Lumen Targets AI Fiber Demand With New Build Plans

In an announcement that brings back memories from a quarter century ago, Lumen has unveiled expanded plans for a buildout of new fiber infrastructure across the US. But this time, the demand is no longer theoretical as the AI economy is rising faster than ever.

Lumen says it plans to add 34M intercity fiber miles by the end of 2028, or about 10M intercity fiber miles per year. It would also more than triple what they have in place right now. So far in 2025 they have added 2.2M new intercity fiber miles, or 2,500 route miles of next generation fiberoptic cable from Corning.

The expansion is also leveraging more of that extra conduit put down during the dot-Com boom 25 years ago. Level 3 put as many as a dozen in place on some routes, with others like WilTel and Qwest adding some as well. Of course most of that was eventually consolidated under Lumen’s banner. But that conduit didn’t go everywhere, and Lumen is investing in new IRU conduit deployments on 55 additional routes.

Meanwhile, they appear to be adding a new generation of shelters at their ILA sites, with construction underway at 176 sites. They even have a YouTube video out highlighting the engineering challenges and such. The upgrades will enable greater power density, which they are going to need to keep all that new fiber lit.  It’s been a while since the ILA and conduit part of Lumen’s network got that kind of attention. 

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Categories: Fiber Networks · Internet Backbones