Fiber is the backbone of this push, enabling CDNs to keep pace with ever-increasing data loads and performance expectations. What’s more, video traffic is projected to make up the vast majority of internet traffic globally, highlighting the need for networks to deliver enough bandwidth and low latency to support consistent streaming quality.

Subsea Cable Expansion and Regeneration
Global connectivity relies on subsea cables, which require robust fiber infrastructure for landing stations and cross-connect ecosystems. Today, roughly 570 submarine cable systems are in service worldwide, with approximately 80 more planned — marking the largest wave of subsea development in decades. These cable systems carry the majority of the world’s intercontinental internet traffic, supporting everything from global communications and finance to education and national security. As operators expand and modernize these routes, the need for high-capacity, low-latency fiber grows as well, not only along coastlines, but deep into regional and local networks that keep data moving across the globe.

Capacity and Quality Matter More Than Ever
As bandwidth demands surge, both capacity and quality have become mission-critical. Multi-pair, high-count fiber — once reserved for the most demanding applications — is now the standard, giving operators the flexibility to scale and support growing cloud, AI, and edge workloads.

But capacity alone isn’t enough. Low latency, route diversity, and physical resiliency are essential to ensure uninterrupted connectivity for real-time applications like AI inference, autonomous systems, and high-resolution streaming.

Neutral, carrier-grade fiber networks designed to support multiple ecosystems are equally important to support demanding workloads. These open infrastructures allow cloud providers, hyperscalers, CDNs, enterprises, and data centers to interconnect seamlessly. As high-value workloads continue to spread across regions, robust, reliable, and high-performance fiber networks are non-negotiable.

Where Demand Is Surging Most

Fiber demand is spiking across multiple sectors, driven by the evolving needs of modern digital infrastructure.

Data Centers
Hyperscale, edge, and AI-specific data centers are major drivers of fiber growth. AI training clusters, in particular, require dense, high-capacity fiber connections to move massive datasets between GPUs, servers, and inference nodes. Meanwhile, edge deployments depend on seamless interconnection with centralized data centers to ensure low-latency, high-throughput performance for distributed workloads.

Smart Factories and Enterprise Campuses
Manufacturing and enterprise operations are becoming increasingly digitized. Robotics, IoT devices, digital twins, and automation systems all demand continuous, high-bandwidth connectivity. Fiber networks enable these environments to operate efficiently, supporting real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, and data-driven decision-making.

Subsea Cable Landing Stations
The growth of international data traffic is driving expansion at coastal landing stations. These hubs require robust inland fiber connectivity to distribute traffic efficiently to metropolitan areas and regional networks. Expanding capacity in these corridors ensures that global communications, cloud services, and content delivery maintain high performance and reliability.

Rural and Second-Tier Metro Growth
Fiber investments are also reaching beyond Tier 1 markets. Distributed computing, edge applications, and enterprise expansion are creating strong demand in rural areas and second-tier metros. Operators are deploying high-capacity fiber to support these markets, connecting businesses, campuses, and communities that were previously underserved.