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Telecom operators are accelerating capital investments in AI infrastructure to meet rising demand for AI compute capacity and comply with national data sovereignty requirements. Omdia reports that initiatives like the EU's AI Gigafactories offer telcos opportunities to lead infrastructure projects.

In South Korea, SK Telecom's data center revenue was 4% of total revenue in Q3 2025, with a target of KRW 1 trillion by 2030. Ooredoo anticipates digital infrastructure will contribute 12% of revenue by 2030.

Iliad plans to invest €3 billion for AI infrastructure in Europe. Indian telecom firms aim to invest over ₹1 lakh crore (~US$12 billion) in AI-ready data centers in the next 2-3 years. Overall, telcos are reallocating capex from legacy networks to AI and cloud services across Asia, Europe, Canada, and the Middle East.