Supporting AI factories and distributed inference

GenAI is scaling faster than any previous workload. From 5 megawatt “GPU blocks” to giga-campuses, AI factories are popping up everywhere – but inference must also move closer to end users to beat latency budgets and comply with a patchwork of data-sovereignty laws. Telecom operators already own the world’s most ubiquitous edge real estate, long-haul fibre and resilient power footprints. This discussion explores how telcos, colocation players and equipment vendors can collaborate to create AI-optimised transport fabrics, edge nodes and cooling-constrained points of presence (POPs) that turn connectivity into a new service opportunity.

Featuring:

• Andy Linham, Principal Strategy Manager, Vodafone Group
• Beth Cohen, Product Strategy Consultant, Verizon
• Kerem Arsal, Senior Principal Analyst, Omdia

Recorded October 2025