Key 2026 Growth Drivers for Digital Infrastructure and AI Investment in Telecom

Key 2026 growth drivers for digital infrastructure (with emphasis on AI spend and capex)

American Tower’s 2026 outlook frames growth as coming from secular demand for mobile data capacity, cloud/edge infrastructure, and AI-driven network workloads, which then translate into ongoing “growth capital” and related construction/capacity expansion. Management explicitly ties these structural trends to “sustained investment and high-quality digital infrastructure” and expects they are “global, structural and long duration.” ¹

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1) AI spend: exploding AI workloads increase network capacity and complexity needs

What management says is driving growth

• Management states that “AI investment is exploding” and expects new AI applications to place “meaningfully greater demands on wireless networks” in both throughput and complexity. ²
• They also emphasize AI-driven workloads ramping at CoreSite, specifically including inferencing. ²

How that becomes “digital infrastructure” demand

• For towers, management argues terrestrial wireless networks are the scalable solution for meeting this AI-enabled demand, and that towers remain the efficient, economical, and flexible way to deliver the needed capacity. ²
• For CoreSite (data center + interconnection), management describes an ecosystem where customers come to use cloud on-ramps and now inferencing hubs, supported by network connectivity and enterprise interconnection. ³⁴

Bottom line: In the provided materials, AI spend is not just an end-demand story; it is framed as increasing wireless capacity requirements and accelerating demand for interconnected, cloud-on-ramp and inferencing-capable infrastructure. ¹²³

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2) Carrier capex continuity: continued mobile network investment supports tower build/capacity

Management highlights that carrier mobile data capital spending is expected to remain strong:

• Carrier mobile data capital investment remains stable at $30B to $35B range. ⁵
• Carriers are rolling out 5G and moving into densifying and increasing network capacity, which management expects to be constructive for tower demand. ⁵

They also cite that mobile data traffic is expected to double over the next 5 years in the U.S., requiring commensurate increases in network capacity. ¹ They add that projections may not fully capture incremental upside from 6G and AI-enabled applications. ¹

Bottom line: Even aside from AI-specific use cases, management expects ongoing carrier network capex to translate into tower/connection infrastructure investment over 2026. ¹⁵

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3) Generational technology shifts (6G) increase infrastructure density and compute distribution

Management connects future wireless evolution to physical infrastructure activity:

• They state 6G engineering principles point toward denser networks, more distributed compute, and materially higher throughput requirements, which they expect translates into increased activity across the tower portfolio. ²

Bottom line: Management treats 6G as another mechanism that supports 2026 infrastructure growth, reinforcing the AI-driven demand narrative. ²

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4) CoreSite growth drivers: hybrid/multi-cloud deployments and a strengthening interconnection engine (AI-enabled)

CoreSite’s growth drivers in the excerpts are particularly relevant for “digital infrastructure” because they are explicitly tied to AI-enabled workloads:

• CoreSite data center property revenue growth is described as ~17% (excluding noncash straight-line revenue), with growth driven by robust demand for hybrid and multi-cloud installations, accelerating AI-related use cases, and an inflection in interconnection activity. ⁶
• Management says the interconnection inflection enhanced profitability and long-term customer relationships, positioning CoreSite as a differentiated digital infrastructure platform combining network connectivity, cloud on-ramps, and enterprise ecosystems. ⁷
• They further note the platform is structured to outperform traditional single-tenant hyperscale models “especially as demand for interconnected AI-enabled infrastructure continues to grow.” ⁷

Bottom line: In these excerpts, AI spend shows up most directly in CoreSite’s demand line-items as AI-related use cases and inferencing ecosystems that benefit from interconnection. ⁷⁶³

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5) Capex and “growth capital” priorities for 2026: developed markets build + CoreSite capacity replenishment

Management’s capital allocation commentary provides the clearest statement about what capex they plan in 2026 and where it’s aimed:

• In 2026, the growth capital plan remains consistent with the prior outlook. ⁸
• They expect to spend ~85% of discretionary capital within developed markets platforms. ⁸
• They also specify over $700 million in success-based investments in the data center portfolio to replenish elevated levels of capacity, plus purchases of land beneath tower sites, and continued acceleration in European new builds (with over 700 new sites planned). ⁸

Even though the excerpt does not break this capex number into “AI-only,” management clearly ties the broader demand backdrop (including AI) to sustained investment and to CoreSite’s expansion as a “core driver of long-term value.” ¹⁷⁸

Bottom line (capex): For 2026, the provided filings show capex/growth capital is being directed toward (i) developed market tower growth, and (ii) CoreSite/data center capacity replenishment—both aligned with increasing interconnection-rich demand including AI-related workloads. ¹⁷⁸

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6) Why these drivers are expected to compound through 2026 (not one-off)

Management explicitly frames the demand as structural and compounding:

• They describe growth drivers as “compounding,” pointing to increasing smartphone penetration, 5G adoption, fixed wireless access, and expanding enterprise use cases supporting mobile data consumption growth. ¹
• They describe trends as “global, structural and long duration,” and “point towards sustained investment.” ¹
• They emphasize that the industry tailwinds reinforce growth expectations (e.g., supportive macro towers; mid- to upper single-digit AFFO growth ambition in the excerpt). ⁵⁹

Bottom line: The excerpts portray AI-enabled workloads as reinforcing—rather than replacing—carrier investment, 6G evolution, and interconnection-led ecosystem demand, which then supports sustained capex into 2026. ¹²⁷⁵

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Concise summary

AI spend / AI workloads (inferencing and AI-enabled use cases) are expected to increase network throughput and complexity needs for towers and to accelerate demand for interconnection-rich, cloud-on-ramp infrastructure at CoreSite. ²⁷ Those AI-related demand effects combine with continued carrier mobile network investment ($30B–$35B range) and 6G-driven densification/distributed compute, collectively supporting sustained investment into 2026. ¹²⁵

On capex, management indicates 2026 growth capital includes ~85% discretionary spend in developed markets, over $700 million in success-based data center investments to replenish capacity, plus land purchases and accelerated European new builds (over 700 new sites planned)—all consistent with these demand drivers. ⁸