Why Digital Realty’s Move into Indonesia May Be the Smartest Data Center Play of 2025
As rivals crowd into mature APAC markets, Digital Realty makes a first-mover play in the region’s most overlooked tech economy—and it could change the map.
In the global digital infrastructure race, speed beats scale.
And this March, Digital Realty proved it.
Rather than competing in saturated hubs like Singapore or Seoul, the global colocation giant formed a 50/50 joint venture with BDIA to enter the Indonesian market, with an asset-light, high-leverage model designed for immediate ROI.
They didn’t start from scratch. They didn’t waste years permitting.
They acquired two live data centers — including CGK11, one of Jakarta’s most connected facilities — and future-proofed with adjacent land for hyperscale growth.
This isn’t just an expansion. It’s a playbook.
🧭 The JV Structure: A Trojan Horse for Southeast Asia
The joint venture, Digital Realty Bersama, gives DLR:
Immediate operations via BDIA’s carrier-neutral Jakarta platform
50% ownership of two live facilities
Development & property management fees on top of equity returns
Land for future phases, ready to scale with AI and cloud demand
By keeping BDIA leadership in place and bringing on Krishna Worotikan (ex-CFO of Microsoft Indonesia), DLR secured local knowledge, credibility, and seamless market continuity.
🧠 The Infrastructure: Connected, Dense, Scalable
CGK11 isn’t just a data center. It’s a network convergence point.
Located in Central Jakarta’s CBD
Directly connected to APJII, the country’s largest internet exchange
Integrated with Digital Realty’s ServiceFabric platform for real-time orchestration
Scalable from 5MW today to 32MW in the next build phase
This enables enterprises, clouds, and AI developers to deploy at speed, optimize latency, and manage workloads seamlessly from one pane of glass.
It’s the ideal launchpad for Indonesia’s AI transformation.
📈 The Market Opportunity: A Sleeping Giant Awakens
Indonesia has 278 million people—70% of whom are under 40—and one of the highest mobile internet adoption rates in the world.
Jakarta’s colocation market is set to hit $499M in 2025, with 54.6MW of uptake projected and an 11% CAGR over the next five years.
But this isn’t just about market size.
It’s about timing. The AI boom is fueling massive demand across APAC—but land, power, and permits are chokepoints.
Indonesia’s digital economy is hungry for hyperscale solutions. Digital Realty just gave it an on-ramp.
🧩 Strategy in Action: From India to Indonesia
This move mirrors DLR’s recent strategy in India:
Enter with local partners
Leverage operational platforms
Layer in PlatformDIGITAL and ServiceFabric
Scale intelligently with customer demand
Indonesia gives DLR another critical node on the APAC edge—connecting traffic, workloads, and AI models from Tokyo to Mumbai.
And the ability to execute quickly gives them a head start competitors will struggle to match.
🚀 Final Thought: The Real Bet Isn’t Just on AI—It’s on Agility
AI demand won’t wait for construction timelines.
Digital Realty didn’t just buy data centers in Indonesia. They bought a head start.
In a region where first-mover advantage can define a decade, this is what bold execution looks like.