Singapore tables Digital Infrastructure Bill following industry feedback, pledges to streamline implementation

[SINGAPORE] The Singapore government tabled a bill to regulate data centres and cloud service providers, after respondents to an earlier public consultation sought greater clarity on its licensing regimes and implementation timeline.

The Digital Infrastructure Bill was presented for First Reading by Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Tan Kiat How on Tuesday (Sep 8), following a three-week long public consultation between Jul 1 and Jul 22 on the proposed legislation.

The consultation, led by MDDI and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), received feedback from 25 respondents, which included data centre operators, consultants and industry associations.

The feedback received mainly focused on how the licensing regimes would operate in practice, including transition arrangements.

As the legislation is implemented, MDDI and IMDA said they will aim to minimise the regulatory burden by streamlining licensing and reporting processes, while also recognising existing industry standards and certifications.

Some respondents also raised concerns that a proposed six-month period may not provide sufficient time for companies to determine if they need to be licensed and adhere to the regulatory requirements, as well as make any necessary arrangements.

The regulators clarified that the six-month period is for companies to apply for a licence, not to meet the new requirements.

Service providers and data centre operators that apply within the six-month window will be allowed to continue through the application process until their licence is granted, refused or withdrawn.

Existing data centre facilities will also be given time to transition to energy-efficient requirements, after respondents highlighted potential challenges in upgrading older facilities.

However, the regulators did not share how long existing data centres would be given to meet the requirements.

Licensing regimes

First proposed in July, the Bill seeks to strengthen the security and resilience of major cloud services and data centres, as well as address the environmental sustainability of data centres in the Republic.

To address these needs, the Bill will establish two new licensing regimes that will apply to both existing and upcoming Singapore data centres.

The first regime seeks to manage operational risks and will apply to data centres with a critical IT load of at least 10 megawatts (MW) and major cloud service providers that generate at least S$100 million in average revenue in Singapore over the three preceding years.

The framework will establish a licensing regime which requires licensees to implement security and risk management measures, business continuity and disaster recovery plans.

Data centre operators under the first framework will be required to report specific incidents and disruptions to IMDA.

The second framework – which will apply to all data centres with a critical IT load of at least 3 MW – requires all licensees to meet facility-level energy-efficiency requirements, including power usage effectiveness requirements.

Under the second framework, licensed data centre operators will be required to track and record key sustainability metrics, as well as meet strategic and green energy requirements under the Data Centre Call for Action and Strategic Digital Infrastructure Scheme.

The regulators may consider including other efficiency requirements, such as water usage efficiency, in the future.

About two-thirds of Singapore’s approximately 70 data centres will fall within the licensing of the two frameworks.

Singapore currently has more than 1.6 gigawatts of data centre capacity as rising demand for computing power increases pressure on the Republic’s limited land, power and water resources.

The Bill will be debated at a future Parliament sitting, with the Second Reading tentatively scheduled for October.