GEORGE ASHWIN ADDON NETWORKS
SHOULD OPERATORS RECONSIDER THEIR RELIANCE ON NEM OPTICS FOR DATA CENTRE BUILDS? AI investment is transforming Europe’s data centre landscape, driving demand for decentralised, high-performance facilities that many operators are struggling to support with the required speed, scale, and power capacity. As companies take on more ready-to-deploy projects, reliance on traditional Network Equipment Manufacturers (NEMs) is limiting their ability to deliver cost-effectively in an AI-driven market. Optical Connections Editor Brian Dolby spoke with AddOn Networks’ UK Channel Director, George Ashwin about how adopting NEM alternatives can help companies overcome deployment bottlenecks and deliver agile, energy efficient networks for the AI era.
BD Where are data centre operators experiencing the biggest bottlenecks as they try to keep pace with rapid data centre expansion?
within existing constraints are crucial. If operators can extend the life of deployed assets, improve density and reduce energy overheads, at least some of these key bottlenecks can be eased.
significant overheads, which could easily be avoided by embracing a hybrid model.
With 400G and 800G optics now essential for AI workloads, how is AddOn helping data centre
BD
Presently, operators are facing a wide variety of bottlenecks as the rapid expansion of data centres
GA
Why does the reliance on traditional NEM-only sourcing strategies limit customers’ ability to scale cost
operators’ accelerate deployment timelines?
BD
– driven by AI and cloud computing – outpaces the development of infrastructure. The industry is hitting structural limits as power, equipment, staffing issues and regulatory pressures all converge. In major data centre hubs like London and Frankfurt, grid capacity is essentially maximised already, meaning new facilities may have to wait years for power interconnection. This includes sites which have already been built. Supply‑chain shortages are also slowing builds, with transformers, switchgear, generators, and AI‑specific hardware all facing lead times of 90 weeks or more when procuring from market-dominant NEMs. Even when the components are available, labour constraints add further friction, since the latest campuses require specialised electrical and cooling expertise that often exceeds local talent pools. Sustainability concerns and community resistance are growing, and these are delaying or blocking new developments too. As such, smarter infrastructure planning, diversified sourcing and technologies that maximise cost and performance efficiency
effectively in an AI driven market?
We are helping operators by focusing on immediate availability, full compatibility, and high-
GA
AI infrastructure built around a limited number of manufacturers will naturally struggle to keep pace
GA
performance alternative optics. To combat shortages that typically plague the larger NEMs, we maintain large stocks of our 400G, 800G and - increasingly - 1.6T transceivers in localised warehouses, meaning we can deliver 90% of orders within 48 hours across the United Kingdom. As deployment timelines become increasingly condensed, this is a real benefit to operators. At the same time, our transceivers are designed to integrate seamlessly with major NEM set-ups, and this reduces the time spent on complex, in-house multi-vendor interoperability testing. Many of these optics are specialised 800G solutions, some of which use duplex LC connectors to optimise cabling management and reduce installation times. We also offer solutions that allow for rapid, high-density and low-power interconnects with AI clusters. To support quick deployments, our rigorous testing ensures immediate, error- free operations as soon as our solutions
with today’s explosive demand. When all capacity depends on one NEM, production bottlenecks quickly evolve into deployment delays, especially because AI
workloads require unprecedented compute. Traditional procurement
processes slow things further, because the typical negotiation cycles cannot match the speed at which AI projects must now scale. These strategies also drive up the total cost of ownership – without competitive pressure, pricing remains high, and organisations are running the risk of vendor lock-ins. If they embrace alternative suppliers as part of a hybrid, multi-source approach, operators can swap in newer solutions as they emerge, ensuring they can keep pace with AI- driven requirements. The fact that NEM optics are usually 70% more expensive than those offered by alternative suppliers means operators are also generating
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| ISSUE 43 | Q1 2026
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