电信运营商在人工智能价值链中的战略角色

IncollaborationwithAccenture

TheStrategicRole

ofTelecomProviders

AcrosstheAIValueChain

WHITEPAPERMARCH2026

Images:GettyImages

Contents

Foreword3

Executivesummary4

1

IndustrynarrativeandtheAIopportunity5

2

ThreestrategicpathwaysforCSPs7

2.1Overviewofthethreestrategicpathways7

2.2Strategicplaysforthemoderntelcotoprotect9

thecoreconnectivitybusiness

2.3StrategicplaysfortheAItechcotogrowthrough12

AI-poweredmanagedservices

2.4Strategicplaysforthenationalsovereign15

championtoactivateresilience

3

Pathwayenablers19

4

Prioritization:assessingvalueandfeasibility21

5

Conclusion22

Appendix23

A1Valueandfeasibilityassumptions23

Contributors26

Endnotes28

TheStrategicRoleofTelecomProvidersacrosstheAIValueChain2

TheStrategicRoleofTelecomProvidersacrosstheAIValueChain3

Readingguide

TheWorldEconomicForum’sAITransformationofIndustriesinitiativeseekstocatalyseresponsibleindustrytransformationacrossindustriesand

society.Itadvancesunderstandingofartificialintelligence’s(AI)impactonbusinessand

societywhileactivelyacceleratingpractical

implementationthroughleadershipconvening,ecosystemcollaborationandthescalingofreal-worldsolutions.

ThiswhitepaperseriesexaminesthetransformativeroleofAIacrossindustries,combiningcross-

industryanalysiswithin-depthsectoralandregionalperspectives.

Eachpaperoffersapractical,executive-levelviewofwhattransformationlookslikeontheground,

drawingonreal-worldcasestudies,leading

practices,emergingdatafromacrossindustriesandfiguresofimpactachievableinselectedcontexts.

Whileeachpaperisstandalone,commonthemesemerge:newoperatingmodels,evolvingrolesof

leadership,human-AIcollaborationandthegrowingimportanceofAIgovernanceandorchestration.

AsAIadoptionaccelerates,thisseriesaimstoequipleaderswiththeinsight,capabilitiesanddecision

frameworksrequiredtobuildcompetitive,responsibleandfuture-readyAI-enabledorganizations.

Crossindustry

Impactonindustrialecosystems

Incollaboration

withAccenture

FromParadoxtoProgress:

ANet-PositiveAIEnergyFramework

INSIGHTREPORT

DECEMBER2025

Upcoming:

AIinAction:Beyond

Organizational

Experimentationto

Transformation

TransformIndustry

intheAgeofAI

Leveraging

FromParadoxArtificialIntelligence

GenerativeAIforJob

toProgress:andCybersecurity:

Augmentationand

ANet-PositiveAIBalancingRisks

WorkforceProductivity

EnergyFrameworkandRewards

Regionalspecific

Impactonregions

Upcoming:China

Industryorfunctionspecific

Impactonindustries,sectorsandfunctions

Media,

entertainmentandsport

ArtificialIntelligencein

Media,Entertainment

andSport

Healthcare

TheFutureof

AI-EnabledHealth:

LeadingtheWay

Transport

IntelligentTransport,

GreenerFuture:

AIasaCatalyst

toDecarbonize

GlobalLogistics

Telecommunications

TheStrategicRole

ofTelecomProvidersAcrosstheAI

ValueChain

Advanced

manufacturingandsupplychains

Upcoming

Financialservices

Upcoming

Consumergoods

Upcoming

TheStrategicRoleofTelecomProvidersacrosstheAIValueChain4

March2026

TheStrategicRoleofTelecomProvidersacrosstheAIValueChain

Foreword

BorisMaurer

SeniorManagingDirector;

Communicationsand

MediaIndustryGlobalLead,Accenture

BartValkhof

Head,CommunicationsandTechnologyIndustry,WorldEconomicForum

ThreeyearsafterChatGPTreshapedtheglobal

landscape,industriesareracingtoreinvent

themselvesforanAI-poweredfuture.Beingtech-native,telecommunicationscompanies(telcos)

areaheadofmanyotherindustriesinadopting

thetechnologyacrossdifferentfunctions,mainly

toincreaseefficiencies.Ourwhitepaper,

Artificial

IntelligenceinTelecommunications

,launchedin

early2025,describeshowAIhasbecomeacentralfeatureintelecommunications(telecom)operations.

