South Korea's SK Telecom Plans to Raise $350 Billion for 5 GW Data Centers

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 23, Jeong Seok-geun, CEO of SK Hyper, a subsidiary of South Korea's SK Telecom, said the company is in talks with major technology companies and financial investors to raise financing in support of South Korea's large-scale artificial intelligence data center construction plan. The first phase is planned for 5 gigawatts of capacity, with total funding requirements estimated at approximately $350 billion, including computing equipment. The company plans to launch its first round of external financing by the end of 2026 or early 2027, and will determine the actual construction and investment pace based on customer demand.

The overall plan previously announced by SK Telecom covers 15 gigawatts of AI data center capacity, with the first batch of facilities scheduled to enter phased operation starting in 2029. Under the construction plan released in July, a data center cluster of more than 2 gigawatts is planned for the Gyeongsang region, an additional 1 gigawatt is planned for the Jeolla region, and the project layout also includes the Chungcheong region. SK Hyper is responsible for site selection, power infrastructure, customer acquisition, and business development for the new projects.

The funding arrangements will be combined with long-term leasing demand from major technology companies. Speaking at an industry forum held in Seoul on October 8, Jeong Seok-geun said SK Telecom's existing data center capacity is approximately 137 megawatts, and that related capacity in Seoul and Daejeon, including facilities under construction, is approximately 300 megawatts. The company plans to gradually advance gigawatt-scale data center projects by bringing in major technology customers and external investors.

SK Telecom approved the establishment of SK Hyper on July 23 and plans to invest 750 billion won in it by 2030 for preliminary development work such as land acquisition and substation construction. On August 27, the company also announced plans to integrate some of its data center and submarine cable businesses into the newly established SK Horizon and to bring in a combined 3.08 trillion won investment from KKR and the IMM Investment consortium. The two entities will respectively undertake the development of new projects and the operation and expansion of existing data center infrastructure.