Hyperscale data centre platform AirTrunk has announced plans to invest about US$3 billion to develop two new data centres in Malaysia, to be called JHB3 and JHB4.

Located in Iskandar Puteri in Johor, JHB3 and JHB4 will have a combined capacity of more than 280 megawatts (MW) of IT load and will be located close to the company’s existing JHB1 campus, opened in 2024 and planned JHB2 campus.

Between the four campuses in Malaysia, AirTrunk will have more than 700MW of IT load, bringing AirTrunk’s total committed investment in Malaysia to approximately US$6.8 billion.

These campuses will be purpose-built to support high-density cloud and AI workloads, featuring a flexible, scalable and resilient design. The designs prioritise energy efficiency, operating at significantly lower power usage levels than conventional data centres. The campuses will also include advanced cooling systems that utilise 100% recycled water, minimising any impact on local resources.

AirTrunk’s current expansion follows its announcement of JHB2 campus in early 2025, which has already garnered strong commitments from its existing global cloud and AI customers. The existing JHB1 and JHB2 campuses (totalling more than 420MW of IT load) are almost 100% contracted and tracking well ahead of investment plans. AirTrunk is planning further expansion in Malaysia post JHB3 and JHB4.

This expansion follows AirTrunk’s recent announcement of its entry into India, supported by its planned investment of more than US$5 billion into the Indian market in the near term.

The development of JHB3 and JHB4 is expected to generate significant economic benefits for Johor and Malaysia, including creating more than 3,000 jobs during construction, ongoing employment to local talent once operational, and partnerships with local suppliers and contractors to support regional industry.

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Malaysian telco U Mobile has partnered with Pavilion Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) to enable seamless 5G-Advanced indoor coverage in high-traffic commercial and lifestyle locations in Kuala Lumpur.

Under the partnership deal announced on Tuesday, U Mobile will deploy and manage its 5G-A in-building coverage (IBC) system in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, Pavilion Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Pavilion Tower, Pavilion Elite, Banyan Tree Kuala Lumpur, Intermark Mall and Pavilion Bukit Jalil, which rank as some of KL’s busiest retail, commercial and hospitality spaces.

U Mobile said the IBC solution – which will complements the broader 5G infrastructure within the properties – will improve network performance and provide reliable indoor connectivity for those properties. For end users, that could translate into smoother digital experiences for things like navigation, payments and real-time services throughout the buildings.

U Mobile added that the IBC infrastructure in Pavilion REIT properties is designed to support multiple mobile operators.

As part of the project, U Mobile will also collaborate with Pavilion REIT to explore 5G-A use cases to support digitalisation of their building operations, such as security monitoring, smart sensors and parking solutions.

“By enabling more reliable indoor coverage, we are better positioned to support the evolving needs of our tenants, business partners and visitors, while advancing smarter and more responsive building operations,” said Pavilion REIT CEO Phillip Ho in a statement.

U Mobile – which won the rights to become Malaysia’s second 5G operator in November 2024 – has made indoor coverage a cornerstone of its 5G strategy since launching its Ultra5G service in August 2025.

To that end, U Mobile has signed on Edotco, EdgePoint Infrastructure and OCK Telco Infra (a subsidiary of Malaysian telecoms network solutions provider and regional towerco OCK Group) as preferred 5G IBC partners.

“[We] believe in prioritising deep in-building coverage to ensure that customers experience seamless, high-performance connectivity wherever they are whether indoors or outdoors,” said U Mobile CTO Woon Ooi Yuen. “This allows us to support not just everyday usage, but also more advanced, business-critical applications that require consistency, reliability and scale.”

Digicel PNG has reportedly signed an agreement with Papua New Guinea’s National Information and Communications Technology Authority (NICTA) to deploy 4G services to rural communities around the country.

According to a report in Papua New Guinea newspaper The National on Tuesday, Digicel PNG will roll out 4G infrastructure in underserved and rural areas including parts of Oro, Gulf, Morobe, Bougainville and Southern Highlands.

The NICTA agreement was awarded via the National Procurement Commission Board as part of the government’s commitment to bridge Papua New Guinea’s digital divide and enable access to digital services, including education, healthcare and financial services, the report said.

“When people and communities are connected, they gain access to digital services needed for education, healthcare, financial services, and economic participation,” Digicel PNG acting CEO Abdallah Nassar was quoted as saying.

Nassar also said the agreement highlighted the benefits of public-private sector collaboration to advance the country’s digital transformation, the report added.

Telkom Indonesia announced on Monday that it has launched a next-gen agentic AI platform that it says will accelerate digital transformation via intelligent automation, business process integration and data-based decision making.

The platform, dubbed Agentic AI by BigBox, differs from reactive, conversation-based AI in that it can execute semi-automatic and automatic actions according to the needs of the organization.

Telkom said agentic AI is designed to break down large work into more structured stages, manage execution through specialist agents, conduct self-evaluations, and connect with various external systems.

Agentic AI by BigBox supports cross-system workflow orchestration, data integration and end-to-end AI capabilities, as well as improved operational efficiency on an enterprise scale.

Telkom said it’s using agentic AI internally to consolidate and integrate IT systems across its various entities, optimise operational costs and investment, accelerate data-based decision making, and automate strategic business processes.

Its enterprise and B2B customers can use Agentic AI by BigBox to improve customer experience, automate services and operations, present advanced analytics, predictive decisions, and cross-platform integration, said Telkom’s digital IT director Faizal Rochmad Djoemadi.

“We designed Telkom Agentic AI not only as an AI tool, but as a digital platform that is able to work and execute,” Faizal said. “This is our step to encourage organizations to be faster, more integrated, and more adaptive in facing digital business dynamics.”

Telkom is also touting Agentic AI by BigBox as a flagship solution from its AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE) initiative, which was launched in September last year as a “national AI ecosystem enabler.”

Telkom first unveiled Agentic AI by BigBox at last week’s ITD Summit in Bandung.

This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Fady Masoud, Senior Director, Solutions Marketing at Nokia

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Edotco Malaysia announced on Friday that its subsidiary Vista Bumiria has been appointed by the provincial government of Terengganu as a state-backed company (SBC) to develop telecoms infrastructure.

The appointment is part of a mandate by Terengganu to accelerate rollout of high-quality, future-ready digital infrastructure in the state in a coordinated, efficient and sustainable manner.

Under that mandate, Vista Bumiria will lead development of telecoms infrastructure in Terengganu, including tower and fibre deployment, serving as a central platform to support mobile network operators (MNOs) and expand coverage across both urban and rural communities.

Edotco said that as part of the deal, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu has been appointed as chairman of Vista Bumiria.

As part of the project, the Terengganu government also appointed Alam Mindscape Mobile as a “One Stop Agency” (OSA) to streamline management, approvals, and coordination of telecoms structures, which Edotco said will reduce deployment bottlenecks and enhance execution efficiency across the ecosystem.

Edotco group CEO Adlan Tajudin added that the model “positions Terengganu to become a leading example of state-driven digital infrastructure development in Malaysia, enabling a more coordinated and efficient approach to connectivity rollout.”

Edotco added that it will work closely with its MNO partners in Malaysia to accelerate deployment across the state.

This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Anders Tysdal, Chief Infrastructure Officer, Tampnet

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