Outside of data-centre interconnect, AI has had a limited impact on network traffic volumes so far
02 June 2025 | Research
Article | PDF (2 pages) | Fibre Infrastructure| NaaS Platforms and Infrastructure
"Outside of providing wholesale data-centre interconnect for hyperscalers, telecoms operators do not yet have a need to invest heavily in network infrastructure to support additional traffic from AI workloads."
The telecoms industry has been considering whether AI will drive considerable growth in network traffic volumes. However, telecoms operators at FutureNet World in May 2025 said that AI has so far only had a minimal impact on network traffic levels outside of data-centre interconnect (DCI). This calls into question what steps, if any, operators need to take to ready their networks for increasing consumer and enterprise usage of AI.
Author
Joseph Attwood
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