Shares of Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel) climbed 0.8% to S$4.76 during Monday's trading session. The move coincided with the official launch of its new DC Tuas data center and a regulatory disclosure concerning a cybersecurity breach targeting the nation's telecom sector.
Infrastructure Expansion Drives Growth Focus
Singtel's Nxera data center unit has commenced operations at its DC Tuas facility, an eight-story, 120,000-square-foot site with a capacity of 58 megawatts. The company reported that over 90% of the center's capacity was pre-committed prior to launch. The facility employs direct-to-chip liquid cooling technology to support high-density computing workloads, including those for artificial intelligence applications.
"The sustainable deployment of compute-intensive AI workloads is becoming increasingly critical," stated Bill Chang, CEO of Nxera and Singtel's Digital InfraCo unit. The data center operates with a power usage effectiveness (PUE) rating of 1.25 at full capacity, indicating efficient energy use.
Cybersecurity Incident Revealed
Separately, Singaporean authorities confirmed that an espionage group, identified as UNC3886, infiltrated the networks of all four major local telecom providers—Singtel, StarHub, M1, and Simba—during the previous year. The group utilized a previously unknown software vulnerability, often called a zero-day exploit, to gain access and install tools to maintain persistent presence.
Officials stated the incident resulted in the exfiltration of a limited amount of technical, network-related data but did not cause any service disruption for customers. The disclosure highlights the persistent security challenges and associated costs facing telecommunications infrastructure operators.
Investors are now assessing the balance between growth investments in high-margin data center services and the ongoing capital requirements for network security and resilience.
Market attention turns to Singtel's upcoming financial report scheduled for February 18, where analysts expect further details on data center revenue contributions and capital expenditure plans.