BT Unveils AI-Ready Global Fabric at MWC 2025: Pioneering the Future of Network Infrastructure

Innovating the Digital Landscape at MWC 2025

At the heart of Barcelona's bustling MWC 2025 event, BT has demonstrated how breakthrough network innovations are set to revolutionize the new era of work. In a keynote presentation, Colin Bannon, CTO of BT Business, detailed how the network has evolved into a powerful computing platform—a crucial foundation for harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence (AI).

The Rise of Global Fabric: A New Era in Connectivity

BT unveiled its AI-ready Global Fabric network-as-a-service (NaaS) platform, already handling live customer traffic. This state-of-the-art infrastructure connects the myriad clouds that today’s businesses rely on, promising to streamline digital operations through automated, intelligent network management. Embedded within this platform is an AI-powered digital orchestration layer that meticulously selects optimal pathways, ensuring optimal performance as applications traverse between clouds and end users.

With offerings such as BT-enhanced internet service, point-to-point and multi-point Ethernet, and MPLS—all available in bandwidth increments from 1 Mbps up to 100 Gbps—the Global Fabric delivers unmatched flexibility, surpassing the capabilities of traditional networks. When fully deployed, the network will span 140 international points of presence across 40 countries, ensuring robust direct connections to hyper-scaler clouds and high-bandwidth access to over 700 data centres.

Addressing Today’s Enterprise Challenges

In a world marked by distributed workloads and sophisticated cyber threats, maintaining network performance is paramount. Bannon emphasized that trust and reliability are indispensable and that the network must meet the high expectations of international businesses, governmental bodies, and multinational corporations.

Drawing on real-world examples, Bannon described the shift from persona-based network design—focusing on users, devices, and applications—to a comprehensive approach that now also accounts for AI-driven agents. This evolution demands full-stack observability across the network and applications, ensuring that both assurance and security are uncompromised. As enterprises begin integrating AI into mobile devices and networks, especially 5G, they must overcome rising concerns over data security and the risks associated with BYOD (bring-your-own-device) policies.

Bridging the Gap Between Innovation and Security

The integration of AI into mobile networks is prompting IT leaders to re-evaluate their data management and security strategies. Bannon highlighted concerns over the potential data loss from AI applications on personal devices and stressed the importance of innovative overlay services, including AI defence and data loss protection. The goal, he noted, is to create a mobile and fixed network that is fully AI-ready—a challenge that BT is meeting head-on through strategic partnerships, as exemplified by its collaboration with Cisco.

Future-Proofing the Network for AI Workloads

Looking forward, the pressure to build networks that can support the immense strain of AI workloads has never been greater. BT’s investment in Global Fabric was timed perfectly, aligning with the surge in distributed AI technologies. With a programmable architecture that decouples the control plane from the data plane, every component of the network is designed to adapt swiftly—making it possible to allocate bandwidth on demand and maintain high operational availability.

Bannon’s narrative concludes with a powerful takeaway: in the interconnected future, "the network is the computer." His insights capture the essence of BT’s mission: to provide an agile, reliable network that serves as the backbone for AI, driving today’s digital transformations and ensuring robust, secure communication for tomorrow's enterprises.

Concluding Thoughts

As enterprises navigate a world redefined by AI and digital automation, BT’s Global Fabric stands as a testament to innovation and strategic foresight. The collaboration between advanced network engineering and AI is crafting a smarter, faster, and more secure digital infrastructure—a true game changer in the evolving landscape of connectivity.