Zayo Report Highlights AI-Driven Network Demand Surge — Zayo Group Holdings, Inc.

Event summary

Zayo's second-annual Bandwidth Report analyzed bandwidth consumption trends across nearly 6,000 customers in 2025.
Metro Dark Fiber demand increased by up to 20 times in top AI-driven metros due to inferencing requirements.
Long-Haul Dark Fiber demand doubled between 2024 and 2025 as large AI workloads expanded.
Wavelength capacity purchases increased 2.3X to 3.2X across data centers, media & internet providers, and financial institutions.

The big picture

Zayo's report underscores a critical shift in network infrastructure needs driven by AI. As organizations scale their AI usage, network capacity is becoming as crucial as compute power. The growing interdependence of digital intelligence and physical infrastructure highlights the necessity for robust networks to support distributed AI workloads over the next decade.

What we're watching

Infrastructure Investment: Whether organizations investing ahead of AI demand can maintain competitive advantage over those relying on traditional network designs.
Network Planning: How the permanent reset in network planning will impact bandwidth investments and infrastructure development.
AI Workloads: The pace at which AI workloads scale and the corresponding demand for connectivity between data centers, GPU clusters, and cloud regions.