Global, porgrammable, and dense – from cloud to edge; Verizon Business talked at MWC about how its sees the new AI stack evolving for telcos, and why its investments in backbone fiber, metro access, and private network will link cloud models and inference workloads...
Ericsson’s networks chief Per Narvinger offered a measured view of AI’s impact on telecoms at MWC: fiber may lead the infrastructure boom today, but AI will also shift through the mid-cycle 5G evolution in AI-driven RAN optimisation.
In sum – what to know:
New traffic –...
While most of the big talk at MWC is about 5G and 6G, the most urgent AI infrastructure work is with fibre-heavy data centre interconnects. Cisco, and certain others, are capitalising on this east-west traffic surge, with mobile and edge networks positioned as a...
AT&T is tightening its ties with hyperscale cloud partners as it readies its network for the AI era – embedding last-mile fiber and 5G directly into AWS environments, pushing AI into the RAN, and expanding its edge ecosystem with Microsoft.
In sum – what to...
As the industry gears up for its biggest annual show at MWC, it is (perhaps) worth looking back at another major 2026 telco gathering: PTC in Hawaii in January. Once a regional telecom meet, PTC has evolved into a global forum for AI infrastructure,...
Europe’s five biggest mobile operators – Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, TIM, and Vodafone Group – are building a pan-European “federated edge continuum”, stitching together their national edge assets into a single regional platform. But what is a federated edge – and is this a...
Europe’s largest enterprise fibre provider will scale infrastructure and partner-led operations across the Middle East, positioning itself as a regional gateway – whilst also divesting non-AI data centres in Europe to double down on asset-led digital infra.
In sum – what to know:
Regional scale-up –...
Power scarcity and thermal limits are major challenges for the AI data center buildout, observes Dell’Oro Group – but that the industry is redesigning infrastructure, doubling down on cooling, and spending its way out of a corner.
In sum – what to know:
Power constraints –...
As AI drives demand for new data centres, operators are discovering that the hardest constraints aren’t (just) land and power – they’re communities, politics, and staffing. Local opposition, public sentiment, and workforce shortages are reshaping where and how new AI facilities can be built.
In...
At a PTC panel in Hawaii last month, Verizon and industry peers discussed how AI is reshaping networks and data centres, prompting the US carrier to outline its strategy to leverage dense fibre and private 5G for enterprise AI workloads.
In sum – what to...
A panel at PTC in Hawaii comprising hyperscalers Google and Meta and wholesalers Exa Infrastructure and Southern Cross Cable Networks explored how AI is reshaping demand for submarine cables, driving hyperscaler-led builds, stressing legacy systems, and creating new regulatory and supply-chain challenges for the...
Nokia saw net sales rise by three percent last quarter and two percent in the whole of last year, even as margins slipped, partly because of investments and restructuring. Revenue growth came mostly from strong fiber-optic and data center demand, it said. Nokia is...
At PTC’26 in Hawaii, a panel of hyperscale and wholesale operators comprising Google, Meta, EXA, and SCCN dissected the mounting pressures on Atlantic subsea infrastructure. With spiralling AI traffic, impending end-of-life systems, and hyperscalers dominating new builds, the industry faces a wholesale supply crunch.
In...
As AI workloads move from centralised training to distributed inference, the industry’s infrastructure challenge is changing shape. Power and land matter, but Nvidia, SUBCO, and Zayo – on a panel at PTC'26 – argue that connectivity, latency, and scale in terrestrial and subsea fibre...
Hyperscaler capex is surging, vacancy has all but vanished, and AI is pushing data centre demand far beyond traditional hubs – but questions remain over power, people, and long-term returns as development spills into secondary and tertiary markets.
In sum – what to know:
Mega buildout...
PTC, once a small and sunny telecoms event, is now a fully-fledged AI infrastructure show. The 2026 version, in Honolulu, opened with familiar fanfare about the scale of the global AI build-out. But between the big numbers and flashy pyrotechnics, there was a bracing...
The AI build-out is rewriting the fibre comms order-book – between data centres and within data centres, right down to the rack itself. As power constraints, scale-out architectures, and interconnect bottlenecks push fibre ever closer to the data-centre edge, optical networking specialist Ciena has...
Amphenol has completed its $10.5 billion cash acquisition of CommScope’s CCS business, leaving CommScope with Ruckus and ANS, rebranded together as Vistance Networks. ANS has been rebranded individually as Aurora Networks. The deal streamlines CommScope, and expands Amphenol’s fiber, AI, and telco infra play.
In...
Singtel has launched Singapore’s first 50 Gbps XGS‑PON fibre broadband trial, a move that goes beyond headline speeds to test how networks can support AI, cloud, and immersive digital services. The pilot highlights a broader industry shift, where access and core infrastructure are being redesigned...
UK-based EXA Infrastructure has completed its long-running acquisition of Ireland-based subsea provider Aqua Comms for a knockdown price. The deal, agreed a year ago, strengthens its transatlantic and intra-European subsea connectivity, adding key cables to its 160,000-kilometre fibre network spanning 37 countries, while reflecting...
The timing of Nokia’s announcements last week about continuing European reductions and increasing US investments is awkward – and raises questions, perhaps, when considered with parallel EU calls in Germany and France, where it is cutting jobs, for home-made sovereign EU infrastructure.
In sum –...
Why has T-Mobile withdrawn (official) support for neutral-host deployments in CBRS spectrum? Has the CBRS brigade failed, and is its move justified, or is it just a classic carrier move by the self-proclaimed “un-carrier” on the US telco scene? And what does it mean...
While the technical specifications for 5G NTN are being considered, a number of conceptual plans for 6G NTN have been made public.
This Anritsu white paper introduces advanced technologies expected to be utilized in NTNs, including Network Optimization Using AI, Inter-satellite Optical Communications, and Quantum...
Built for speed and simplicity, Dell Technologies’ AI-ready infrastructure and automation tools help CSPs fast-track their journey to cloud-native
The telecom industry is in the midst of a profound architectural shift—from proprietary, vertically integrated stacks to disaggregated, cloud-native infrastructure. While this transformation offers tremendous benefits...
