- FiberLight CEO Bill Major said public outcry may slow or reshape data center development, but it won’t stop the broader AI infrastructure buildout already underway
- He likened the backlash to what happened with cell towers and broadband previously
- Fiber connectivity is becoming a critical bottleneck for AI data centers with access to high-capacity networks just as important as power
Data center opposition may delay projects and push developers out of established markets, but it won’t stop the broader AI infrastructure buildout, FiberLight CEO Bill Major told Fierce.
“It can absolutely slow individual projects. It can change where projects get built, how they're designed and how developers approach power and water,” he said. “But I don't see public outcry stopping the broader buildout.”
That argument is being tested in Texas, one of the largest emerging hyperscale data center hubs in the world with more than 25 gigawatts of capacity either existing or under construction. There, Governor Greg Abbott ordered regulators to pause approvals for data centers seeking connections to the electrical grid until they complete a project-by-project audit. The review will examine power and water requirements, public assistance, community impacts and ownership.
Texas is one of several U.S. states that have recently implemented stringent new data center development guidelines in response to citizen concerns about power and water usage, noise, pollution and community aesthetics. A recent survey from real estate consulting firm JLL found that while 79% of Americans back U.S. AI leadership, only 14% want data centers in their community.
But opposition to data centers isn’t a phenomenon isolated to the U.S.; residents in South Korea, Ireland, Mexico, Malaysia and France have all pushed back against new development.
“The underlying dynamic is the same everywhere… Every market is going to have to figure out how to balance economic development, infrastructure investment and community concerns,” Major said. “The train is in motion, but that doesn't mean communities or policymakers don't have a voice in how and where the infrastructure gets built.
What do data centers and cell towers have in common?
Major said there’s actually quite a bit of similarity between what’s happening now with data centers and what happened previously with cell towers and broadband. “Every time you introduce new technology that requires infrastructure people didn’t previously need or understand, you get resistance,” he stated.
There are two critical differences though: first is the pace of AI development and second is the fact that data centers are being built for demand that already exists instead of in anticipation of future demand.
Major said the market will likely respond by getting more creative in places where the traditional data center development model runs into resistance. If a site can’t secure power through conventional means, developers may look at alternatives such as behind-the-meter generation, turbines or other approaches to locking down capacity.
But Major cautioned that on-site power generation doesn’t solve the whole infrastructure equation. Even if developers can generate enough electricity to support a facility, they still need connectivity capable of moving massive volumes of data into and out of the site.
That makes fiber a critical piece of the buildout, he argued. “Power can get you a data center, but connectivity makes it useful,” Major said. “If you're building in a location that doesn't have the network infrastructure you need, you're adding another major hurdle to deployment.”
FiberLight and other connectivity players are banking on recognition of this fact.
To meet expected demand, FiberLight has committed roughly $500 million to network expansion in West Texas to support AI and data center growth. Zayo, meanwhile, has committed to building 15,000 new route miles of fiber by 2030, including 8,000 miles of long-haul routes, with Nvidia set to serve as an anchor tenant for 16 routes. Elsewhere, Lumen is adding and upgrading long-haul routes as it also works to build 34 million new intercity fiber miles by the end of 2028,
Read more about data center development and fiber’s role in it here:
Telcos shoulder big risk building fiber for AI data centers
Some hyperscalers block fiber off-ramps, keeping rural America disconnected
West Virginia joins cadre of states enacting data center development plans
About 700 data centers are being built in U.S. as public outcry increases
Prysmian shells out $1.25B to double US fiber manufacturing footprint