A big fiber deal between Verizon and AWS is sending the signal that the race to deliver next-generation AI is as much about infrastructure as it is about algorithms. Part of the carrier’s ambitious fiber expansion, the deal will create low-latency, long-haul routes designed to support the increasingly data-intensive workloads of AI. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: News like this demonstrates that telecom networks are quickly becoming strategic enablers of cloud, compute, and enterprise transformation.

Yet fiber alone isn’t enough. As U.S.-based iBwave points out, the foundation of AI-driven factories and Industry 4.0 deployments lies in getting private 5G right. Reliable radio design, coverage planning, and network performance may not make headlines, but without them, AI workloads stumble before they even begin. In a world racing toward automation, the unglamorous work of RF engineering has never been more critical.

As a result of all this, the rules of telecom are being rewritten. In the latest episode of RCRTech Talks, Cédric Foray, EY Global and EMEIA telecommunications sector lead, argues that intelligent data, automation, and analytics are transforming how networks and infrastructure are designed, built, and operated. For operators, the takeaway is profound: It’s the operators that think beyond connectivity today that will define the networks of tomorrow and along the way, benefit the most from what AI has to offer. “What telcos need is a more strategic approach … to clearly define business objectives, establish clear metrics for success, and do everything they can to assure cross-functional collaboration and end-to-end views,” said Foray.

And all of this must be considered in the context of what other big changes are coming. According to a recent report from Dell’Oro Group, the capital-intensive horizon of 6G is beginning to take shape. The forecast is that while global RAN revenues will remain relatively flat over the next decade, 6G-related investments will ramp up around 2030, eventually accounting for the lion’s share of network capex by the mid-2030s. For telcos, this — and everything else we’re digging into today — suggests a need to plan long-term, align technology and investment strategies, and ensure flexibility to support future AI and industrial workloads.