18 Jun 2024

TM AND SINGTEL’S NXERA FORM JOINT VENTURE TO DEVELOP NEXT-GENERATION DATA CENTRES

TM AND SINGTEL’S NXERA FORM JOINT VENTURE  TO DEVELOP NEXT-GENERATION DATA CENTRES Article Header
TM

KUALA LUMPUR, SINGAPORE, 18 JUNE 2024 – TM is partnering Nxera, the regional data centre arm of Singtel’s Digital InfraCo unit, in a joint venture to develop data centres in Malaysia starting with a sustainable, hyper-connected AI-ready data centre campus in Johor. This strategic partnership aims to serve the needs of hyperscalers, next-generation AI application providers and enterprises pursuing accelerated digitalisation and cloud in the region. The joint venture is a unique proposition, bolstered by the extensive subsea cable networks of TM and Singtel’s Digital InfraCo which provide global connectivity and enhanced network performance with lower latency and improved reliability.

Amar Huzaimi Md Deris, TM’s Group Chief Executive Officer, said, "Establishing a hyper-connected AI-ready data centre marks the next phase in our long-standing partnership with Singtel, leveraging our strengths and commitment to elevate ASEAN as the preferred digital hub destination. TM brings the largest domestic network infrastructure, extensive international subsea cable systems and the largest interconnected DC in Malaysia, a solid backbone for this project. This will serve as a catalyst for high performance computing and lay a solid foundation for the future advancement of cloud and AI applications. This collaboration of two main telcos in the region is unique and has positive impact to the development of digital ecosystem that not only benefit the businesses but also nurturing future talent. Through this partnership, TM continues to demonstrate its dedication to delivering innovative and sustainable solutions, marking a pivotal step in our aspiration to becoming a Digital Powerhouse by 2030.”

Bill Chang, CEO of Nxera and Singtel's Digital InfraCo unit, said, "We are excited to enter the Malaysian market with TM as our strategic partner. This collaboration advances our vision to be the region’s leading sustainable, hyperconnected AI-ready data centre platform, supporting businesses with the digital infrastructure needed for the growing demand for cloud, digitalisation and AI. The development of this first data centre campus in Johor, which can be expanded in phases, demonstrates our ability to scale quickly in markets that are important to our customers. With our joint industry expertise and strong track record, we will build and operate one of the most efficient, sustainable and connectivity-rich data centres in Malaysia. In addition to data centres, we will be expanding the submarine cable connectivity between Singapore and Johor to enhance digital connectivity. Our joint venture will also partner institutes of higher learning in Malaysia to nurture talent for our projects and the industry. Our strategy of developing data centre sites with close proximity to our operations in Singapore allow us to capture spill-over demand from our customers and help them scale their business with confidence.”  

Located in Iskandar Puteri, just 16 km from Singapore, the data centre campus will be the largest to date for both TM and Nxera. It will be built to the latest standards for reliability, security and sustainability while offering the best local and international connectivity. With its close proximity to subsea cable links between Singapore and Malaysia, the data centre will be well-placed to support the increasing demand from both countries’ digitalisation and development initiatives.

The initial phase of the data centre is planned for 64MW and can be scaled up to 200MW in response to market demand. This high-power density campus will be able to host large computing and AI capabilities such as requirements by cloud hyperscalers, GPU-as-a-Service providers and features advanced technologies such as liquid cooling to support high-power density workloads and operations efficiently. The data centre will be a LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building, emphasising its commitment to greater energy efficiency and sustainable practices.

As Malaysia’s integrated telco and technology leader, TM will contribute its expertise in the region’s network infrastructure deployment to deliver customised range of wholesale data, connectivity, data centre and platform solutions catering to both local and international needs. Additionally, TM also provides Cloud services via its sovereign Cloud Alpha Edge solution.

TM currently operates seven data centres across Malaysia with 2 core data centres located in Klang Valley and Johor. Its entry into the Asia Link Cable Systems (ALC) partnership facilitates the laying of a submarine cable system spanning approximately 7,200km, with an initial design capacity of 24 Terabits/sec. Coupled with the establishment of an international Cable Landing Station at TM Exchange Kuala Sedili, Johor, these serve as vital infrastructure enhancements to accelerate the growth of the data centre industry in the state.

Nxera is a rapidly growing regional platform backed by Singtel and leading global investment firm KKR, leveraging its data centre operations in Singapore to expand overseas. Customers can also tap into a host of services such as Singtel’s Paragon cloud orchestration platform and upcoming GPU-as-a-Service. They will be able to orchestrate their AI workloads in a multi-network and multi-cloud environment, serving as a catalyst for greater innovation, entrepreneurship and business excellence.

