Critically, these data centre operators surveyed have delayed site builds or expansion due to fibre availability. Neos Networks also finds that 95% of these operators said that access to new high-capacity fibre networks will now influence their expansion plans.
Despite continued rising interest in data centre development and AI, Neos Networks found that fibre remains the “critical bottleneck” that could inevitably slow down digital growth in the UK.
In response, the company’s new study – which was carried out in partnership with Censuswide, surveyed data centre operators, enterprise IT leaders and local government stakeholders – found overwhelmingly that core fibre investment is the solution to future AI growth. Investment in new, high-capacity fibre backbones, respondents said, is the solution.
“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 Lee Myall, CEO of Neos Networks.
“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 news comes after the UK government set out its strategy to position the country as a global leader in AI, having proposed AI Growth Zones and the AI Opportunities Action Plan as central to its vision.
According to Neos Networks, these policies are already shaping investment and strategy across the ecosystem:
Despite such positive momentum, concerns remain across the industry. Neos Networks found in its research that 41% of data centre leaders believe the UK’s fibre networks are only partly prepared to support regional AI workloads, with more than 70% of enterprises feeling as though the UK’s attractiveness for data centre investment needs improvement (53%) or is lagging (17%).
The research suggests that new fibre backbone projects will be critical to unlocking growth, with nearly all respondents agreeing that investing in these corridors will transform confidence in the country’s ability to attract and scale AI projects.
Myall added: “AI is no longer a future ambition, it’s here today, reshaping how businesses, communities and governments operate. But the UK cannot lead in AI on yesterday’s infrastructure, and we need continued investment in the fibre backbones that connect every region of the country.
“At Neos, we’re committed to building those foundations so the UK can not only keep pace, but compete and thrive in the global AI race.”
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