Service providers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are increasingly viewing artificial intelligence (AI) networking as a major source of future revenue, with a new Ciena survey highlighting strong expectations for AI-driven connectivity, optical network upgrades and data centre interconnection services across both markets.
The research found that 96% of UAE service providers and 90% of Saudi Arabian respondents expect high-capacity AI-driven network services to become a primary driver of new revenue growth over the next three to five years.
Confidence is also strong in managed optical fibre network (MOFN) services. According to the survey, 97% of UAE respondents and 96% of Saudi respondents expect MOFN services to generate revenue by connecting distributed AI compute clusters over the next three years.
UAE service providers see urgent need for network upgrades
The findings indicate that service providers across both markets recognise the need to upgrade network infrastructure as AI workloads expand.
In the UAE, 97% of respondents said optical network upgrades are urgently required to support premium enterprise AI service-level agreements (SLAs). Of these, 56% described the need as critically urgent.
In Saudi Arabia, 86% said optical network upgrades are urgently needed, including 51% who said upgrades are needed immediately and 35% who expect them to be required within 12 to 18 months.
The results suggest that while both markets are preparing for increased AI-related demand, UAE service providers are expressing a particularly strong sense of urgency around network readiness.
AI inference creates new data centre opportunities
The growth of AI inference data centres is also expected to influence demand for data centre interconnect services.
In Saudi Arabia, 58% of service providers believe the expansion of AI inference data centres will increase demand for data centre interconnection, compared with a global average of 49%. In the UAE, 37% of respondents shared the same expectation.
Service providers are also looking towards GPU-as-a-Service as a potential revenue opportunity. Strategic partnerships with cloud and neocloud providers were considered essential to capturing this opportunity by 96% of UAE respondents and 91% of Saudi respondents.
AI entertainment and physical AI expand the opportunity
AI-driven entertainment is another area where service providers see potential for new revenue. The opportunity was identified by 96% of UAE respondents and 95% of Saudi respondents, broadly matching the global finding of 95%.
Meanwhile, physical AI, including industrial robotics and remote-control systems, is expected to become a significant enterprise market. More than 15% of total enterprise AI revenue within five years was anticipated by 52% of UAE respondents and 37% of Saudi respondents.
Reliability becomes a premium service opportunity
The survey also highlights the growing importance of network reliability as AI services become more dependent on consistent connectivity.
In Saudi Arabia, 42% of service providers identified network consistency, including guaranteed performance stability and low jitter, as the leading premium monetisation opportunity. This compares with a global figure of 35%.
The findings indicate that service providers may increasingly be able to monetise guaranteed network performance as enterprises adopt more demanding AI applications.
Hyperscaler demand drives infrastructure expansion
The increasing distribution of AI computing infrastructure is also creating opportunities for wholesale network providers.
As power constraints limit the ability of hyperscalers to expand data centre capacity on individual campuses, companies are increasingly distributing computing resources across multiple locations.
This trend is expected to contribute significantly to wholesale revenue growth, according to 99% of UAE respondents and 91% of Saudi respondents, compared with 95% globally.
Multi-cloud strategies differ between the UAE and Saudi Arabia
The survey identified differences in how service providers in the two markets expect to monetise enterprise multi-cloud demand.
In Saudi Arabia, multi-cloud connectivity management was identified as a revenue driver by 64% of respondents, above the global figure of 56%.
In the UAE, traditional fixed-capacity services remained the leading revenue model at 57%, while multi-cloud connectivity management was cited by 46% of respondents.
This represents a different market outlook from Saudi Arabia and the broader global trend.
Quantum-safe services and sovereign infrastructure
The survey also examined the development of quantum-safe encryption and sovereign infrastructure services.
UAE service providers appear to be further ahead in commercialising quantum-safe offerings, with 54% saying they have already launched or expect to launch such services within 12 months. In Saudi Arabia, the corresponding figure was 38%.
Ciena's regional managing director for the Middle East and Africa, Pete Hall, said service providers globally are balancing optimism about AI-driven revenue opportunities with the urgency of preparing their networks.
He said the UAE findings point to providers treating network upgrades and automation as immediate priorities, while Saudi Arabia is placing particular emphasis on AI inference, service reliability and sovereign infrastructure requirements.
Survey covers 200 regional service provider experts
The research was conducted by Censuswide among 100 service provider experts in the UAE and 100 in Saudi Arabia as part of a wider global study involving more than 1,200 respondents across 12 countries.
The UAE survey was conducted between July 13 and July 22, 2026, while Saudi Arabia data was collected between July 13 and July 23, 2026.
Respondents represented telecommunications providers, wholesale fibre network operators and regional service providers.
The findings underline the growing role of AI in shaping network investment and commercial strategies across the Gulf, with service providers increasingly looking beyond traditional connectivity revenues towards AI infrastructure, multi-cloud services, data centre interconnection, reliability and emerging technologies.
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