out of AI data centres as South Korea's third major national infrastructure transformation, following the construction of the Gyeongbu Expressway in 1968 and the rollout of high-speed internet networks in 1998.