The Atlantic ocean, long the backbone of global connectivity, is approaching a reckoning. At PTC’26 in Hawaii, hyperscale and wholesale operators sounded alarms: end-of-life systems, static route counts, and exploding AI traffic are converging to create what may be the sector’s most serious supply crunch in decades. With seven of 21 Atlantic cables set to retire, the industry is relying on distributed landings and “mesh” architectures to maintain resilience – but even this clever engineering may not withstand the coming surge in demand.
A deeper tension runs through the ecosystem. Hyperscalers like Google and Meta are no longer just consumers – they are the builders, designing massive, bespoke cables to meet their internal AI and cloud requirements first, with leftover capacity trickling down to wholesalers. For operators such as EXA Infrastructure and Southern Cross, this raises a pressing question: how to secure enough capacity for the broader market when the primary drivers are private needs? The solution may lie in a hybrid approach: more cables, landings, and a return to private builds.
James Blackmann
Executive Editor
RCR Wireless News
RCR Top Stories
AI squall in the Atlantic: At PTC in Hawaii, hyperscale and wholesale operators (Google, Meta, EXA) dissected the mounting pressures on Atlantic subsea infrastructure – with spiralling traffic, end-of-life systems, and hyperscale agendas
More memory shortage: Synopsys CEO Sassine Ghazi warns the global memory chip shortage will likely persist through 2027, driven by AI infra consuming most available DRAM and HBM. New production takes years to scale, it notes.
RAN stabilizes pre-6G: After a sharp post-5G downturn, the global RAN market is entering a period of stabilization, with modest growth expected over five years as operators hold back spending until 6G investment cycles begin to take shape.
BSNL weighs 22K sites: BSNL is weighing a fresh expansion of its 4G network, with 22,000 new sites under consideration, as policymakers finalize specifications and assess funding to extend coverage and improve service quality nationwide.
T&M themes of 2026: T&M firms are focusing on AI‑enabled automation, virtualised test platforms, cloud‑native workflows, and 5G/6G validation to help customers build resilient operations and address high‑growth markets.
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Beyond the Headlines
SK Hynix eyes US unit: SK Hynix is exploring the launch of a U.S. AI investment unit that could oversee nearly $7bn in assets, as high-bandwidth memory demand tightens and competition intensifies across the global AI supply chain.
The big AI dig: Power and land matter for AI workloads, of course, but Nvidia, SUBCO, and Zayo – on a panel at PTC – say latency and scale in terrestrial and subsea fiber networks are the next constraints.
Blue Origin’s NTN play: Amazon boss Jeff Bezos’ space venture Blue Origin is entering satellite internet with a 6 Tbps network – but is it really a competitor to Starlink or Leo? Analysts weigh in.
AI under/over-supply? DC capex is surging, vacancy has vanished, and AI is pushing demand beyond traditional hubs – but questions remain over power, people, and long-term returns as development spills into secondary markets.
Defense Comms Forum: RCR has launched Defense Communications Forum, a new event dedicated to addressing the evolving communications challenges defense organizations face as they modernize critical infrastructure.
What We're Reading
AT&T posts strong Q4: AT&T has reported strong Q4 and FY results, exceeding guidance with good fiber and 5G growth, over $12bn returned to shareholders, and a positive long‑term outlook for revenue, EBITDA, and free cash flow through 2028.
Telefonica edge push: Telefónica is rolling out 17 edge nodes across Spain in 2026, with 10 already active and seven more coming. These nodes repurpose its telecom exchanges into local data processing, storage, and analytics hubs.
Wi-Fi 7 for the 90%: Wi‑Fi 7 is to be adopted by over 90% of the market by 2029, reaching levels not seen since Wi‑Fi 4 in 2013, driven by strong early enterprise purchases and unusually low prices across major vendors’ portfolios.
Ciena preps MWC AI: Ciena will demo its autonomous ‘networking vision’ at MWC with AI‑driven operations and programmable infrastructure that enable networks to self‑connect, sense, reason, and act across multi‑vendor environments.
‘Inside’ a big AI DC: Fortune offers a blueprint for a big AI data center, highlighting the massive scale, energy demands, and GPU infrastructure required to support generative AI – per the agenda of Meta, Microsoft, Google etc.
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