Thisisjustthebeginning.Strategicinvestments

inartificialintelligence(AI)infrastructureand

governmentsstrategiestowardsdigitalsovereigntyarepropellingtelcostowardsbecomingpotential

architectsoftomorrowsAIservices.Though

dependentonmarketdynamicsandnational

strategiesacrossregions,theopportunityfortelcosiscleardiversifyofferings,capturenewgrowth

andredefinetheindustrystrajectory.

TheWorldEconomicForumhasagainpartneredwithAccenturetodevelopthispaperandhelptheindustryframetheseAIopportunities.Wehave

workedcloselywithacommunityoftelecoms

acrossregions,originalequipmentmanufacturers(OEMs)andotherecosystempartnersandindustryassociationstohighlightthevariousstrategicplaysandenablersneededtocapturethem.

Ourfindingsareclear:todefendandexpandtheircorebusiness,telcosmustinvestinrobust,AI-

nativeconnectivity.Onthisfoundation,theycan

launchanewgenerationofAI-poweredproducts

andserviceswhetherfuelledbydigitalsovereigntyornot.Inanycase,successdemandsboldaction:transformingtechnology,reimaginingoperating

modelsandbuildingfuture-readyteams.

Togetherwiththefirstpaper,thispaperis

positionedasahigh-leveloverviewofwhata

futuretelcocouldlooklike,bothintermsof

businessmodelsandhowitoperates.Weinvite

youtodivein,challengeassumptionsandtaketheconversationforwardamongindustryleaders.

TheStrategicRoleofTelecomProvidersacrosstheAIValueChain5

Executivesummary

AIistransformingconnectivity,infrastructureandsovereigntyrequirements,creatingnewstrategicopportunitiesfortelecomproviders.

Telecommunicationscompanies(telcos)standatastructuralinflectionpoint.Whileenablingthedigitaleconomy,telcoshaveonlycapturedafractionofthevalue.Artificialintelligence(AI)andgeopoliticalforcesnowdriveareallocationofwheredata,

computeandtrustsit–andwiththat,aredefinitionoftelcos’relevance.

AIistransformingthreelayersatonce.Networksevolvefrombest-efforttoAI-first,experience-

guaranteed,programmableconnectivity.

Infrastructureandservicesmovefromstatic

capacitytoAI-ready,consumption-basedmanagedservices.Nationalecosystemsindicatethechange

fromglobalizedcloudtosovereign,compliantAIstacks.

Thispaperhighlightsthreehigh-levelstrategic

pathwaysfortelcos/communicationservice

providers(CSPs):themoderntelco,theAI

technologycompany(techco)andthenational

sovereignchampion.Withineachpathway,the

paperidentifiesasmallnumberofstrategicplaysandassessesthemforvalueandfeasibility,withacommonframeworkthatreflectsbothcommercialbenefitsandexecutioncomplexity.

OperatorswhoharnessAItomodernizethecoreconnectivitybusiness,strengtheneconomics

andexperience,andselectivelybuildAItechco

capabilitieswheretheycandifferentiate,especiallyinbusiness-to-business(B2B)contexts,willcreatethemostvalueinthenextdecade.Furthermore,inmarketswithstrongsovereignagendas,telcoscanstepuptoco-shapenationalAIstacksin

partnershipwithgovernmentsandhyperscalers.

ThecentralquestionisnolongerhowAIcanmaketelcosmoreefficient,buttherolestelcoschoosetoplayintheAIvaluechainandhowquicklytheycanexecutethose.

TheStrategicRoleofTelecomProvidersacrosstheAIValueChain6

post-taxROIC,

farbelowdigital

platforms’approximate27%in2025.

Industrynarrative

andtheAIopportunity

AIandgeopoliticsarereshapingthetech

architecture,providinggrowthopportunitiesfortelecomproviders.

Asartificialintelligence(AI)redefinesthedigital

landscape,communicationserviceproviders

(CSPs)/telecommunicationscompanies(telcos)areexploringnewstrategiestoinvestinandharnessAIinfrastructuretoremaincompetitive.AIisseennotjustasatechnologicalbreakthrough,butalsoasanopportunitytoredefineCSPs’relevanceinthenexteraofthedigitaleconomy.

Overthepastthreedecades,CSPshaveenabledtheinfrastructureonwhichtoday’sdigitalplatforms,contentecosystemsandcloudservicesrun.

