Ooredoo, a leading international communications company based in Qatar, today (August 6) announced plans to invest about $800 million for a 49% stake in Zankore, an artificial intelligence computing platform being developed in Indonesia, thus marking the telecom operator's expansion into AI infrastructure in Southeast Asia.
The platform, being developed with Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Nokia and NVIDIA, will provide AI computing capacity for cloud and enterprise customers.
Ooredoo said Zankore aims to develop up to 1 gigawatt of NVIDIA DSX AI Factory capacity over time.
The company said the initial investment is expected to generate about $600 million in cumulative earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) over the first five years, based on current estimates.
According to Ooredoo, the investment extends its digital infrastructure portfolio beyond connectivity, international fibre, subsea cables and data centres into AI computing infrastructure.
The first phase of the platform is expected to deliver about 200MW of AI computing capacity in the first half of 2027 using NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 systems.
The platform will also deploy NVIDIA's DSX MaxLPS technology, which the company said is designed to increase computing capacity by optimising power use across graphics processing units.
On the strategic move, Group CEO Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo said the investment forms part of Ooredoo's strategy to expand its digital infrastructure business and increase its exposure to AI-related assets.
"Over recent years, we have systematically built one of the MENA region's leading digital infrastructure portfolios. With Zankore, we are taking the next logical step by adding AI compute to that portfolio, extending our approach into the high-growth Southeast Asian market – one of today's most dynamic AI infrastructure opportunities," he noted.
"We believe AI will define the next decade of value creation in emerging markets. Our role is to invest alongside the right partners, in scalable platforms that create long-term value for our shareholders while supporting the digital ambitions of the markets we serve," he stated.
Ooredoo's digital infrastructure portfolio today spans connectivity, international fibre and subsea cable infrastructure, and AI-ready data centres.
Zankore adds AI compute as a dedicated infrastructure layer, creating an integrated digital infrastructure platform spanning networks, data centres and AI compute, he added.
Ooredoo said Indonesia was selected for the project because of its growing digital economy and demand for AI infrastructure, with the platform expected to expand across Southeast Asia over time.
FTI Capital Advisors acted as financial adviser to Ooredoo on the transaction.
