Singapore-based data centre provider ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) says it has signed a deal to use Malaysian telco U Mobile’s 5G connectivity to help its new data centres in Malaysia better support edge applications.
Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) announced on Thursday, STT GDC will leverage 5G’s high-speed, low-latency connectivity to boost the functionality of its data centres for use cases such as edge computing and IoT devices.
STT GDC will also use U Mobile’s 5G network as a redundancy measure in the event of fibre network failures, which it says will enable resilient disaster recovery for facilities management systems.
The deal also calls for STT GDC and U Mobile to collaborate on new use cases and joint customer innovation initiatives centred on AI and machine learning applications that facilitate real-time monitoring, diagnostics, and autonomous operations for edge applications.
“Collaborating with U Mobile allows us to offer enhanced services for edge connectivity,” said Dan Pointon, Group CTO of STT GDC. “By exploring new use cases and joint innovation initiatives, we aim to drive the future of data centre technology.”
For U Mobile, the deal is tied to its strategy of targeting verticals with its 5G offering, said its CTO Woon Ooi Yuen.
“U Mobile is continuously seeking new innovative ways to reap the full potential of 5G in various verticals,” he said. “With this collaboration, we will also be able to witness how 5G is able to help optimise cost and efficiency for our customers. We believe the potential is huge and are keen to also explore different use cases with STT GDC as data centres will only grow in prominence as they are essential for Malaysia’s digital economy for the storage, processing and managing of vast amount of data.”
STT GDC expanded into Malaysia’s hyperactive data centre market in November 2023 via a joint venture with Basis Bay to develop, build and operate data centre projects in Kuala Lumpur and Cyberjaya.
The first data centre under that JV, Cyberjaya DC.2, is scheduled to be ready for service later this year. The second data centre, STT Kuala Lumpur 1, is scheduled for completion by 2025.
The same month, STT GDC announced plans to establish another data centre campus in Johor’s Nusa Cemerlang Industrial Park. The STT Johor data centre is also scheduled to be ready for service sometime next year.