Despitethisfoundationalcontribution,theyhavestruggledtocapturecommensuratevalue.Digitalplatformplayershavebuiltbusinessmodels

directlyontopoftelconetworks,allowingthemtogeneratemassivevaluebymonetizingcustomersmoreeffectivelyanddrivingcommerce.Their

consumption-basedpricingstructureshave

enabledstrongerpricingpowerandsignificantlyhigherreturns.Meanwhile,manyCSPs

continuetooperatewithall-you-can-eatpricingmodelsintheirconsumerbusinessesandwithunderdevelopedenterpriseofferings,whichhasconstrainedvaluecaptureasdigitalecosystemshaveevolved.

Today,thesestructuralissuesremainvisibleintheindustry’sperformance.Whileregionaldifferencesexist,globalcommunicationsrevenueisforecasttogrowjust2.3%through2026whilemarginsremainflat,withglobalearningsbeforeinterest,taxes,

depreciationandamortization(EBITDA)holdingatapproximately33%.Post-taxreturnoninvestedcapital(ROIC)sitsatapproximately8%,farbelowdigitalplatforms’approximate27%in2025,andcontinuedcapitalintensityconstrainsinvestmentcapacityandinnovation.1

1

TheStrategicRoleofTelecomProvidersacrosstheAIValueChain7

AsAIscales,

connectivity

becomesthe

criticalbridge

betweenusers

andedgedevicesononeside

andcentralized

ordistributed

computeresourcesontheother.

AIoffersachancetoresettheindustry’strajectory

Morethanjustthenextwaveofinnovation,AIrepresentsastructuralrealignmentofthedigitaleconomyandafundamentalshiftintheroleofconnectivity.

AsAIscales,connectivitybecomesthecritical

bridgebetweenusersandedgedevicesonone

sideandcentralizedordistributedcompute

resourcesontheother.Manylargelanguage

models(LLMs)remaintoolargetorunfullyon

enddevices,whileAIworkloadsareincreasingly

distributedacrossdevices,edgelocationsand

datacentres.2Thisshiftisreshapingtraffic

patternsasnetworksmovebeyondinteraction-

basedAItowardscontinuousexchangesbetweenautonomousagents,platformsandenterprise

systems.Demandforreal-timeinference,video-

andsensor-basedapplications,andmultimodal

AIAIthatcanoperateacrossmultipletypes

ofdatawithinasinglemodelfurtheramplifies

theneedforsecure,real-time,predictable

performance.Enablingtheseworkloadswillrequiremorethanincrementalnetworkupgrades;as

TMForumhighlights,operatorswillneedanewnetworkingcore3builtonautonomousoperationsandexperience-basedchargingtomeaningfullyparticipateinandmonetizetheemergingAIvaluechain.

TelcosapproachAIfromapositionofstructural

advantage:controlofcriticalconnectivity

infrastructure,proximitytousersanddataflows,andalongstandingroleastrusted,regulated

operatorsofnational-scalesystems.TheseassetspositiontelcosnotonlytosupportAIadoption,

buttoplaydifferentiatedrolesindeliveringandoperatingAIservices.

Theshiftisnotjustarchitecturalitisalso

geopolitical.Asthesensitivityarounddata

sovereigntyintensifies,governmentsare

acceleratingthemovetowardsnationalAI

infrastructure.Workloadsareincreasinglymoving

fromcentralizedcloudstosovereign,in-country

compute,drivinglocalizationforminimizing

transportworkloads,latency,complianceand

security.GovernmentsarechannellingmajorcapitalintonationalAIinfrastructure,fromEuropesplannedAIgigafactories4tolarge-scalesovereigninvestmentvehiclesintheMiddleEast.5InternationalData

Corporation(IDC)expectsspendingonsovereign

cloudworldwidetogrow27%onaveragefrom

2022to2027,reaching$258.5billion6bytheendoftheforecastperiod.Bythen,localizeddatacentreswillcontributenearlyaquarterofnewcomputing

capacity.Thedriversareclear:economicself-

interest,dataprotectionandgeopoliticalresilience.Giventheirpositionastrusted,secureandlocal

stewards,CSPsarewell-positionedtoanchor

theseemergingsovereignecosystems,with81%ofenterprises7seekingtelcosaspartnersfor

sovereignAIadoption.Atthesametime,realizingthisopportunitywillrequirenavigationofsignificantconstraints,includinghyperscalerdominanceattheedge,fragmentedregulatoryenvironmentsacrossregionsandthecapitalintensityofbuildingand

operatingsovereignAIinfrastructure.

