Hello Reader,
To the over 100 of you who signed up for my newsletter this week - welcome! In addition to putting together a weekly digest of the stories I've written, I also try to write short introductory notes that are a little different from my usual LinkedIn post here.
These notes might range from me sharing my thoughts on recent key developments, to something I came across during the week, or even new insights that came to mind as I started writing - strangely, that does happen quite often.
What is AirTrunk building?
If you're from Singapore, the biggest news this week is probably AirTrunk's mystery 80.2MW data centre, as reported by Bloomberg on Thursday. It's a big deal, given how strict Singapore has been about approving new data centre builds.
In fact, the only new data centres since the moratorium was lifted is probably ST Engineering's Data Centre @ Boon Lay (7.5MW) in 2024, and the four data centres from the pilot DC-CFA - 20MW each or 80MW in total.
So where did AirTrunk get its 80.2MW for the purported greenfield data centre from? Did Bloomberg get it wrong, or did AirTrunk somehow manage to pull off an incredible hat trick?
Let’s just say I’ve heard of country heads at major data centre operators firing off urgent texts because of it. You can read more in the Spotlight story below."
Something is brewing
It's already April and there is still no news of the next DC-CFA, one of the key mechanisms used to award new data centre capacity in Singapore. Mind you, IMDA was emphatic that the DC-CFA isn't the only way to allocate capacity when I wrote about it last year.
When Singapore announced the surprise 300MW of new data capacity in May 2024, it did say that the new capacity would be made available "in the short term." We are almost in May again, and it would seem to me that something has got to happen - and very soon.
If you ask me, I'm guessing that the delay is an indication that another significant adjustment to Singapore's policy about data centre is being mulled.
What keeps me going
Finally, I just wanted to share something a little more personal this week.
Someone (again) posted a Favikon ranking and tagged me on LinkedIn. Apparently, I'm now ranked #1 based on some obscure combination of expertise. It didn't take long for a few well-meaning friends to start congratulating me, including in a private chat group.
If you've followed me for a while, you'll have noticed I never bothered with congratulating myself about being made a LinkedIn Top Voice or appearing in these kind of rankings. There are many reasons why I post daily, but chasing superficial accolades isn't one of them.
That said, positive comments or short notes of appreciation from industry insiders or specialists? That absolutely makes my day. Something like this:
Or this (the second paragraph):
If you've ever sent a note or left a kind comment, thank you!
As usual, you can reply to this email and it will reach me. You have a wonderful weekend ahead.
Regards,
Paul Mah.
AirTrunk seeks loan for mystery 80.2MW data centre in Singapore
Industry watchers scratching their heads over reported greenfield facility.
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