AI Puts Fiber on the Critical Path

AI Infrastructure’s New Site Selection Equation: Power, Fiber and Permitting AI data center development may begin with power, but it increasingly depends on whether connectivity can be built at the same scale and on the same schedule. In this episode of the Data Center Frontier Show, Matt Vincent, Editor-in-Chief of Data Center Frontier, speaks with Jeff Wabik, CTO of DC Blox, about how AI infrastructure is changing the relationship between data center development and fiber networks. Wabik explains how DC Blox’s site-selection strategy has evolved over the past decade—from finding “dirt close to eyeballs,” to securing more land, to chasing available power, and now to evaluating whether massive, diverse fiber routes can be constructed alongside new campuses. The conversation explores: Why 864-count fiber is now among the smallest deployments DC Blox commonly sees How hyperscalers are becoming major builders of terrestrial and subsea network infrastructure Why new conduit systems may include 10 to 14 ducts from the outset How fiber permitting can take 12 to 18 months and influence routing decisions Why DC Blox may route around jurisdictions with histories of permitting delays Fiber lead times stretching to 70–80 weeks for large-count cable Skilled-trades and operations workforce shortages Why community engagement around water, noise, environmental impacts and tax benefits is moving much earlier in the development process Wabik describes the current AI infrastructure buildout as “beautiful insanity”—an era in which power, connectivity, permits, equipment, labor and community acceptance increasingly have to come together at the same time. “A data center without connectivity is an expensive warehouse.” Listen to the full conversation for a ground-level look at how fiber is becoming part of the critical path for AI data center development.