Deutsche Telekom Sees No Extra RAN Spending Needed for AI Uplink Demand

Deutsche Telekom expects no additional radio access network spending to handle AI-driven mobile uplink traffic in the medium term. A senior executive said the operator's current RAN modernization plan should cover any capacity needs. Separately, Ericsson found uplink growth outpacing downlink at 43 of 55 measured operators, though it attributed that trend mainly to collaboration and cloud storage rather than AI.

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Deutsche Telekom’s Dhananjay Mirchandani, senior VP for group controlling and incoming CFO, said the operator’s network team has not requested RAN investment beyond its existing modernization plans to prepare for extra uplink or AI traffic. He presented this as confidence in the current mobile-capacity capex roadmap, not a denial that AI will affect traffic.

Ericsson’s June 2026 Mobility Report found uplink growth exceeded downlink growth at 43 of 55 measured service providers in 2025, with 17 seeing uplink rise more than 1.5 times faster. Ericsson linked today’s trend mainly to teamwork tools, user-made content, and remote file storage, while describing AI