Omdia: Telcos scale AI infrastructure investment amid rising sovereignty and compute demand

LONDON, January 21, 2026: Telecom operators worldwide are scaling capital investment in AI infrastructure amid surging demand for AI compute capacity and sovereignty requirements that favour local providers and homegrown solutions, according to Omdia’s new report, Telcos’ Strategic Investments in AI Infrastructure. This shift is creating new growth avenues for telcos. National and regional initiatives, such as the EU’s Gigafactories, are creating opportunities for telcos to lead large scale programs rather than cede them to hyperscalers.

AI infrastructure monetization is starting to show for telcos. For example, data center revenue already accounted for 4% of SKT's revenue in 3Q25 and it plans to hit KRW1 trillion in revenue by 2030. Ooredoo expects that digital infrastructure will contribute 12% to the group's revenue by 2030, up from 3% in 2025.

Omdia’s analysis finds that telcos are scaling AI infrastructure through multi year capex commitments. Operators across Asia, Europe, Canada, and the Middle East are heavily investing in cloud, data centers, GPU as a Service, and AI RAN.

There is no single model for AI infrastructure investment among telcos; approaches vary in structure, level of commitment, and risk. Some telcos have established dedicated subsidiaries (e.g., STC’s Center3, Iliad’s Scaleway), while others are pursuing joint ventures (e.g., SingTel). For some groups (e.g., SKT, Softbank, Ooredoo), AI infrastructure investments form part of a broader strategic reorientation. In certain cases, these investments reflect a structural rebalancing of capital, with reduced capex allocation to legacy connectivity.

“AI infrastructure has become a strategic bet for telcos,” notes Julia Schindler, Principal Analyst, Strategy, at Omdia. “The rapid growth of AI traffic, in combination with national sovereignty initiatives, creates a unique opportunity that more telcos will want to capture in the future.”