In this episode of the Telecom East podcast, Light Reading contributing editor Robert Clark and Ross O'Brien, analyst-in-chief at Delta Analysis, discuss the rise of AI as a telco value-add in Asia and the potential chilling impact of digital nationalism on Internet economies.
Light Reading contributing editor Robert Clark and Ross O'Brien, analyst-in-chief at Delta Analysis, discuss the rise of AI as a telco value-add in Asia and the potential chilling impact of digital nationalism on Internet economies.
Here are three highlights:
SK Telecom's AI ambitions
SKT is investing heavily in AI, and the Korean telco's growth plans over the next several years will focus on AI services and data centers.
As reported earlier by Light Reading, SK Telecom expects its AI data centers (AIDCs) to be the first major revenue source in its AI business. The carrier's CFO said the demand for AIDC capacity was already outrunning supply, with 80% of data centers under construction in South Korea already leased out.
The carrier's corporate plan forecasts 70% growth in total revenue over the next six years, with AI accounting for 35% of revenue by 2030. On the podcast, Clark and Ross said that achieving these goals requires a compound growth rate of nearly 8% over the next six years, which is significantly higher than its recent growth rates.
Indonesia's digital nationalism
Indonesia's Ministry of Industry has banned the sale of Google Pixel smartphones and Apple's iPhone 16 for failing to make the grade in terms of the country's local content requirements.
Indonesia's "local content requirements" mandate that 40% of a smartphone's components must be locally sourced. This will likely have mixed effects on the country's digital economy and relationship to the global technology market.
Clark points out that it's not a new thing, either. "It long has set caps on companies trying to access the digital economy, and in this regard," Clark said. Indonesia looks at its digital economy and its netizens something akin to the way it looks at its mineral, oil, or agricultural resources as a natural resource that needs to be protected from rapacious foreign investors."
Huawei boosts R&D again; continues smartphone success
Huawei continues to invest in R&D, with an 11% increase in R&D spending to $18 billion. This signals the company's commitment to supporting its handset and other technology businesses despite the US restrictions. "Now, that, to me, suggests that Huawei is signaling that it is still standing and that it is still China's de facto national champion," Ross said.
Even though Huawei sold its Honor handset division and exited the mid-to-low-end handset market, its smartphone operation was a core contributor to its overall revenue growth. As reported earlier in Light Reading, Huawei's smartphone OS, HarmonyOS, has been included with 900 million devices and boasts a developer community of 2.5 million strong. The company said HarmonyOS has overtaken Apple's iOS as China's number-two smartphone OS.
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