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New research from Neos Networks suggests that 82% of data centre operators in the UK have delayed deployment due to a lack of connectivity infrastructure
Access to fibre connectivity could be a significant bottleneck for the UK’s data centre ambitions, suggests a new study commissioned by Neos Networks.
The study, conducted by Censuswide, surveyed 100 data centre decision-makers, 100 large enterprise tech/IT decision-makers, and 100 local government stakeholders, asking them about fibre availability, AI, and their data centre projects.
The results showed that the lack of fibre network availability remains a key factor in hampering data centre deployments and AI implementation. It found that 82% of the data centre representatives had had a deployment or expansion delayed due to the lack of available fibre. In addition, 89% of the local government representatives said infrastructure projects in their region had been similarly delayed by fibre gaps, with 46% saying the region’s fibre networks were not ready to support AI data centres.
Part of the issue here, as Neos Network’s CEO Lee Myall points out, is that the UK’s ‘backbone’ fibre network – the high-capacity, long-distance infrastructure that connects major cities, data centres, internet exchanges, and service providers across the country – is at risk of becoming inadequate.
This is largely an issue of geography; data centre projects are increasingly being planned for rural areas with access to affordable land, water, and power, but fibre network access at these locations is often missing.
“Over the past decade, we’ve seen a huge amount of investment in last-mile fibre builds, but core fibre networks across the country have received much less attention. Without them, workloads cannot move between data centres, data cannot be trained, and investments stall,” said Myall. “The UK has the ambition, the demand and the regional readiness to lead in AI, but if we don’t address fibre gaps, we risk losing out on one of the greatest economic opportunities of our generation.”
The good news here is that the government’s AI Growth Zone strategy, part of its AI Opportunities Action Plan, appears to be working as intended, helping lure data centre developments away from existing deployments in metro areas. These AI Growth Zones will receive significant planning and regulatory support, aimed at removing barriers to AI data centre deployments.
While 23% of data centre operators still expect new investment in Greater London, a greater share pointed to the North of England and the Midlands (39%) for new deployments. According to the report, 96% of the data centre respondents were influenced by the AI Growth Zones when considering site selection, with 44% saying they were influenced ‘strongly’.
At the start of the year, Culham, Oxfordshire, was announced as the UK’s first AI Growth Zone, largely due to the availability of land, power, and its proximity to the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s headquarters, which carries conducts complex energy research. This was followed up last month when the Northeast announced it had secured government backing to become the country’s second AI Growth Zone, expanding existing deployments at Cobalt Park Data Centres in North Tyneside and QTS Cambois Data Centre Campus in Blyth.
More of these zones are expected to be developed in future, all of which will rely on the availability of high-quality backbone connectivity.
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