During the Broadband Development Congress hosted by the World Broadband Association at Network X 2026 in Vienna, industry leaders gathered to address the infrastructure demands of the artificial intelligence era. Bob Chen, President of Huawei Optical Business Product Line, delivered a keynote speech focusing on the necessity of shifting network construction concepts. Chen introduced a framework based on three strategic pillars—Rebuilding network architecture, Reshaping business models, and Redefining network operations and maintenance—to unlock new growth and reshape network value.

The AI Paradigm Shift and Network Demands

Over the past three decades, major booms in services—spanning voice, the Internet, and video—have relied heavily on robust network support. Today, the rapid development of artificial intelligence is driving unprecedented demands on global digital infrastructure. Large AI models now feature nearly 10 trillion parameters, while token consumption has surged nearly 50-fold over the past year alone.

This massive growth has fundamentally altered the objects, frequency, and quality of network connections. To address these dramatic shifts, Chen argued that the entire industry must rethink its approach to network planning and building. Instead of traditional models, network construction must center around AI service demands and artificial intelligence data center layouts, while integrating AI technology to elevate operations and maintenance capabilities.

Rebuilding Network Architecture: From Administrative to AIDC-Centered

Historically, networks were structured around administrative regions, divided into national backbone, provincial backbone, and metro networks. However, the rise of AI has caused the number of AIDCs to grow nearly 10-fold. Consequently, traffic volume is no longer determined by population density, but by computing power distribution.

This shift is illustrated by the transformation of Zhongwei, China. In the past, Zhongwei's network traffic accounted for only about 0.1% of China's total. Today, the city has become one of China's eight national computing hubs. Its intelligent computing traffic now accounts for over 10% of the country's total bandwidth, making it a core node in the AIDC interconnect network.

To accommodate this new reality, network architecture must transition from being administrative region-centered to AIDC-centered. Under this new model, networks are organized into hierarchical layers:

  • Core DCs
  • Regional DCs
  • Edge DCs

By establishing direct one-hop mesh connections between these data centers, operators can enable deterministic 1-5-20 ms latency circles and achieve rapid time-to-market.

Reshaping Business Models for Enterprise and Home Segments

As AI accelerates, enterprise production models are undergoing a profound transformation. This requires operators to upgrade their commercial offerings.

Enterprise Segment Upgrades

For enterprises, operators must transition from selling bandwidth alone to offering multi-dimensional service packages. These packages combine:

  • Bandwidth
  • Latency
  • Reliability
  • Integrated computing-network services

A clear example of this demand is found in China, where an AI industrial design firm utilizes AI rendering to drastically shorten production cycles. Because real-time AI rendering demands latency below 2 milliseconds, operators can capitalize on these opportunities by delivering guaranteed low-latency connections.

Home Broadband Evolution

In the residential market, the business model must evolve beyond providing pure broadband connectivity. Operators need to transition toward:

  • Whole-home networking
  • Smart home experiences

Redefining Network O&M with Intelligence

The final pillar of the strategy focuses on redefining network operations and maintenance. Traditional semi-automated operations are no longer sufficient to manage the complexity of AI-era networks. Operators must evolve their systems toward full-lifecycle intelligence, leveraging AI technology to automate, optimize, and secure networks dynamically.

By implementing these three strategic shifts, the telecommunications industry can successfully navigate the transition into the AI era, turning infrastructure into a high-value asset capable of supporting next-generation computing demands.