Singaporean telco Singtel is to shut five legacy data centers amid a push towards its newer, AI-focused facilities.
In January, the Singapore Business Times reported Singtel will progressively shut five of its older data centers in the city-state as it shifts its focus to building greener, AI-ready data centers under its new Nxera brand. ComputerWeekly reported that the telco will move customers to the company's new DC Tuas facility.
Details weren't provided at the time, but local journalist and DCD contributor Paul Mah reports the five facilities that will be closed down are the NCS Hub (AMK), Comcentre 3, Kim Chuan DC 1, NCS Bedok, and Telepark DC.
DCD has reached out to Singtel for more information.
Many of the sites are legacy data centers located within office buildings. Mah noted the sites add up to "only a handful of megawatts."
A Singtel presentation from 2022 describes the five sites as 'Gen 1' data centers ranging from 1.1-5MW.
Mah added the five data centers were never transferred to Singtel's Digital InfraCo unit that was spun off last year.
NCS Group is a technology services subsidiary of Singtel. Founded in 1981 as an agency of the Singapore government, it was privatized in 1996 and became part of Singtel in 1997.
DC Byte reports that the NCS Bedok facility opened in the early 2000s and underwent an expansion in 2010. The company put close to 4,300 solar panels on the roof of this facility in 2020 as part of a 13-year power purchase agreement with SunStep Global.
Comcentre 3 is located at Singtel's HQ at 31 Exeter Road. The telco partnered with global real estate group Lendlease in 2022 to redevelop the site. Mah noted the site's data center totals "just a handful of racks," according to industry insiders.
Located at 38 Kim Chuan Road, the Kim Chuan campus comprises two buildings, Kim Chuan DC 1 and 2. The latter opened in 2010.
The Singtel Telepark Singapore Data Center is located at 5 Tampines Central 1, an eight-story office tower.
Singtel’s Nxera has 62MW of existing capacity in Singapore across three sites and is developing more than 200MW of capacity across APAC.
Singtel broke ground on its latest Singaporean facility, known as DC Tuas, in August 2023. Set to go online in 2025, the eight-story building will offer 58MW of IT load capacity across 120,000 sq ft.
As well as DC Tuas, Nxera has also taken over the 570,000 sq ft, 41MW DC West facility and the 21MW Kim Chuan DC 2 from Singtel.
The company broke ground on a 64MW data center in Johor, Malaysia, in July 2024. Nxera & Singtel have also partnered with Telkom and Medco Power in Indonesia as well as Gulf Energy and AIS in Thailand to develop data centers in Batam and Bangkok respectively.
Singtel’s Nxera regional data center business is part of the Digital InfraCo unit formed in June 2023. KKR acquired an $800 million, 20 percent stake in Singtel's data center business last year.
Singapore has had a moratorium on new data center developments since 2019, although already authorized facilities were allowed to be built after this point. The moratorium has been relaxed slightly in recent years, with Equinix, Microsoft, AirTrunk, and GDS given permission to add 80MW of new capacity. The government is also looking to unlock new capacity by driving greater efficiencies at existing facilities.
