Fiber Broadband Association Paper Examines Fiber’s Role in Data Center and AI Expansion

New Fiber Broadband Association report outlines how hyperscale growth, AI demand, and emerging markets are accelerating fiber deployment across the United States.

Feb. 17, 2026

3 min read

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Is Fiber Infrastructure Foundational to Data Center Growth?

The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) has released a new paper, The Evolving Data Center Market, examining how fiber broadband infrastructure underpins the U.S. data center sector and supports geographic expansion.

With more than 5,000 data centers operating nationwide, continued demand for cloud services, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) is leading to new data center site selections.

Although regions such as Northern Virginia, Silicon Valley, and parts of Texas remain dominant, rising land costs, power constraints and congestion are pushing developers into looking toward secondary markets, rural areas, and edge locations. According to the paper, these emerging markets depend on high-capacity, low-latency fiber networks to enable scalable, reliable operations.

“Fiber connectivity offers unmatched capacity, low latency and scalability—qualities essential for powering hyperscale AI applications, quantum computing, and distributed data center networks,” said Deborah Kish, Vice President of Research & Workforce Development at FBA. “Communities and providers that invest in fiber today are positioning themselves to capture economic opportunity, attract new businesses, and enable the next generation of technology innovation.”

Economic Impact in Rural and Secondary Markets

The report focuses on the economic effect of data center development in rural regions, where available land and power resources can align with new fiber deployment. The paper also notes that cooperative-owned utilities and rural ISPs are partnering with developers to support facility deployment.

The FBA cites how high-profile investments, such as the Corning-Meta partnership, illustrate how fiber deployment can lead to more domestic manufacturing, construction activity, technical employment, and regional economic growth in areas, especially in states with established fiber infrastructure.

Fiber Connect 2026 to Spotlight AI and Emerging Technologies

FBA will further explore its’ paper’s themes during Fiber Connect 2026, taking place May 17^th–20^th at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando.

The event’s AI and Emerging Technology Infrastructure Summit, scheduled for May 20^th, will include an assembly of “leading AI innovators, quantum experts, and technology futurists to discuss how the unlimited capacity of fiber broadband unlocks new possibilities for innovation and discovery.”

The paper provides the foundation for other Fiber Connect 2026 sessions, including:

Deployment Best Practices and Outside Plant Tracks: Sessions focused on providing “actionable insights” to service providers and community networks through fiber construction strategies, understanding and leveraging federal programs, and discussions on building fiber that will support AI and edge computing.
Hyperscale Data Center & Evolving Edge (May 19): Panels and fireside chats examining fiber connectivity requirements for AI workloads, edge computing, and hyperscale facilities.