{"slug": "ai-networks-face-a-triple-threat-capacity-permits-and-supply-chains", "title": "AI networks face a triple threat: Capacity, permits and supply chains", "summary": "At the Technology Policy Institute Aspen Forum, experts from Lumen Technologies and AT&T warned that AI network expansion faces a triple threat of capacity, permitting, and supply chain constraints. Lumen's chief public policy officer Melissa Mann said the company must expand from 17 million to 58 million fiber miles by 2031, but permitting delays could hinder progress, while AT&T's Giulia McHenry noted a 15% increase in overall data traffic since 2023 and skyrocketing supply chain costs.", "body_md": "Featured Story\n\n## Small cells, big mess – why Musk's SpaceX telecom plan won't work\n\nSeveral more wireless experts serve harsh judgment on Elon Musk's plan to build a US network of small cells.\n\nPolicy experts from Lucent, AT&T and other groups highlight a capacity crunch, permitting issues and supply chain constraints as AI traffic increases.\n\nWhen it comes to designing and building networks for AI, the challenges look a bit like a multi-headed monster, with capacity, latency, policy and rising supply chain costs all demanding attention.\n\nA panel of service provider and policy experts debated those challenges and more at this week's Technology Policy Institute Aspen Forum in Aspen, Colorado.\n\nComing off the [recent sale of its residential fiber business to AT&T](/broadband/at-t-ramping-up-fiber-buildout-pace-as-it-closes-in-on-lumen), Lumen Technologies is facing permitting issues as it looks to expand its network to support [billion-dollar deals with hyperscalers](/ai-machine-learning/lumen-scores-over-8b-from-big-tech-for-ai) and enable a wide range of AI use cases.\n\nAfter exiting 2025 with about 17 million fiber miles, Lumen is projected to expand that to 58 million fiber miles when it exits 2031, explained Melissa Mann, Lumen's chief public policy officer.\n\n\"It's not just an engineering question. It's really a policy question and our ability to meet these demands,\" Mann said, noting that it's not clear whether Lumen will be able to obtain all the permits required to build as quickly as the hyperscalers want it to.\n\n\"If we're actually going to do this and double our fiber capacity across the industry, we've got to fix permitting,\" Mann said.\n\nThe panelists didn't discuss specific permitting fixes, but experts speaking on a [recent episode of Light Reading's The Divide](/fttx/the-divide-how-permitting-problems-delay-broadband-builds) said they believe many of the challenges can be addressed with \"shot clocks\" (mandatory, time-limited deadlines) and cost-based fees.\n\nRising adoption of AI, especially agentic AI, is expected to change data traffic as bots talk to other bots, increasing the amount of time networks are used to perform tasks and inferencing. Cisco, for example, [forecasts](/ai-machine-learning/cisco-ai-driving-a-network-supercycle-) that network traffic associated with AI is expected to triple within the next three years and could increase even more.\n\nThat ties into overall increases in network traffic. Giulia McHenry, SVP for public policy at AT&T, said the operator has seen a 15% increase in overall data traffic since 2023, though not all is AI-related. \"But we are ensuring that we're ready for AI to cross our networks,\" she said.\n\nMann noted that up to 50% of Internet traffic on Lumen's network is being driven by autonomous agents. And delivering service at low latencies is becoming table stakes, not a special feature, she added.\n\n\"Latency is no longer a preference. There's a floor on latency for many of these [AI] use cases and applications,\" Mann said.\n\nAs large enterprises look to quickly scale capacity and control of the network, there is also greater need for a programmability layer in the network.\n\nMann said 90% of Lumen's customers now use more than one AI provider and more than one cloud provider. The ability to give them more control was a primary driver of [Lumen's recent acquisition of Alkira](https://ir.lumen.com/news/lumen-to-acquire-alkira/default.aspx), a company that enables partners to orchestrate and move their data to different clouds and AI providers via a single pane of glass. In practice, that means that if an enterprise sees energy prices spike in Virginia, it can shift workloads to another region where energy costs are lower and where ample capacity is available, she explained.\n\nMeanwhile, supply chain costs are \"skyrocketing,\" said AT&T's McHenry, noting that a large data center might use as much fiber as the company lays down in a year.\n\nSupply chain constraints and demand for capacity can also impact BEAD network buildout projects, according to Harold Feld, SVP at Public Knowledge, a consumer advocacy group.\n\n\"We get a choice between BEAD buildout and the buildout of hyperscalers when there's a shortage and there's only so much to go around,\" Feld said.\n\nHe noted that contractors come under pressure if hyperscalers effectively put their thumb on the scale when it comes to pricing. \"Those that can't afford to meet that price are just going to have to wait that much longer for buildout,\" Feld said.\n\nSupply chain constraints, particularly on memory, also impact broadband customer premises equipment (CPE), said Mark Walker, VP of technology policy at CableLabs.\n\n\"As we are building those additional network miles and upgrading our networks, that increase in memory costs flows directly through to the capital costs and the ability to deliver services,\" Walker said.\n\nAnd if broadband service providers are forced to pass along those hidden costs without measurably improving the service, customers will become frustrated, added Feld.\n\nCPE makers are feeling the effects of memory shortages in more ways than one. In the wake of the [FCC's ban on new, foreign-made routers](/security/fcc-disrupts-home-broadband-with-sweeping-foreign-router-ban), the makers of modems, gateways and routers have had to take additional steps to gain conditional approvals for models that require changes to memory and other components.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-networks-face-a-triple-threat-capacity-permits-and-supply-chains", "canonical_source": "https://www.lightreading.com/ai-machine-learning/ai-networks-face-a-triple-threat-capacity-permits-and-supply-chains", "published_at": "2026-08-21 14:58:35+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-21 15:12:45.070453+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-infrastructure", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["Lumen Technologies", "AT&T", "Melissa Mann", "Giulia McHenry", "Technology Policy Institute", "Cisco", "Alkira", "Elon Musk"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-networks-face-a-triple-threat-capacity-permits-and-supply-chains", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-networks-face-a-triple-threat-capacity-permits-and-supply-chains.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-networks-face-a-triple-threat-capacity-permits-and-supply-chains.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-networks-face-a-triple-threat-capacity-permits-and-supply-chains.jsonld"}}