AI is breaking bandwidth forecasts. Lumen wants enterprises to scale internet on demand

Lumen Technologies has launched Lumen Intelligent Internet, which lets its enterprise customers buy connectivity in minutes and scale bandwidth up or down as their AI, cloud, and business needs demand. International Data Corporation research found that 37% of enterprises have seen their bandwidth needs grow by more than 50% year over year, while 29% have struggled to align their networks with AI workloads. More than ever before, enterprises are struggling to plan for their bandwidth capacity needs because of the change in traffic patterns due to AI. Without on-demand connectivity, they must forecast bandwidth months in advance and provision for peaks that may never happen. “Businesses can easily scale compute and storage up or down as their needs change. Enterprise internet should work the same way,” said Jim Fowler, Lumen’s chief technology and product officer.