- Amazon and Corning have announced a multi-billion-dollar deal to expand fiber supply manufacturing in North Carolina
- The deal is on top of Amazon's existing $10 billion investment in North Carolina to expand cloud computing infrastructure.
- Lumen, Meta and Microsoft have all announced similar deals with Corning in the last several months
The demand for fiber optic supply is reaching a fever pitch as hyperscalers scramble to keep pace with predicted demand for AI and data center capacity. Today, Amazon has announced a multi-billion-dollar deal to expand fiber supply manufacturing in North Carolina. This is on top of its existing $10 billion investment in North Carolina to expand cloud computing infrastructure announced last year.
Amazon is not the only hyperscaler working to ensure its fiber supply. Lumen, Meta and Microsoft already have similar deals in place — and Fierce Network's Chief Analyst Linda Hardesty expects more deals to follow.
“In talking to fiber optic suppliers, they all say one thing, ‘It’s nice to finally be the cool kid on the block.’ Hyperscalers are finally realizing that they not only need compute, storage, chips, power, water and real estate, they also need fiber optic connectivity," she said.
A timeline of fiber deals
In May, Nvidia invested $500 million in Corning to help it build three new plants in North Carolina and Texas. That deal will increase Corning’s U.S.-based optical connectivity manufacturing capacity by 10x and expand its U.S. fiber production capacity by more than 50% to meet demand from AI.
In January 2026 Meta struck a $6 billion deal with Corning to make fiber for the tech giant’s data centers.
In September 2025, Microsoft struck a manufacturing deal with Corning and Heraeus for hollow core fiber.
A deal between Corning and Lumen for fiber supply stretches back to August 2024.
What about the telcos?
As hyperscalers race to build out their AI infrastructure, they are not only major buyers of optical fiber, they are also shaping how and where it gets made. Indeed, Corning’s move to expand its fiber manufacturing facility in North Carolina, which broke ground in March, is backed by Meta as an anchor customer.
Amazon and Meta are also working with Corning on fiber manufacturing and technician job training. Today's deal with Amazon includes the creation of a program that will expand Corning's Fiber Optic Technician Training Program with Catawba Valley Community College. The program trains students for careers in fiber optic manufacturing and related technical roles to help build up the domestic supply chain and U.S. manufacturing.
These deals certainly raise questions for telecom operators about altering allocation and pricing — and whether their fiber needs are at risk of being deprioritized as suppliers such as Corning score deals with hyperscalers during a time when fiber is already in short supply and telcos are finally beginning to see some money from Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD).
Clearfield CEO Cheri Beranek told Fierce Network at Fiber Connect that supply chain issues are re-emerging, particularly around high-count fiber.
“There’s absolutely a shortage of ribbon fiber," she said, referring to a conversation with Hawaii Telecom, a Clearfield customer. "The high count for the ribbon fiber ... everything over 432 is tough to get," she said. "The fiber companies want to tell you that there’s enough American‑made fiber… but there can’t be.”