The Sindh government and CMPak, the parent company of Zong, have agreed to collaborate on the development of an AI-ready Tier-III data centre in Karachi under a public-private partnership.
The agreement was reached during a meeting between Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and CMPak Chairman and CEO Huo Junli at the CM House.
According to a spokesperson, CMPak officials told the chief minister that an AI-ready Tier-III data centre would require significantly higher and uninterrupted electricity supplies compared with conventional telecommunications facilities.
The company requested provincial support for an industrial electricity tariff, increased grid capacity, dual power feeds to ensure redundancy and priority facilitation for the project.
The chief minister assured CMPak of the provincial government’s support and directed relevant departments to examine the company’s proposals, including shifting its electricity tariff from commercial to industrial, upgrading grid capacity and providing dual power connections.
Shah said the Sindh government was prepared to work with CMPak to establish the facility, describing projects of this scale as important for Pakistan’s digital development and technological capacity.
He said Karachi’s strategic location, connectivity and growing demand for digital services were helping position the city as a potential regional hub for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data hosting and digital innovation.
CMPak Chairman Huo Junli said the proposed data centre would support secure local data hosting, advanced cloud services, AI infrastructure and digital transformation for businesses and government institutions.
CMPak officials said the company, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Mobile Communications Corporation, has more than 55 million subscribers in Pakistan and has invested over $3 billion in the country. The company has also launched 5G services in more than 20 cities.
The project is expected to strengthen Karachi’s digital infrastructure while supporting the growing demand for data, cloud computing and AI-related services in Pakistan. – ERMD
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