Adtran is focused on continuing to capture optical networking opportunities with service providers upgrading their network capabilities to accommodate data center providers with wholesale dark and lit fiber services.  

Whether it is large providers like AT&T or Verizon or emerging operators like Optimum, the service provider community is enhancing their optical network backbones to serve an increasingly growing set of bandwidth demands driven by AI.

“While we are growing with cloud providers, we are deliberately staying focused on the service providers that connect them, where our deep customer relationships and differentiated technology give us a strong position,” Stanton said. “And as some competitors turn their attention elsewhere, we intend to capture the opportunity that they create.”

Beyond connecting AI infrastructure with carriers, Adtran sees continued growth potential in data center interconnection (DCI) in the cloud provider market.

Adtran’s third-quarter revenue from hyperscaler customers grew more than 200% year-over-year.

“We are positioning ADTRAN to participate directly in its build-out with solutions at three critical points in the cloud network architecture,” Stanton said. “Data center interconnect is where we have long served cloud providers, and we are starting to see the benefits of our investments in this area.”

For data center providers and hyperscalers, the MicroMux Quatro offers modern 400G switch/router hardware that supports legacy 100G/200G server or inter-switch links without redesigning or retrofitting the network.

“At the cloud handoff, where cloud providers connect to service providers or other cloud providers, we plan to release our MicroMux Quattro solution in the first half of 2027,” Stanton said. “It is generating significant interest from hyperscalers, content providers and wholesale network providers.”

He added that Adtran said some OEMs as well as hyperscalers are evaluating the MicroMux Quattro solution.  “Some of the hyperscalers have pushed OEMs to come our way for both of those products,” Stanton said. “We have some early Quattro that are out in testing.”

LPO opportunities emerge 

Along with pluggables, Adtran is seeing growing interest in its linear pluggable optics (LPO) offerings.

In March, Adtran launched LiteWave800, an ultra‑low‑power 800 Gbps DR8 linear pluggable optics (LPO) module to help data centers address the power, latency, thermal and bandwidth demands of AI and machine-learning (ML) workloads.

Operating at just 1pJ/bit and consuming only 0.8W, Adtran’s LPO product is centered on reducing energy consumption.

Stanton emphasized that “we have strong interest in the LPO product” from large data center customers.

“Our Lightwave 800 development remains on track with customer trials expected to begin in the first half of next year and production scaling in the second,” he said.

While he did not provide a specific timeline, he added that Adtran plans to release various versions of its LPO product.

“The product is not singular,” Stanton said. “We have different versions of that product that will be coming out over the next probably three years or so. But we've got very good interest in our very first product.”