Nxera is developing three new AI-ready data centres in the region in addition to 62MW of existing capacity in Singapore. This includes a new 58MW data centre in Tuas, Singapore and data centres with partners in Indonesia and Thailand. Nxera’s total pipeline capacity is set to increase from its current operational capacity of 62MW in Singapore to more than 200MW in the region in the next three years. The data centres will be served by Digital InfraCo's comprehensive network of subsea fibre-optic cables which provide customers with the best country-to-country connectivity in the Asia Pacific region.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

17 May 2021
TM wins again at Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards 2021 for its innovation, patrol

This is the fourth award received by TM at Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards in three years running Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) through its innovation arm, TM Research & Development (TM R&D) wins the AI – Telecommunications Award at the recent Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards 2021, presented by Singapore Business Review. The award was conferred in recognition of the Company's achievement in developing PATROL as a proof of function for research particularly on automatic detection of construction using vehicle dashcam and generate proactive alerts using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms. This is the fourth award received by TM R&D from the Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards in its three years of running. The awards ceremony lauds exceptional companies that have successfully pioneered IT products, solutions and innovative technology projects in their respective industries to boost Malaysia's fast-growing economy. Commenting on the accomplishment, Dr. Sharlene Thiagarajah, Chief Executive Officer, TM R&D said, "This is indeed a proud moment for us. Winning the award is a huge boost for our effort in showcasing how AI can be applied to solve real-life problems. It is also a huge encouragement for us to further strengthen our position as the leader in the research, development and innovation field. This award goes out to the team for delivering such outstanding work. We hope it will give them the drive to explore more innovations for TM to serve a more digital society, digital business, digital industry and digital Government, towards accelerating Digital Malaysia." Project PATROL was developed to provide early warning alerts on areas where TM infrastructure has a high risk of being destroyed due to civil and construction works by a third party. Ideally, before the civil or construction works were to begin, TM and other utility companies are to be consulted to ensure proper precautionary measures are taken to avoid telecommunication cable or other utility infrastructure cuts such as water or sewerage. The cable cuts will lead to loss of broadband and other telecommunication services which will cause major inconveniences to consumer lifestyle and businesses, as well as operation nightmare for any telcos. To fill in those gaps, PATROL was developed powered by digital and AI capabilities. PATROL leverages AI, object detection capabilities and the Internet of Things (IoT) to detect a construction area using a dashcam. The system then automatically checks if the unregistered civil and construction activity is in close proximity to underground or overhead cable infrastructure. Several parameters are used to assess risk before an alert is sent to the Network Operations Centre for investigation. "PATROL provides real-time alerts on civil and construction activities that pose a high risk to the security and safety of TM's cable infrastructure. This information allows telco providers to act fast in preventing possible threats to their assets. With PATROL, we foresee a huge opportunity for operational cost avoidance due to cable cut cases," she further added. Established in 2001, TM R&D is the innovation arm for TM Group focusing on creating smarter ecosystems to make business and life easier for a better Malaysia.  TM R&D's solutions are clustered around four (4) pillars namely Intelligent Platforms, Data Brokerage, Connectivity/Tools and IR4.0/Digital Solutions. Growing from strength to strength since 2016, TM R&D has won multiple global awards and generated more than 2,800 Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and 1,400 digital assets to date. TM R&D's innovations are all developed in-house and cut across multiple verticals such as Utilities, Retail, Agriculture, Healthcare and Education with safety and productivity as the top priority. As TM R&D continues to expand beyond connectivity and into smarter digital ecosystems, its role in TM has become more prominent and exciting. For more information about TM R&D and its innovations, visit www.tmrnd.com.my or email your inquiry to business@tmrnd.com.my or follow them on LinkedIn (TM Research & Development) for more news and updates.

