Industry Predictions and Outlook for 2025

?Here we go, let me know what y'all think in the comments!

1.?? US Broadband Programs Will Survive and Thrive in the second half of '25 and '26

There is a lot of talk about whether the BEAD program will survive as the transition of US Government leadership takes place. As we have seen this week, the BEAD program will certainly change shape, but I think that program (and others) will survive, for the simple reason that Broadband services remain vital for the overall health and competitiveness of the United States. Regardless of which side of the aisle you are on, broadband is a key enabler of success in critical economic sectors including:

·??????? Healthcare: Telemedicine and tele-Health services require reliable and high-speed internet to reach rural and underserved communities. Broadband programs ensure equitable access to healthcare resources and better care.

·??????? Education: Public broadband programs play a key role in ensuring students in low-income or rural areas are not left behind. We must continue to close the digital divide in this country, and it can’t be done without access to high-speed Internet services

·??????? New Business Development: Affordable and widespread broadband drives small business growth, innovation hubs, and job creation, particularly in economically disadvantaged areas. The evolution to expand and maintain this new infrastructure will also come from Public/Private partnerships and collaboration between government programs and private funding. See my conversation with Jim Cannon , CEO of Pivot-Tech Development as we discuss this unique model. This model will optimize resource allocation, speed up deployment, and monetize the investment so that it’s self-funding and sustaining for years to come.

Although the roll out of these programs has been slower than we would have liked to see, it has given the industry time to understand the challenges and develop execution strategies well in advance of any potential pitfalls. This wave of new broadband connections has been building for a long time. I don’t see it crashing down anytime soon.

2.?? Data center boom will drive explosion in building smaller & different types of data centers

No doubt everyone in the networking business is aware of the massive data center builds in places like Ashburn, VA. As more data is moved around to support edge computing applications, and the large language models that AI requires, the amount of compute and storage will grow exponentially. However, building massive facilities to house all this compute power, has one (at least) major stumbling block – Power. According to energy data provider Enverus Intelligence? Research and cited by the?Financial Times, to satisfy the power demand for AI, a total of 80 new gas power plants could be constructed by 2030, adding about 46 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity. That is enough to power ~34.5 million U.S. homes at any moment (assuming an average home uses ~1.33 kW).

The future of data center construction likely involves a combination of both smaller and “repurposed” facilities. I can imagine that new builds will not only be smaller to reduce the power demand, but also to fit into urban and suburban areas that don’t have the space for new, massive data-center builds. One thing that I’ve been wondering about is, when will some of the empty office space, shopping malls, and other vacant real estate (yes, telco central offices) be converted to edge data centers?

Think about it, these facilities already have land, power, access to conduit, heating and cooling capabilities, emergency power, and THEY ARE EMPTY. A few configuration upgrades and that empty strip mall or practically empty Central Office could become an AI Edge Computing Data center in short order. I look forward to seeing all that empty space used to power AI data centers to accelerate developing cures for diseases and other new medicines. That would be something wouldn’t it?? I think we will see that start happening more frequently, as real-estate investors rush to bring new types of tenants in to fill their empty spaces.

Take a few minutes and check out this article by Tobias Mann as he articulates on “what happens when we can’t just build bigger datacenters” here

Bottom line is that we are going to see compute move into a lot of new types of datacenters – because it has to!

3.?? Significantly more AI Start-Up’s are founded & funded

Maybe y’all are saying, this is a “no duh Bruce”, we knew that, but did you know this; according to FDI Intelligence, the Americas region has experienced a significant surge in AI-related venture capital funding? In 2024, global venture capital funding for AI startups rose to $131.5 billion, a 52% increase from the previous year, with the U.S. accounting for nearly half of all startup investments. These start-ups are not just advancing AI but also integrating it with blockchain, creating opportunities and new application areas in decentralized finance, secure data sharing, and tokenized AI marketplaces. Oh, and just as a side note, they are all going to need lots and lots of network connectivity services to connect this AI "stuff" to real life. Did you know THAT? Let me know in the comments below.

4.?? Purposed Built Network Hardware “Steals the Show”

Anyone still want to argue that network hardware is “just a commodity” If so, I'd like to challenge that notion given the evolving networking landscape. Purpose built network hardware is far from a commodity in the context of AI. In fact, it's a critical enabler of performance, efficiency, and scalability for AI-driven workloads. AI models, especially large language models and generative AI systems, require immense computational power and seamless data flow across distributed systems. High-performance network hardware, such as advanced switches and routers, ensure that data can be processed, transferred, and stored with minimal latency and maximum throughput.

Furthermore, as AI increasingly moves to the edge for real-time applications like autonomous vehicles, industrial automation, and healthcare diagnostics, hardware optimized for edge AI plays a vital role in delivering low-latency processing and robust security. Unlike general-purpose hardware, purpose-built networking equipment designed for AI workloads provides features such as RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) for direct GPU-to-GPU communication, ultra-low latency fabrics, and scalable interconnects that make complex AI pipelines feasible.

Investments in high-performance network hardware enable organizations to unlock the full potential of AI by reducing bottlenecks, optimizing resource utilization, and ensuring the reliability and resilience required for mission-critical operations. In this era, the value of network hardware lies not just in its functionality but in its ability to drive competitive advantage and innovation.

But, but, WHAT ABOUT SATELLITE??

I knew y’all would be asking me that.. ok, so I’ll add one more here....

5.?? Growth in Satellite-Based Internet Services

Satellite-Based Internet Services providers like Starlink, Project Kuiper, and OneWeb will continue to grow their presence, and they will take a share of the broadband market, particularly in underserved and remote areas. However, this disruption will not displace traditional broadband programs or service providers. Instead, satellite services will serve as a complementary technology, filling gaps where fiber or fixed wireless cannot easily reach. In fact, listen to Commerce Secretary Nominee Howard W. Lutnick at the 40:40 mark in this video. He testifies that ALL the options for Broadband including, satellite, wireless, and fiber are all necessary to deliver Internet connectivity to underserved communities. He's right. The coexistence of these technologies will increase and enhance the broadband options, not undermine them. We need more connectivity options throughout the Americas and the rest of the world, and Satellite will become a complementary, not a competitive offering, ultimately helping close the digital divide in our underserved communities.

Well, there you have it, my industry predictions for 2025. Maybe they all have as much chance of hitting as my Powerball ticket, but one thing is for sure. All of these areas will continue to change and grow at a pace that is certainly – unpredictable!

I hope y'all have a blessed and prosperous 2025 and I’ll see you out there soon. Let me know what you think about my predictions for 2025! ?