Verizon banks on network, data center investments for an AI-everywhere futureVerizon banks on network, data center investments for an AI-everywhere future

Verizon is rolling out a suite of services to provide the power, space and cooling requirements, plus the network infrastructure needs, to support AI workloads.

Dubbed "Verizon AI Connect," the initiative brings together data center colocation and edge computing resources plus Verizon's network infrastructure. Among the network assets used to support AI Connect, Verizon plans to tap its metro and longhaul fiber deployments, ILEC footprint via Fios, 71-city One Fiber metro network buildout, lit and dark fiber services and macro 5G network.

"Verizon AI Connect is the name of our strategy and suite of offerings that are intended to meet the growing demand for AI applications from both our ecosystem partners and end user customers," explained Kyle Malady, CEO of the Business Group for Verizon, during the company's Q4 2024 earnings call.

Malady said AI Connect will use existing network assets to support AI workloads in multicloud environments accessed at the customers' premise or edge of the network. He also noted that Verizon has a sales funnel of "over $1 billion simply leveraging our existing infrastructure."

Malady said that Verizon's AI Connect initiative comes at a time of increased investment and demand for AI. Market analysts forecast over $1 trillion in investment in AI infrastructure over the next decade and AI network traffic could grow at a rate of 35%-plus Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the next five years, he said.

"All of this AI infrastructure will need to be underpinned by secure network connectivity that will bridge the new distributed compute landscape."

Verizon's AI Connect partners and customers include hyperscalers such as Google Cloud and Meta, which are tapping Verizon's network infrastructure for their AI workloads.

Chipmaker giant Nvidia and GPU-as-a-service company Vultr are looking to Verizon to integrate their GPUs into Verizon's data center colocation infrastructure, explained Scott Lawrence, Chief Product Officer for Verizon Business. The service provider will support Vultr in achieving the "security, reach and scale that will help them as they grow their business," said Lawrence.

With Nvidia, Verizon will integrate their GPU chipsets into Verizon's private 5G service to deliver secure, on-prem services for enterprise customers deploying AI technologies, he added. Nvidia also partnered with Verizon in December 2024 to run AI applications and integrate GPUs over Verizon’s 5G private network with private Mobile Edge Compute (MEC).

Verizon plans to continue expanding its network resources for AI Connect and has between 100 and 200 acres of undeveloped land, some of which is already zoned for data center buildouts, said Malady.

To read the complete article, visit Light Reading.