Metro Connect Fall 2025 agenda

Fireside chat - Leadership; managing up and down in your organization

Even as AI drives an unprecedented acceleration in demand for digital infrastructure, the next leap forward in innovation is emerging: quantum computing. With quantum’s ability to solve intractable problems, unprecedented advances in cybersecurity, medical and material sciences, finance, sensing, and even more powerful AI are just over the horizon. These new use cases will require massive investment into digital infrastructure, but also offers ROI for the investors who get it right. Join us to hear from leading investors and innovators in quantum computing to discuss:

 

• How will quantum computing disrupt the traditional compute offering of data centers?
• Which use cases exist that make them commercially viable?
• What will quantum digital infrastructure look like, how will design evolve, and how can operators prepare for this new form of computing?
• Will the convergence of quantum and space tech unlock a new era of secure global communication?

The data center industry is booming, and capex is expected to surpass $1trillion dollars by 2029. With new data centers in more rural locations this is subsequently fuelling the demand for new fibre b ...

The unprecedented demand for data centers is driving demand for fiber. As data centers chase power into new, under connected markets and the move to inference increases demand for low latency connecti ...

This session will explore how data center investors and operators can leverage tailored insurance solutions to mitigate risks and strengthen financial performance across the project lifecycle. We will spotlight the industry’s first SLA insurance product—designed specifically to address service level agreement risks and protect against financial loss from outages.

The direct exchange of traffic is vital to reducing latency and increasing network resilience. The interconnection landscape in the US is undergoing a transformation as the need for additional exchang ...

As the data center market booms, demand is also accelerating for fiber. High speed, high-capacity networks are vital to unlocking the value of AI, moving workloads between distributed data centers and ...

Across the last mile, middle mile and long haul new fiber deployments are accelerating create a strain on the supply chain and construction firms. Getting high capacity and geographically diverse fibe ...

The growth of AI and cloud computing spurring data center demand has led to the need for expanded fiber optic infrastructure to increase connectivity. Building direct, low-latency and scalable paths b ...

We are living in an extraordinary moment of transformation. Since the pandemic, global internet traffic has nearly quadrupled—driven by explosive growth in social media and accelerated adoption of AI applications across both the public sector and global enterprises seeking operational efficiency.

According to the IEA, global energy demand rose by 2.2% last year, led by industrial activity. Data centers alone now account for more than 50% of recent global electricity growth, and the sector’s energy consumption is expected to outpace most other industrial segments in the years ahead.

The digital infrastructure landscape is evolving rapidly, with billions of dollars being invested in the design and deployment of gigawatt-scale AI cluster data centers—reshaping the future of digital, energy, and grid ecosystems.

Join us for this opening keynote to hear from industry thought leaders with deep expertise and global recognition. We’ll explore how to reinvent conventional thinking and strategically deploy capital—billions per year—with clear, intentional outcomes to drive a generational transformation in digital infrastructure for the AI era.

Data centers have emerged as one of the hottest esoteric assets for investors to get exposure to, and this financing is being done through numerous different verticals. Since 2018, data centers in the ...

In a world of costly delays and evolving customer expectations, proactive coordination throughout the entire data centre value chain is essential, from the powered shell developer to land acquisition, utilities, connectivity, and permitting. While a neutral model is essential, there are clear synergies to be unlocked when portfolio companies collaborate on the same project.

• What risks does a lack of coordination pose to project timelines and the knock-on effect on ROI?

• How best can we encourage this collaboration across hyperscaler projects to ensure on-time delivery?

• How do coordinating developers need to adapt their approach to different deployment types, especially as we move from LLM training sites towards inference?

 

' How are operators working with community stakeholders to bolster public perception? ' Where are key areas for improvement? ' Maintaining a positive operator / regulator relationship

Latin America is home to several exciting data centre markets, including Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Costa Rica. This panel will explore the role the region can play in meeting demand for sustainable power, the role it can play in serving US workloads with less stringent latency requirements, and the growing local demand for data centre services.

As Datacloud USA and Metro Connect Fall draws to a close, we've invited members of our leadership committee to share their key predictions for digital infrastructure in 2025. At Metro Connect USA in F ...