The mainstreaming of artificial intelligence (AI) will contribute to a tripling of hyperscale data center capacity by 2029. This growth will require a doubling of fiber route miles and an even bigger increase in total fiber miles, according to a white paper released by the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA).
The study, titled “The Underappreciated Need to Enable AI and Data Center Growth: Increased and More Strategic Fiber Interconnections,” was written by RVA LLC. It suggests that fiber optic interconnections — which are complex and demanding — are transitioning from a behind-the-scenes role to one that is vital to AI performance, scalability, and security.
“Hyperscale operators would like high bandwidth routes, with low latency (accomplished with the most direct routes possible between locations with limited switching) and very high uptime (accomplished with good physical and cyber security and route redundancy),” the report notes. “With the birth of AI, the need for continued improvement in all these categories has accelerated.”
The FBA report notes three specific types of interconnections needed for AI:
- New short interconnections for every new hyperscale data center, averaging 135 route miles of connectivity per site.
- Upgrades to existing long-haul fiber interconnections to increase capacity.
- Entirely new long-haul interconnection routes to meet latency and bandwidth requirements.
There were about 95,000 route miles and 159 million fiber miles in 2024. This is expected to grow to approximately 187,000 route miles and 373 million fiber miles in 2029. The researchers forecast the annual addition of about 30 million fiber miles in 2025, increasing to nearly 60 million in 2029.
One of the companies that expects to cash in on the need for hyperscale data center fiber is Zayo. Earlier this month, the company began construction of three long-haul dark fiber routes, noting that the routes are specifically aimed at AI.
