EVIDENTLY, total maximum power demand from date centres (DC)s in Johor alone is projected to more than triple beyond financial year 2025 (FY2025), based on the confirmed pipeline of projects.
In FY25, three new DCs are expected to come online, adding to the existing 18 to bring cumulative maximum demand to 2.8GW.
With another 22 projects in the pipeline, total maximum demand is expected to surge to 6.4GW, dwarfing the current operational capacity of 485MW.
Moreover, according to Knight Frank, Malaysia attracted USD32 bil of digital investments in 2024, far surpassing its SEA peers.
Against this backdrop of robust digital investments in Malaysia, Kenanga see significant demand for connectivity services that can be broadly categorized into:
(1) one-off infrastructure installation and commissioning.
(2) recurring services, including provision of bandwidth and network maintenance.
Digital infrastructure assets require end-to-end, full-circuit connectivity to integrate them into the global digital ecosystem.
Kenanga believes fixed operators (TM and TIMECOM) stand to benefit as providers of international and terrestrial connectivity to hyperscalers and CAPs.
“While new terrestrial players are emerging, we view TM and TIMECOM as having a competitive edge due to their established nationwide fibre networks, stakes in submarine cable systems, and ownership of SCLS,” said Kenanga.
Notably, TM is currently the only Malaysian operator with Tier-1-like global IP transit capabilities.
This is underpinned by its ownership of the country’s largest domestic fibre infrastructure and extensive participation in international submarine cable consortia.
TM is also present in underserved regions such as East Malaysia, where there are limited peering facilities. TM has strong peering relationships across Asia.
However it is not considered a full Tier-1 carrier, as it still relies on transit from global Tier-1 providers for certain routes.
Nevertheless, TM’s global reach far exceeds domestic peers, including TIMECOM, which ranks second with stakes in 76,350km of subsea cables and a 3,500km trunk network in Peninsular Malaysia. —July 29, 2025
Main image: The Economist
