- The telecommunications firm Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison is set to collaborate with Nvidia on a project aimed at enhancing the local telecommunications infrastructure and nurturing digital talent in Indonesia, as confirmed by the country’s communication minister.
- Nvidia’s expanding presence in Indonesia signifies a broader strategic move into Southeast Asia, driven by the escalating demand for data within the region’s flourishing digital economy.
The headquarters of Nvidia, a prominent technology company, is located in Santa Clara, California, as depicted by its logo on February 11, 2015.
Nvidia is making preparations to establish a $200 million artificial intelligence hub in Indonesia through a partnership with the major local telecommunications player, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, as part of the company’s ongoing expansion efforts across Southeast Asia.
As per Indonesia’s Communication and Information Technology Minister, Budi Arie Setiadi, this upcoming facility will be situated in Surakarta, Central Java, focusing on fortifying the local telecommunications infrastructure, workforce capabilities, and digital expertise.
While Indosat refrained from providing a response, Nvidia opted not to comment on this development.
Recently, Indosat unveiled plans to incorporate Nvidia’s advanced chip architecture, Blackwell, into its infrastructure, with the objective of catapulting Indonesia into a new era of autonomous AI and technological progress.
Following a merger in 2022 between Qatar’s Ooredoo and Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison emerged as Indonesia’s second-largest mobile telecommunications provider.
Nvidia’s heightened involvement in Indonesia mirrors its broader expansion strategy across Southeast Asia this year, driven by the escalating data requirements stemming from the burgeoning digital economy.
In January, the Singaporean telecommunications provider Singtel disclosed its collaboration with Nvidia to implement artificial intelligence capabilities in its data centers throughout Southeast Asia.
By March, Singtel announced that this initiative would grant regional businesses access to Nvidia’s state-of-the-art AI computing power by the end of the year, eliminating the necessity for clients to invest in and oversee their own costly data center infrastructure.
Southeast Asia has emerged as a pivotal revenue contributor for Nvidia, with a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing from last year revealing that approximately 15%, equivalent to $2.7 billion, of the company’s revenue for the quarter concluding in October was derived from Singapore.
In revenue rankings for that quarter, Singapore followed the United States, accounting for 34.77% of Nvidia’s revenue, Taiwan at 23.91%, and China and Hong Kong at 22.24%.
The revenue generated from the compact nation-state during that quarter showcased a remarkable 404.1% surge from the $562 million reported in the corresponding period the previous year, surpassing Nvidia’s overall revenue growth and positioning Singapore as the company’s fourth largest market.
As outlined in Nvidia’s recent robust quarterly earnings report, data centers constituted the primary revenue source, amassing $18.40 billion bolstered by the global enthusiasm for AI technologies.
— The report includes contributions from CNBC’s Sheila Chiang.
