How AI is creating new intersecting opportunity points for fiber

As we get ready for the 2026 Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) FiberConnect trade show, it’s clear that the show’s program reflects how fiber is not only transforming broadband but also helping data centers meet AI demand. 

Consider that Lightwave and my colleagues from sister publications Data Center Frontier (DCF) and ISE will be moderating panels on data center themes. I am moderating the Edge Compute and Digital Transformation Across Sectors panel. At the same time, DCF’s Matt Vincent will conduct a Fireside Chat: A Data Center Without Connectivity is an Expensive Warehouse, and ISE’s Hayden Beeson will oversee the Common Construction Roadblocks and How to Avoid Them roundtable.

All of this comes as data centers are increasing their demand for new fiber. RVA noted in its five-year forecast that 92,000 route miles of fiber need to be built for data centers.

Mike Render, president of RVA, said that while the data center industry emphasized power, cooling, and silicon, “there’s not enough fiber between existing centers and the new data centers.”

Data center fiber demand is creating wholesale opportunities for Tier 2 providers like Fidium, which built 9,000 new fiber route miles in 2025, with its total wholesale network spanning more than 76,000 route miles and over 380,000 on-net and near-net buildings.

Fidium extended its reach to Flexential’s data centers in Dallas and Plano, Texas, and Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota.

Sean Baillie, SVP of carrier, channel, data center, and hyperscale at Fidium, said data centers align with its expansion plans. “Edging out our network is opportunity-driven, and the data center landscape is the obvious place to go,” he said.

As fiber creates new opportunities for data centers supporting AI, vendors are responding.  

Corning broke ground on a multi-year fiber facility in Hickory, NC, to support a $6 billion agreement with Meta. It is also advancing hollow core fiber (HCF) by entering into a manufacturing collaboration with Microsoft in North Carolina.

Meanwhile, HCF upstart Relativity Networks struck a production deal with Prysmian to produce HCF and cable.

All of this adds up to the fact that the AI is creating new intersecting opportunity points for fiber.