Danucha Pichayanan, Secretary-General of the National Economic and Social Development Council, in his capacity as a board member and secretary of the committee on policy for the operation of data centre businesses, disclosed that the criteria governing the data centre business are expected to be finalised and begin actual enforcement no later than mid-October, after various agencies submitted their data, covering current service providers, criteria for classifying data centre sizes, and average electricity and water usage. On the electricity criteria, the Ministry of Energy will have to set criteria controlling consumption volumes, with electricity rates to apply specifically to the data centre business group. As for the criteria governing each category of size, operators that meet the industrial-type criteria must be located in designated industrial estate areas, and this must not affect the household sector. He also expressed the view that hyperscale data centres should be set at an electricity usage level of 100 megawatts or more. The clarity of the actual criteria must await the board's consideration. On the timeline, after the deadline, a conclusion is to be reached within one month from the first meeting on 4 September, after which the process of drafting a policy specifically for data centres will begin, and a mechanism must be considered to prevent operations from becoming fragmented. As for which agency will be the host, that must await a further conclusion.
Oracle Cloud Revenue Jumps 121% as Backlog Reaches $664 Billion
Oracle Corporation reported on September 10 that its revenue rose 30% in the fiscal first quarter, driven by a 121% jump in cloud infrastructure revenue, the business that rents computing power to AI companies. The company said its remaining performance obligations, the value of contracts signed but not yet delivered, reached $664 billion, more than seven times the revenue it expects this year, and on the back of that backlog Oracle raised its full-year revenue outlook to at least $90 billion. Roughly half of the backlog should turn into revenue within three years, more than three times what the company expects to collect in the whole of this year, and Oracle signed more than $30 billion of new AI cloud deals in the quarter, most structured as prepayments or customers bringing their own hardware. Delivering that backlog is costly: Oracle spent $28.5 billion on data centers and equipment in a single quarter, more than the cash its business generated, free cash flow stayed negative, gross margin fell more than five points to 61%, and a day after the results the company expanded its job-cut plan. Concentration risk looms as well, since a $300 billion contract with OpenAI signed last year begins in 2027 and is close to half of the current backlog, while OpenAI is still losing money. Management has pointed to an investor day in October for a fuller plan on margins and cash flow ahead of the next quarterly report in December.
ALT Secures Global Hyperscalers Deal, Pushing Backlog to 6.9 Billion Baht
ALT Telecom, or ALT, announced a major achievement in the third quarter of 2026, having won the trust of global hyperscaler clients to sign leases for network and digital infrastructure, with revenue to be recognized gradually over as long as 20 years. As a result, the value of contracted work awaiting revenue recognition, or backlog, rose significantly from 5.115 billion baht in the second quarter to approximately 6.9 billion baht in September. Preeyaporn Tangpaosak, Managing Director of ALT Telecom, said that the continued leasing of network capacity by major global clients reflects the potential and international standards of ALT Group's network systems, which helps strengthen financial stability and opens opportunities to expand into becoming a leader in digital infrastructure in the region. ALT Group also continues to enhance network efficiency to meet demand for Big Data, AI and Cloud Computing. On Friday, September 18, 2026, ALT's share price closed at 1.65 baht, up 0.08 baht, or 5.10%, with two analysts recommending a buy. Beyond Securities set a target price of 3.10 baht, and KGI Thailand valued it at 3 baht.
Nvidia, Google and Emerald AI Form Alliance for Power-Flexible AI Data Center
NVIDIA, Google, and Emerald AI have created the AI Energy Management Alliance to coordinate electricity use in AI data centers, and the group has started building what it calls the first purpose-built power-flexible AI data center, designed to adjust consumption with grid needs. AEMA plans to publish shared frameworks for grid-responsive data centers with input from utilities, regulators, and large AI infrastructure users. The alliance's first power-flexible facility is in Manassas, and the inflection point will be whether it secures faster grid interconnection terms or preferential tariffs by late 2026. Concrete regulatory wins or standardized grid-responsive design templates would show AEMA is more than marketing and could influence how future DSX style AI factories are specified and approved. NVIDIA operates as a data center scale AI infrastructure provider across the US, Asia, Europe, and other regions, so any shift toward power-flexible facilities directly affects how its hardware and software fit into future grid-aware computing projects.