Thepreviouspaperprimarilyhadaninward-lookingfocusandexploredhowtelecomoperatorsare

adoptingAIusecasesacrossfunctionstoincreaseefficiencyandimprovecustomerexperience.Whileefficiencyremainsessential,thispapersfocusshiftstoamorechallengingquestion:Whatrolescan

CSPsplayintheeraofAI?Thistextexplores

howtheirinfrastructure,reachandtrustallfactorsthatdefinethecommunicationsindustrycan

powertheAIeconomybyenablingtheconnectivity,computeanddatamovementthatmakeAI

possible.ThecentralquestionisnolongerhowAIcanimprovetelcos,buthowtelcoscanenableAI.

TheStrategicRoleofTelecomProvidersacrosstheAIValueChain8

2

Threestrategic

pathwaysforCSPs

Telecomproviderscanpursuedistinctpathwaystoprotectcoreconnectivity,enableAIservicesandsupportsovereignAIecosystems.

2.1

Overviewofthethreestrategicpathways

Asastartingpoint,thispaperorganizesthe

growthopportunitiesforCSPsalongthree

strategicpathways,eachreflectingadistinct

vectorofvaluecreationintheemergingAI

economy.Thefirstpathwayisthemoderntelco,focusedonstrengtheningandmonetizingthe

networkfoundationforAIworkloads.Thesecond,theAItechco,reflectsthemoveintoAI-ready

infrastructureandservicesthatoperatealongsideconnectivity.Thethird,nationalsovereign

champion,centresonenablingcompliant,

trustedandsovereignAIecosystemsthatalignwithrisinggeopolitical,regulatoryandnationalsecuritypriorities.

Pathwaysarenotallequallyachievableandare

heavilydependentontheAImaturitylevel(internalcapabilities,externalpartnerships)andmarket

context(regulatoryenvironmentandoverallmarketreadiness).Botharediscussedlaterinthepaper.

Pathway1:

Moderntelco

AsAIadoptionaccelerates,itcreatespressure

tomodernizeinfrastructureandunlocksan

opportunitytomonetizeperformancethrough

value-basedservices.Atthesametime,protectinginteroperabilityiscritical;AIinfrastructuremust

remainvendor-agnosticandstandardized,not

lockedintoafewdominanthyperscaleplatforms.ThemoderntelcoisemergingasanAI-enhancedconnectivityproviderdeliveringsecure,predictable,

high-performancenetworks.ByusingAIto

improveoperationsandcustomerexperienceandenabledifferentiatednetworkperformance,telcoscanprotecttheircoreconnectivitybusiness

whileboostingefficiencyandproductivity.

Pathway2:

AItechco

AI’sexpansioniscreatingsustaineddemandforsecuredcompute,capacity,storageandmodelmanagementplatformsclosertotheuser.As

AIservicesincreasinglysupportapplications

withreal-timerequirements–suchasrobotics,autonomoussystemsandphysicalAI–valuecreationdependsonnetworkinfrastructure

capableofdeliveringlowlatency,predictableperformanceandquality-of-experience

(QoE)guarantees.

TheAItechcocanbeanend-to-endconnectedcapacityplayerwithAIservicesdeliveredontopofhyperscaleplatforms,becomingatrusted

orchestratorforenterprisesandconsumers.TheservicesportfoliooftheAItechcowillevolvefromcurrentcoreconnectivityservicestowardsAI-

poweredmanagedservicesorchestratedanddeliveredinanindividualized,on-demandway

atguaranteedquality-of-service(QoS)(ontopofsecureandautonomousnetworksenabledbyAI).ThroughtheAItechcopathway,operatorscan

outgrowtheirrelianceonsubscribergrowthandloyaltybeyondlicensedservices.

TheStrategicRoleofTelecomProvidersacrosstheAIValueChain9

Pathway3:

Nationalsovereignchampion

AIadoptionisreshapingnationalprioritiesas

governmentsandenterprisesracetobuild

sovereignandsecuredigitalecosystems.Inthis

environment,theabilitytosecure,governand

sustainAIoperationswithinnationalbordershas

becomeaprerequisiteforparticipationintheglobalAIeconomy.Telcos,assovereignfrontliners,are

centraltothistransformationregulated,trustedanduniquelycapableofdeliveringtheinterconnected

capabilitiesdemandedbysovereignty.Thenationalsovereignchampioncompanyisalignedwiththenationalresiliencestrategy,deliveringsovereign

AIinfrastructure,platformcapabilities,sovereign

policycontrols,models,usecasesandgovernance.AcrossAsia,theMiddleEast,EuropeandCanada,

governmentsarelookingatnationaltelcoplayers

tostepupandplayasignificantroleinnations

sovereignagendas.Fortelcostofulfilthisrole,theymustpossessthecapabilitiesofanAI-enabled

techco,bothintermsofinfrastructureinvestmentsaswellasAIskillsandecosystemorchestrationroles.

