Ooredoo Invests $800M in Zankore to Build AI Compute Platform Across Southeast Asia

Ooredoo Group has announced a strategic investment in Zankore, a dedicated AI compute and neocloud platform with full-stack AI capabilities based in Indonesia, marking the company's formal entry into the AI compute infrastructure market. Developed in collaboration with Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Nokia, and NVIDIA, the platform is designed to deliver up to 1 GW of NVIDIA DSX AI Factory capacity, positioning Ooredoo as an early mover in Southeast Asia's rapidly expanding AI infrastructure sector.

The investment gives Ooredoo direct exposure to one of the world's fastest-growing digital infrastructure markets. Industry analysis cited by the company indicates that Southeast Asia's data center capacity demand is expected to grow approximately 3.5 times by 2030, driven predominantly by AI workloads, creating sustained long-term demand for AI compute infrastructure across the region.

As founding shareholder and lead investor with a 49% stake, Ooredoo Group will commit approximately US$800 million to support the platform's launch and initial development. According to current estimates, this initial investment is expected to contribute approximately US$600 million in cumulative EBITDA to Ooredoo Group over the first five years, increasing the share of earnings generated from digital infrastructure assets while expanding the Group's exposure to resilient hard-currency infrastructure earnings. The platform also provides a foundation for future capacity expansion.

Ooredoo's digital infrastructure portfolio today spans connectivity, international fibre and subsea cable infrastructure, and AI-ready data centers. Zankore adds AI compute as a dedicated infrastructure layer, creating an integrated digital infrastructure platform spanning networks, data centers, and AI compute.

Indonesia offers an attractive entry point through its scale, rapidly growing digital economy, and competitive infrastructure economics. The platform will initially be developed in Indonesia before expanding across Southeast Asia, giving Ooredoo long-term exposure to one of the world's fastest-growing AI and cloud markets.

Zankore is expected to deliver approximately 200 megawatts (MW) of AI capacity in the first half of 2027, powered by NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 systems. The platform will also incorporate NVIDIA DSX MaxLPS, which dynamically optimises power across the GPU fleet to recover stranded power and increase compute capacity within the available facility power envelope. MaxLPS is designed to enable up to 40% more compute within the same power budget, increasing Zankore's capacity to serve customers and generate revenue.

Zankore combines the complementary strengths of Ooredoo Group, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Nokia, and NVIDIA, bringing together telecom scale, AI leadership, and advanced network expertise to build next-generation AI infrastructure for Southeast Asia. FTI Capital Advisors acted as financial advisor to Ooredoo Group on the transaction.

Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, Group Chief Executive Officer of Ooredoo Group, said: "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. 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."

The move signals a broader trend among regional telecom operators seeking to diversify into AI infrastructure as data center demand accelerates across emerging markets, with Southeast Asia emerging as a key battleground for AI capacity development.