Submer taps Netceed to expand AI infrastructure in EMEA

Submer Group has signed a distribution partnership with Netceed across EMEA, extending its route to telecommunications customers in the region.

Under the agreement, Netceed will act as a value-added distributor for Submer's AI infrastructure offering, giving the Barcelona-founded company access to Netceed's telecoms customer network across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The arrangement is aimed at telecoms operators and data centre providers seeking to build AI systems closer to where data is generated and stored.

Submer has been expanding beyond its origins in liquid cooling into a broader AI infrastructure business. It now spans data centre design and build, monitoring software and GPU cloud services, covering both core data centres and edge computing.

For Netceed, the deal adds AI infrastructure to a portfolio that already covers broadband, data centre and energy markets. The distributor supplies passive and active equipment and tooling for network deployment, expansion and maintenance across areas including FTTH, HFC, Wi-Fi, 5G and data centres.

The partnership reflects rising demand in EMEA for locally controlled AI infrastructure, particularly among telecoms groups and operators assessing how to host AI workloads without relying entirely on large, centralised cloud providers. Data sovereignty, access to power and the challenge of fitting dense AI hardware into existing facilities have become central issues in infrastructure planning.

Submer said its broader platform is designed to address those constraints by combining different parts of the infrastructure stack. That includes liquid-cooled systems for dense computing, monitoring software, facility design and construction services, and access to GPU cloud resources.

Netceed gives the arrangement regional scale. According to company information, it employs around 1,500 people in 21 countries and manages a catalogue of more than 90,000 products from nearly 1,500 suppliers. Its customer base spans carriers and network operators working on network builds and upgrades.

Regional push

The agreement also marks another step in Submer's expansion across EMEA. The group said it has deployed more than 500 MW of liquid-cooled infrastructure and holds more than 8 GW of powered land across the Americas, EMEA and APAC as it seeks to position itself across the AI infrastructure supply chain.

Founded in 2015, Submer operates globally, with hubs in Houston and Taipei alongside its base in Barcelona. The company has focused on the physical constraints of AI deployment, particularly heat, power availability, deployment times and local control over data.

Those issues have become more prominent as telecoms operators explore whether AI services can be offered through existing network and data centre assets. Edge deployments are of particular interest because they place computing resources closer to users or devices, but they also add complexity in cooling, monitoring and maintenance across distributed sites.

By working with a distributor that has established telecoms relationships, Submer is aiming to shorten its sales path into that market. Netceed's role as a value-added distributor suggests it will support customers with integration and deployment across different infrastructure environments, rather than simply move products.

Submer's commercial team provided brief context on the deal.

"Netceed brings a powerful combination of extensive EMEA reach and dedicated specialism in global telecommunications and data center infrastructure. This partnership will enable us to scale across EMEA and be accessible to telcos looking to launch new AI-driven services and sovereign data centers without reliance on centralized hyperscaler infrastructure," said Manpreet Bath, Vice President for Commercial Engagement, Submer Group.

The focus on sovereign data centres is notable in Europe and other EMEA markets, where regulation, national industrial policy and concern over external dependence are shaping infrastructure decisions. For telecoms operators, that can create an opening to host AI workloads domestically or regionally, provided they can assemble the right mix of land, power, cooling, connectivity and computing.

Netceed's position in broadband and network infrastructure could make it a useful channel for that effort, particularly among operators already buying equipment and services from the distributor. The partnership brings together a specialist AI infrastructure provider and a supply chain company with broad regional coverage at a time when telecoms groups are assessing how to turn AI plans into operational systems.

Submer said the combined offer would allow customers to deploy AI infrastructure as integrated systems or modular components across ground, cloud, core and edge environments.