Singtel to launch Nvidia-powered cloud computing offering

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Singtel is launching GPU as a service (GPUaaS) in Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries in the third quarter of 2024.

GPUaaS is a cloud-based solution that offers access to graphics processing units (GPUs) on demand. Potential applications for GPUs include machine learning, graphics rendering, data processing, high-performance computing, and gaming.

Earlier today, the telecommunications provider said its GPUaaS will be deployed through Nvidia H100 GPU-powered clusters that are operated in Singtel’s existing upgraded data centers in Singapore.

Singtel intends to eventually expand its GPUaaS to run in its three upcoming sustainable AI data centers across Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia when they begin operations.

These are currently being developed by Nexra, the group’s regional data center business. Singtel plans to deploy over 100 megawatts of such data centers through Nxera within the next three years.

The company will be among the world’s first to deploy Nvidia’s GB200 Grace Blackwell Superchips upon receiving them in early 2025. Singtel said this would give its enterprise customers options for different types of accelerators for their advanced computing and AI needs.

Using over 200 billion transistors, the Blackwell GPUs are said to deliver 30x faster real-time large language model inference than their predecessors.

“Our GPUaaS will run in AI-ready data centers specifically tailored for intense compute environments with purpose-built liquid-cooling technologies for maximum efficiency and lowest power usage effectiveness, giving [enterprise customers] the flexibility to deploy AI without having to invest and manage expensive data center infrastructure,” said Bill Chang, CEO of Singtel’s Digital InfraCo unit as well as Nxera.

He added that the group has been seeing “keen interest” from both private and public sectors, which are “raring to deploy AI at scale quickly and cost-effectively.”

Separately, on the same day, Singtel announced that it launched a digital aggregation and orchestration platform, Paragon-S, at the global Satellite 2024 Conference and Exhibition in Washington DC.

Paragon-S was developed in-house and is based on Singtel’s patented orchestration platform Paragon. It integrates multiple orbit satellites with terrestrial fixed and mobile network connectivity services.

It enables enterprises to switch applications between satellite operators’ edge cloud and public clouds based on their business requirements.

Singtel said this marks the satellite industry’s first all-in-one orchestration platform, which it believes will help satellite operators enhance resiliency and optimize cost, while also unlocking new streams of revenue through edge computing and AI.