EDGE COMPUTING
For data centre operators, network expansion has shifted from adding raw bandwidth to building distributed, low-latency fabrics that can host AI inference, IoT and data-sovereign workloads as close to the user as possible.
Analyst forecasts from IDC suggest global edge computing spend will climb from about US $ 261bn in 2025 to nearly US $ 380bn by 2028, underlining how capex is tilting towards edge-ready infrastructure. At the same time, market value for edge platforms is expected to rise from roughly US $ 710bn in 2026 to more than US $ 6tn by 2035, driven by demand for real-time analytics and AI at the periphery, according to Precedence Research.
This growth is forcing operators to rethink network design from the optical layer up. Rather than hub-andspoke architectures feeding central hyperscale campuses, the emphasis is on meshed metro rings, dense backhaul and software-defined connectivity that can steer workloads dynamically between edge sites, regional hubs and public cloud regions.
And with users now expecting sub-10ms round-trips for interactive and AI-powered services, this means pushing compute and connectivity deeper into cities and industrial zones.
AI-driven capacity and fibre densification AI is the dominant driver behind current network expansion programmes, both for carriers and neutral colos.
US $ 380bn
THE SPENDING WORLDWIDE BY 2028( IDC)
Lumen, for example, is part-way through a multibillion-dollar build to add 34 million intercity fibre miles by 2028, having already deployed more than 2.2 million new intercity fibre miles and 5.9 + Pbps of capacity in 2025 alone.
The company reports that its 400G-enabled network now spans over 100,000 route miles, designed to deliver less than 5ms latency at the edge for up to 97 % of US business demand.
Within the data centre footprint itself, operators are also upgrading east – west and cloud-on-ramps to 400G and beyond.
Lumen’ s recent refresh of its US data centre and cloud connectivity fabric, enabling up to 400Gbps Ethernet and IP across more than 70 data centres in 16 metros, reflects a wider trend towards treating interconnect as a first-class AI resource, not a utility.
In parallel, players like Cisco are rolling out integrated edge platforms that combine networking, compute, storage and security in a single appliance.
datacentremagazine. com
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