Network X Americas 2025, held May 21–22 at the Irving Convention Center in Texas, brought together a focused crowd of North American telecom leaders, cloud architects, Wi-Fi providers, and edge and broadband service operators. While the show spanned a compact footprint, the conversations cut deep—especially on AI integration, fiber expansion, and AI-RAN.
AI Takes the Stage—and the Edge
Artificial intelligence was more than just a theme; it was a recurring solution. During a panel moderated by Jennifer Pigg Clark of Heavy Reading, speakers explored how generative AI is reshaping service provider operations—from infrastructure to customer experience.
Zlatko Zahirović, CTO of Paradise Mobile, shared that 100% of his 35-person team uses AI, with daily integration touching 80% of workflows. He demonstrated AI code he wrote to analyze retail store demographics—completed in a day, something that would’ve taken months just a year ago. His message was clear: AI is a growth multiplier, but it requires discipline to avoid organizational bloat.
Ravi Chunduru, Architect at Verizon, added another dimension, describing how programmable AI and “Objective AI” support Verizon’s hybrid cloud strategy. He highlighted how their Network Copilot leverages digital twins and AI to streamline updates, enhance security, and detect anomalies in real time.
Zahirović closed the session wearing his Ray-Ban Google Glasses, pitching a vision for AI at the edge—and as a service (AIaaS)—to deliver enterprise monetization models built around cloud-native AI deployment.
RAN Gets Smarter
Beyond the cloud, AI-powered RAN (Radio Access Network) strategies drew interest. Executives from AT&T, AMD, and Fujitsu (rebranded as 1FINITY) spoke about using AI to optimize spectrum usage, lower latency, and deliver real-time traffic adjustments. Self-healing networks aren’t just theory anymore—they’re being tested and deployed to boost resilience and performance.
AT&T Drops a Major Fiber Announcement
The show’s headline moment came from Yigal Elbaz, who confirmed AT&T‘s plan to acquire nearly all of Lumen Technologies’ Mass Markets fiber business. The deal will extend AT&T’s fiber footprint across 32 states, targeting 60 million total fiber locations by 2030. That’s roughly double its current reach. It signals a strong push to expand high-speed access well beyond AT&T’s traditional wireline areas. Other big announcements at the show can be found here.
Global Wi-Fi, Local Players
Tiago Rodrigues of the Wireless Broadband Alliance shared progress on the One Global Wi-Fi Network initiative for open roaming, while the expo floor featured a mix of local and global vendors. Dallas-Fort Worth-based BEC Technologies had a notable presence, along with Tejas Networks, which is eyeing a deeper U.S. market entry. EPAM, a major software engineering firm still flying under the radar for many, also made an appearance.
Intimate Setting, Strong Conversations
Unlike sprawling expos, Network X Americas kept things tight and even served breakfast, lunch and drinks, which encouraged real discussions. I met with Dr. Spencer Dando who shared his work bringing Starlink internet to transportation infrastructure, while Jana Sedivy introduced me to her company’s open-source AAA servers—responsible for authenticating over half the Internet.
There was also concern among attendees about the future of the CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) band. With President Trump publicly pushing for reallocating spectrum—including the 600 MHz band—to maintain U.S. leadership in Wi-Fi, 5G, and 6G. There was discussion that the government is also looking into opening up additional portions of C-band spectrum, ranging from 3.98 to 4.2 GHz to auction or repurpose parts of the CBRS band. While no decisions have been finalized, the uncertainty around CBRS licensing and spectrum availability remains a point of tension in the wireless ecosystem.
Network X Americas 2025 served as a hub where big ideas were not just presented, but genuinely shared.
