Ooredoo Group CEO on 'Overwhelming' Data Center Demand

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Watch Ooredoo Group CEO on 'Overwhelming' Data Center Demand - Bloomberg on Dailymotion

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00:00There's a lot going on in the space. There's a lot going on for the company.

00:04Can you give us an update on how you're expecting to grow over the 6, 12, and 18 months?

00:09Look, we have very robust growth, and we're very lucky at Uridu.

00:13We're a mix of markets.

00:14We have the GCC, which is the stable, dynamic, economic zone

00:19with a lot of local currency stability, economic stability.

00:23But we also operate in high-growth countries like Iraq, Algeria, Indonesia,

00:28where we have double-digit growth, and that gives us a very balanced portfolio

00:32of risk-adjusted return and risk-adjusted growth.

00:36So we're very lucky to be in this industry we are with the footprint we are in.

00:40What's your outlook for data centers?

00:43We can't build them as quickly as we should.

00:47The demand is overwhelming.

00:50Data centers take 18 to 24 months to build.

00:53There's a lot of demand. There's local demand.

00:55You've seen all the announcement with the Trump visits, etc.

00:59Some people are saying, well, if every country is building that much, who will use it?

01:03The first demand is local sovereign usage.

01:07And thanks to the regulatory environment, we operate in Kuwait, in Oman, in Qatar.

01:13All these countries require their own instances of cloud, of AI,

01:17and we're here to build them up.

01:18How much money do you have, actually, to build for these data centers?

01:21So money, but also a timeline of what you're expecting to be them up and running.

01:25We've committed a billion dollars over the next three to four years,

01:29and we're looking to triple our installed capacity.

01:33So we're looking to go up around 120 megawatts within that time horizon.

01:37And how much will that investment contribute, of course, to your profitability?

01:42So this is a long-term business.

01:45It's different from the telecom business.

01:47Huge free cash flows in the telecom business.

01:50What's great with data centers, it's an annuity business, dollarized return.

01:54It gives that stable flow of income.

01:57Telecom will always represent around 80% of our business.

02:00These new adjacencies are around 20% of our business going forward.

02:04Everybody wants to get their hands on NVIDIA chips.

02:07How much NVIDIA chips will you have to buy, and are you in line to buy?

02:11So we were the first telecom operator in the region to be an NVIDIA cloud partner.

02:16We already have chips installed in Qatar.

02:18We're receiving the batches for regional countries.

02:21We have roughly 15 megawatts of AI chips already installed in Indonesia.

02:26We're one very close partner of NVIDIA.

02:28Again, we can't build the data centers.

02:31The restriction right now is not so much the chips.

02:33It's building the data centers quick enough.

02:36But do you have an idea of how many you need and how many will be available,

02:39or it's not a supply problem for you at the moment?

02:43Right now, we have an idea.

02:45We're looking for, for instance, the Qatar market, at least 3,000 to 5,000 chips.

02:50It also depends on the specs of the chips.

02:52Of course.

02:52Each country's, in Indonesia, we already have 2,000 installed, but everyone focuses on the chips.

03:00On the data centers, one big part, which people are forgetting, is connectivity.

03:04We're investing a lot, also nearly half a billion dollars in undersea cable, connecting the region to Europe and Asia.

03:11You have to remember that around 30% of the world's internet connectivity flows to this region.

03:19Europe to Asia, 90%.

03:21And all these data centers, all this AI infrastructure needs connectivity, which is our core business.

03:26I mean, we're just outside the plenary session.

03:29I have to say, the buzz is pretty incredible.

03:31Given the buzz in Qatar and the region, how much CapEx do you see in general?

03:35And basically, if you break it down into what units, so how much does CapEx data centers,

03:41how much do you pour into that compared to the rest of where you want to be invested in?

03:44So, in the telecom sector, we try to stay at 14% CapEx to sales ratio.

03:50But if you look at our trend, we went from close to 3 billion of annual CapEx to 5 billion.

03:56So, as I said, telecom is stable.

03:59All the incremental CapEx is in three business units, data centers with AI,

04:05undersea connectivity and land-based connectivity, all the fiber networks, and also our fintech business.

04:13Are you looking to expand in new markets?

04:16We're constantly in the lookout.

04:18We operate in nine markets.

04:20We're expanding already geographically outside of our core telco footprint through our tower business.

04:28And we're looking to expand every single business, data centers, fintech,

04:32undersea connectivity and core telecoms.

04:35We start from the same base, but then we can expand through different geographies.

04:41Any appetite for mergers?

04:43Or acquisitions?

04:45It's my DNA.

04:46If you know my previous life, we already did the Indosat merger.

04:49We disposed of Myanmar.

04:51We announced the largest tower company in the region, merging with Zane.

04:55So, we're always on the lookout.

04:56Okay.

04:57What's on the table right now?

04:58Is there anything that looks attractive?

05:01So, valuations are coming down.

05:03We're starting to see actually attractive opportunities.

05:07Are they executable?

05:09It's always a question.

05:09You can't participate.

05:11What do you think?

05:12Oh, it looks like.

05:12It's a four hour, and I'm using this to defend the new insurance.

05:15Now, you listen to me.

05:16What's the thing?

05:17What's the thing?

05:18Oh, wow!

05:18What are the types of donations?

05:19Well, for me, былаțiil, who, it is preparing to carry on after.

05:20So, for me, when I want to PR in it, there was aven't for touch.

05:22secrecy, there's the more efficacious.

05:23Why do you think?

05:24I want to meet you on whatever crew is?

05:25I know.

05:26I can really see all the figures.

05:27I can really do the thing.

05:28I want to practice.

05:28I can't believe it.

05:29I want to see.

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