23 Mar 2022
Tune Protect enters partnership with Huawei Malaysia and TM

FIRST TO HOST THE INSURANCE CORE SYSTEM ON TM’S PUBLIC CLOUD IN MALAYSIA ​Tune Protect Malaysia (Tune Protect), Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Huawei Malaysia) and Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) announced a collaboration today for Tune Protect to re-platform its existing GIS (General Insurance System), an insurance core system on Cloud. The hosting of Tune Protect’s core insurance system on Cloud is the first for insurers in Malaysia as it progresses in its digital transformation. The core system comes with a set of SAP HANA and SAP applications that will be completely hosted in TM Cloud αEdge (pronounced as Cloud Alpha Edge) which provides multi-cloud deployment management platform, scalability reliance and trust  . This pivotal move is part of Tune Protect’s Cloud First strategy , and in line with current market demand. Works are currently underway for the core insurance system to be deployed in multiple phases commencing July 2022. Rohit Nambiar, Group Chief Executive Officer of Tune Protect said, “As the first insurer to have received the approval to host the core system on Cloud, we are further enhancing our group credentials. Cloud is the centrepiece of our digital transformation that will enable us to achieve speed-to-market and introduce more innovative products and services for our customers.” TM Cloud αEdge plays an important role as digital platform enabler through the offerings of comprehensive set of cloud services in Malaysia and will transform Tune Protect’s existing business capabilities and services into a highly scalable, and agile cloud native open standard and platform to unlock its existing capabilities into unlimited digital value. This transformation is crucial to support today’s fast-paced and demanding business operations and ensure the company consistently stays competitive in the market. Partnering with Huawei Malaysia and TM has brought Tune Protect to a whole new level of engagement experience. Aside to providing cloud and digital services, Huawei and TM have also demonstrated   teamwork and commitment through the rendering of advisory and consultation in terms of compliance and technical requirements that align to the guidance provided by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).  This will be the first core insurance system in Malaysia that has been officially approved by BNM and will be hosted on TM Cloud αEdge -- the only Malaysian-owned Hyperscaler Public Cloud, that primarily promotes data sovereignty. This marks a significant milestone for the company  as TM’s Cloud αEdge meets the data protection standard and compliant  to BNM’s Risk Management in Technology (RMiT) full guidance requirements checklist, making it the ONLY Public Cloud choice for financial service industry (FSI) customers’ cloud adoption in Malaysia. Meanwhile, Imri Mokhtar, Group Chief Executive Officer of TM said, “We fully understand the importance for FSI customers, including insurers such as Tune Protect to have highly secured digital infrastructure while they continue accelerating their digital adoption. Given the rising volume of digital transactions and our commitment to excellent customer experience, we must ensure that the infrastructure supporting our partner is resilient, scalable and protected on all fronts. With TM Cloud α Edge being fully compliant to BNM’s RMiT, FSI players can reap the benefit of scalability and agility to future-proof their business, while simultaneously protecting customer data, at a superior price advantage. Through our enterprise and public sector business solutions arm, TM ONE, we are ready to serve the industry with end-to-end robust and secured digital infrastructure, befitting our role as the sole Malaysian Cloud Service Provider (CSP) under the MyDIGITAL initiative.” In conveying his appreciation and support for this collaboration, Huawei Malaysia’s Vice President of the Cloud and AI Business Group, Mr Lim Chee Siong said, “It is always our goal at Huawei Cloud to dive into digitalisation and to provide everything as a service. Huawei will continue to innovate and team up with TM and our partners to dive into digital and build the cloud foundation for an intelligent world. Cloud is just the beginning. We view it as a runway to transport businesses to even greater heights.” TM is the only local player with its own core Data Centre and Cloud infrastructure with full data residency, locality and sovereignty. Through the collaboration with Huawei Malaysia, this infrastructure is reinforced through Cloud, AI and the most advanced cybersecurity practices and technologies, putting it right on track to become the only Malaysian-owned end-to-end Cloud AI infrastructure service provider. This means the data in the Cloud is stored right here in Malaysia instead of abroad, providing a solution to the challenge of data sovereignty.

20 Jun 2024
TM Global Wins Best Operator in Emerging Market Category at Carrier Community Global Awards 2024

KUALA LUMPUR, 20 June 2024 – TM Global, the wholesale business arm of TM, Malaysia’s telecommunications leader, bagged the Best Operator in the Emerging Market award category at the prestigious Carrier Community Global Awards (CCGA) 2024. This accolade acknowledges TM Global’s dedication to delivering services in developing regions, emphasising its positive contributions to connectivity and economic growth. Khairul Liza Ibrahim, Executive Vice President of TM Global, said, “This award reinforces our commitment to advancing network infrastructure development and catalysing greater innovation. We have made significant endeavours, including strategic investments in regional subsea cable systems such as Sea-Me-We 6 and the Asia Link Cable System, which enhances global connectivity between ASEAN, Europe and North Asia. “In Malaysia, we are the largest 5G backhaul network infrastructure provider, significantly contributing to the country’s 5G network coverage. We have also established the most extensive Edge Network Facilities throughout Malaysia, bringing content closer to local communities and businesses. These efforts align with TM’s aspiration to become a Digital Powerhouse by 2030 while positioning Malaysia as a digital hub for the region,” she explained. TM Global serves as the strategic gateway for global carriers, enterprises, hyperscalers, OTT providers, and next-generation AI application providers into Malaysia and the ASEAN region. Utilising its expansive network infrastructure, TM Global delivers services such as Multi-Edge Computing and Content Delivery, strengthening its position as a key enabler of digital transformation and global connectivity. The CCGA is a distinguished event that recognises the achievements and innovations of telecom wholesale operators and ecosystem partners worldwide, and are independently judged by a panel of telecom analysts and experts from the industry.

NEWSLETTER

Just drop your details and stay updated with the world of Telekom Malaysia. We promise – no spam!​