Capacity Europe 2025: An Industry Newcomer’s Overview 

Capacity Europe took place from October 21-23, 2025 in London and brought more than 3,600 industry experts together to discuss the future of the telecommunications industry.

Central themes included the growing demand for capacity with the growth of AI and positioning data centers in edge or hub locations. Conversations surrounding the theme of AI were far more common than previous years and discussions about how the industry should best respond underscored all the panels.

The agenda featured many panels such as:

  • The AI conundrum: Establishing ‘hubs’ or edge revival?
  • Build today or buy forever: the role of European data centers in facilitating the AI explosion
  • Chasing power: how to meet future requirements
  • The investment outlook for digital infrastructure
  • Global Connectivity Trends: A European Perspective
  • The Hollow Core Fibre Opportunity: Faster, Further & Deployable Now
  • Testing the waters for quantum communications networks
  • The rise of Eastern European terrestrial corridors

The conclusion from “The AI conundrum: Establishing ‘hubs’ or edge revival?” panel included insights such as Wes Jensen at Wanaware’s point of understanding that inference happens at the edge while training is done at the hubs, so growing demand will necessitate more infrastructure at both, demanding a strong response from the industry.

The role of European data centers was also a central point for discussion at Capacity Europe 2025. With many panelists believing that Europe has the opportunity to adopt at a level competitive to the US and China, the atmosphere was cautious yet optimistic. Regulatory hurdles and plenty of red tape must first be addressed before data centers in Europe can truly flourish at a level close to the success of the US and China.

Additionally, power was also an important part of the debate. Growing demand has worried nearby communities, and discussion about creating a friendly approach that doesn’t villainize data centers is vital in promoting their adoption across Europe. Panelists concluded that turning that PR around requires a tremendous amount of force, but is still a possible undertaking.

Power availability is limited as many of these proposed plant projects will take substantial time, while a data center project may only take two or three years to complete, the average power plant would take longer. There is an inevitable gap in power availability as data centers race to catch demand faster than power can be supplied.

The conversation in the conference also addressed what Nabeel Mahmood of ZincFive mentioned to be a gray tsunami, a shortfall of young professionals entering the industry while there is a large portion of older professionals retiring. The conclusion was generally that the industry should gain awareness and ride off the publicity of data centers to appeal to students. One such program, “Talent in Digital Infrastructure,” was run at the event with a range of speakers from various backgrounds and topics. Students from both UK universities and sixth forms listened to bring awareness to the fact the industry existed, with many speakers emphasizing that they found their way into telecommunications by accident and weren’t aware that it was even an option.

Capacity Europe not only connected the telecommunications industry from across continents, but also provided important insight about the rapidly changing state of the industry. Moving forward, the success of European telecommunications innovation is in the hands of the many experienced and intelligent industry professionals to deal with the new problems posed by the rapid growth and scaling of artificial intelligence.

If you’re interested in participating in the industry-shaping discussion, you can save the date for Capacity Europe 2026! The event will be from the 13th to 16th of October, at the Intercontinental O2 in London.

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About the Author

Sebastian Cohen is an intern at iMiller Public Relations and student at the University of St. Andrews where he is pursuing a degree in Financial Economics and Management.