EL7.AI
StocksMediumUpdated×2•Originally published 23 October 2026•Updated 23 October 2026•
4 min read

SK Telecom Approves 750 Billion Won to Establish Hyper Business Through 2030

Key Facts

1SK Telecom approved an investment of 750 billion won in Hyper through 2030 to establish the business.
2The Horizon agreement includes a combined equity investment of 3.08 trillion won from KKR funds and the IMM Investment and Stonebridge consortium.
3AI data center revenue reached 136.2 billion won in the second quarter of 2026, up 92.5% year on year.
4Horizon targets total capacity of 318 megawatts, including 8 operating data centers and projects under construction.
5The broader expansion plan includes bringing total domestic capacity of 5 gigawatts online in phases starting in 2029.

SK Telecom approved an investment of 750 billion won in SK Hyper through 2030 to establish the foundations of the company's AI data center business, according to its statement. Hyper's board appointed Chung Suk-geun as the company's first chief executive to lead the entity for which the group earmarked the investment. Chung also heads SK Telecom's integrated AI data center development division, combining responsibility for the division with leadership of the company. The investment comes amid rising memory prices and high-performance computing infrastructure costs, factors SK Telecom cited in its project cost estimates. In an estimate published in July 2026, the company said building a typical AI data center with a capacity of 1 gigawatt could cost about 70 trillion won. Describing the scale of spending required, it said building such a facility "could entail a substantial project cost of up to about 70 trillion won."

In a separate infrastructure investment initiative, SK Telecom announced an agreement on 27 August 2026 for a combined equity investment of 3.08 trillion won in SK Horizon. The investment will come from funds managed by KKR and a consortium comprising IMM Investment and Stonebridge, according to the company's announcement of the agreement. The amount represents these investors' equity participation in Horizon under the deal SK Telecom announced in August. Horizon is to be established through the spin-off of SK Broadband's data center and subsea cable businesses, bringing both into the planned entity. The businesses to be transferred to the new company thus include both data center assets and subsea cable operations, under the spin-off structure outlined by SK Telecom.

After all stages of the investment are completed, SK Telecom will retain a 51% stake in Horizon, remaining its largest shareholder and retaining management control, according to the statement announcing the agreement. Funds managed by KKR will hold 29%, while the IMM Investment and Stonebridge consortium will hold about 20%. Horizon aims to expand its infrastructure to a total capacity of 318 megawatts under a plan combining existing assets and new projects. The platform includes 8 data centers that were already operating when the agreement was announced, providing the new company with an established operational base. The total capacity plan also includes projects under construction alongside those operating centers, according to SK Telecom's description of the expansion.

On the operational front, SK Telecom's AI data centers generated revenue of 136.2 billion won in the second quarter of 2026, according to the company's results. Revenue from the business rose 92.5% from the same quarter a year earlier, an increase the company attributed to expanded operations. The results followed revenue of 131.4 billion won in the first quarter, according to the earnings statement for that period. First-quarter revenue had grown 89.3% year on year, preceding the increase recorded in the following quarter. Second-quarter revenue thus exceeded the first-quarter level, while its growth rate compared with the same period a year earlier was also higher.

The upcoming project implementation timetable starts with a target to complete the business spin-off and establish Horizon in the first quarter of 2027, according to the schedule in the August 2026 announcement. Completion is subject to extraordinary general meeting procedures and government approvals, according to SK Telecom's announcement. In the same year, the company aims to begin operating its first AI factory under its collaboration with Nvidia. It also expects operations at the Ulsan AI Zone to begin in 2027 as part of SK Group's partnership with Amazon Web Services. The Ulsan partnership is based on a 15-year agreement announced in June 2025, according to the company's statement on the collaboration. Over the longer term, SK Telecom's broader plan includes bringing a total of 5 gigawatts of domestic AI data center capacity online in phases starting in 2029.