Singtel, Hitachi to collaborate on data centres in Japan
They expect to ‘define more power-efficient methodologies that could advance any enterprise’s sustainability goals’
THE regional data centre arm of Singtel ’s Digital InfraCo unit, Nxera, is exploring opportunities with Hitachi to develop data centres across Japan and potentially the wider Asia-Pacific region.
This comes as part of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between Singtel and Hitachi, both parties announced in a joint statement on Monday (Aug 26).
Aside from Nxera, Digital InfraCo’s portfolio includes Singtel’s graphics processing unit (GPU) cloud, as well as the group’s Paragon platform.
Singtel and Hitachi said their latest agreement expands on a partnership announced in June 2024 to trial and integrate Paragon with Hitachi’s artificial intelligence (AI) applications.
Under the August MOU, Hitachi will also explore using Singtel’s GPU-as-a-service (GPUaaS) for its internal AI applications and workloads.
This in turn would allow the Japanese multinational conglomerate to verify complementary Singtel-based benefits to enhance its digital technologies and solutions, such as high-performance machine learning and generative AI.
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Singtel and Hitachi foresee the subsequent opportunity to “define more power-efficient methodologies that could advance any enterprise’s sustainability goals”.
Based on the results of Hitachi’s internal GPUaas verification, both companies may further explore co-creating enterprise-grade applications that combine Hitachi and Singtel’s technologies and platforms.
Bill Chang, chief executive of Singtel’s Digital InfraCo, said the partnership with Hitachi “opens up new opportunities in a strategically important and expanding Japanese market”.
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“We look forward to bringing our collective expertise, digital assets and solutions to help more enterprises innovate and transform their businesses and operations through the cloud and AI,” he added.
News of Singtel’s MOU with Hitachi comes a week after the local telco announced its partnership with Bridge Alliance – a mobile alliance with 35 member operators worldwide – to bring its GPUaaS to enterprises regionally.
On Aug 19, it was announced that Bridge Alliance members would get access to Singtel’s GPUaaS offerings.
Within the alliance, Thailand’s AIS, Malaysia’s Maxis and Indonesia’s Telkomsel are early adopters catering to the growing demand for AI computing, who have signalled their interest in the service.
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