Toeffectivelypursuethispathway,telcosneedtoassessthespecificcontextoftheirregionandmarket.CountriesliketheUnitedArab

Emirates,Indonesia,IndiaandThailandhavecommittedtopartneringwithnationaltelecomoperatorstoadvancenationalAIagendas.

Othermarketsarestartingtopresentthese

opportunitiesaswell.Eachoperatorwillneedtoassesstheregionalappetiteaswellastheirownfinancialpositionwhenevaluatingthispursuit

andtiminginvestmenttowardsthispathway.

Strategicplaysalignedtoeachpathwayandcustomersegment

Eachpathwayconsistsofasetofrelevant

strategicplays.Thematrixbelowplaceseachplayagainstbothapathwayandacustomersegment:business-to-customer(B2C),business-to-business(B2B)andpublic-sector/regulatedindustry.Inthesectionthatfollows,thepaperevaluateseach

playbasedonscope,demanddrivers,telcodifferentiationandmonetizationmodel.

FIGURE

1

Strategicplaysalignedtopathwaysandcustomersegments

Moderntelco

Protectthecore

connectivitybusiness

Nationalsovereignchampion

Activateresiliencethroughsovereigntyandsecurity

AItechco

GrowthroughAIpoweredmanagedservices

B2C

Hyper-personalizedcontentandcustomerjourneys1

AI-firstconnectivity

B2CAIaggregator

SovereignAIusecasesAIsafety&security

B2B2

AI-firstconnectivity

Datacenterinterconnect(DCI)Dedicatednetworks

AI-optimizedcolocation

Network-as-a-service(NaaS)Horizontalandvertical

AIsolutions

GPU-as-a-service(GPUaaS)

SovereignAIinfrastructure

SovereignAIplatformandmodelservices

SovereignAIusecasesAIsafetyandsecurity

Publicsectorandregulated/mission-criticalB2B

AI-firstconnectivity

PrimarybuyingcenterSecondbuyingcenter

Notes:1.Hyper-personalizedcontentandcustomerjourneysweredetailedinthe2025ArtificialIntelligenceinTelecommunicationspaper;

2.B2Bincludesenterprisesacrossallindustrieswhileecosystempartnersrepresenthyperscalers,graphicsprocessingunit(GPU)vendors,cloudsoftwareandintegrationpartnerswhomayactasbuyers.

TheStrategicRoleofTelecomProvidersacrosstheAIValueChain10

Strategicplaysforthemoderntelcotoprotectthecoreconnectivitybusiness

Themodern

telcopathway

modernizes

networksinto

cloud-andAI-

nativearchitectures,usingAItoimproveoperational

productivityand

deliverpredictable,experience-led

performance.

2.2

Themoderntelcopathwaymodernizesnetworks

intocloud-andAI-nativearchitectures,usingAI

toimproveoperationalproductivityanddeliver

predictable,experience-ledperformance.Anchoredinstandardizedandvendor-agnosticdesigns,

telcoscanprotectinteroperabilitywhilemonetizingdifferentiated,assuredconnectivity.Thispathwayisactivatedthroughfourstrategicplays:AI-first

connectivity,datacentreinterconnect(DCI),AI-optimizedcolocationanddedicatednetworks.

AI-firstconnectivity

AI-firstconnectivityreflectsashiftfromcorenetworkstoimmersive,experience-driven

infrastructureforconsumers,industriesand

enterprises.Foundationalnetworkperformance

–latency,uplinkoptimizationandtrafficoptimization

–facilitatesadvancedAI-nativeofferings,

primarilythroughnetworkslicing,8supported

byprogrammablenetworksandstandardized

applicationprogramminginterfaces(APIs).As

immersiveexperiencesscale,telcosmustinnovateacrossaccess,radioandcorenetworklayers

andbuildcloud-andAI-nativenetworkstohaveaseatatthetablealongsidehyperscalers,devicemanufacturersandagenticAIproviders.

Servicesincludeprioritizeduplinkforreal-time

video,autonomousself-healingQoEforAIagents,andedgeoffloadingtonearbycomputenodes,

althoughnetworkanddevicereadinessfortheseservicesmaynotbeuniformlyavailableinall

environmentstoday.Operatorscanexposethesecapabilitiesviadeveloperportalsorintegratethemdirectlyintoenterpriseconnectivitybundles.

Customerdemandforperformance-assured

AI-readyconnectivityexistsacrossallsegments,withusecasesinthepublicsector(forinstance,digital-twincitiesandemergencyresponse),in

B2B(forhighuplinkandQoSusecaseslikevideoinferencing),andincreasinglyinB2C,whereusersexpectseamlessreal-timetranslation,immersivemediaandpersonal-assistantexperiences.OmdiaforecaststhatAI-enrichedinteractionswillexpandatapproximately120%compoundannualgrowthrate(CAGR)through2030,9underscoringthe

rapidriseofAIworkloadsandtheirincreasingimpactonglobalconnectivitydemands.

Righttoplayishigh,giventelcos’unique

controloverlicensedspectrum,networkslicingandgranulartelemetrydatafromreal-timeradioaccessnetwork(RAN)performance,givingthemunmatchedvisibilityofnetworkperformance.

ThisallowsthemtoguaranteeperformanceforAIworkloadsinwaysthatcolocationandhyperscaleproviderscannot.

Standardsandindustrybodiesareconvergingonexperience-andoutcome-basedcharging

asthelogicalmonetizationstrategyforAI-

firstconnectivity.TMForum10and3GPP11

emphasizemulti-dimensional,QoS-aware

pricing,enabledbynetworkslicingcharging

specificationsanddynamicpolicycontrol(wherecustomerspayforguaranteedperformanceorbusinessoutcomesratherthanundifferentiateddatavolume).Today,manyAIdeploymentsin

telecomsremainfocusedoninternalefficiencyandcostoptimization,butGSMAanalysis12

showsagrowingshifttowardsexternal-facingcommercialusecases,withAI-firstconnectivitysupportingtheseemerginggrowthstrategies.

CASESTUDY1

T-MobileUSAdvancedNetworkSolutionsdeliveringprivatenetwork-likeperformancewithouttheoverhead

InOctober2025,T-MobileUSlaunchedEdgeControl

andT-PlatformaspartofitsAdvancedNetworkSolutionsportfolio.EdgeControlusestheoperator’s5Gadvancednetworkwithlocalbreakouttodeliver“privatenetwork-likeperformancewithouttheoverhead”,routingtrafficlocally

intoenterpriseedgecompute.Thecommercialpitchis

explicitlymission-critical,low-latencyconnectivityforAI/edgeapplicationsacrossmedia,sports,entertainmentandthe

publicsector.13

TheStrategicRoleofTelecomProvidersacrosstheAIValueChain11

DCI

DCIprovidesthehigh-capacity,low-latency

opticaltransportrequiredtolinkhyperscale,

regionalandedgedatacentressupporting

distributedAItrainingandinference.14AsAI

workloadsdrivesustainedeast-to-westtraffic

flowsbetweencomputelocations,DCIbecomesafoundationalenablerofscaleandperformance.

Demandisdrivenbyhyperscalers,graphicsprocessingunit(GPU)vendorsandenterprisesrunningdistributedAImodelsthatrequire

deterministic,high-throughputinterconnects.

ThisdemandwillintensifyasAIbecomesamore

persistent,ambientandcontinuousexchangeof

tokensbetweencomputenodes.15IDCprojects

thatglobalDCIrevenuewillgrowata10.9%CAGR,reaching$5.5billionby2029.16

ForCSPs,theDCIopportunityisshapedlessbyservicedifferentiationandmorebyinfrastructurescarcity.Ownershipoflong-haulfibreroutes

andpower-densesitescreatessustainedpricingpowerasdemandforAI-driveninterconnect

outpacessupply.Monetizationistherefore

anchoredinmulti-yearcapacitycontractsand

premiumservicelevelagreements(SLAs)for

guaranteedlatencyandavailability,withuse-

basedandSLA-tieredmodelsemergingastrafficpatternsmature.

CASESTUDY2

VerizonpartneringwithAmazonWebServicestoprovidefibreforAI

VerizonBusinessandAmazonWebServices(AWS)

announcedasignificantnewVerizonAIConnectagreementtobuildlong-haul,high-capacityfibrepathwayslinking

multipleAWSdatacentrelocations.Underthedeal,Verizonwillconstructresilient,low-latencyfibreroutesdesigned

tosupporttheperformanceandreliabilitydemandsof

advancedAIworkloads,especiallygenerativeAIandotherdata-intensiveapplications.TheexpandedfibrenetworkstrengthensV