TL:DR
- Verizon & Equinix enable programmable networks that connect distributed AI agents across cloud & on-premises environments with automated provisioning.
- The solution integrates Equinix APIs to automate network deployment, allowing customers to provision connections in near-real time through self-service portals.
- Joint customers can onboard in days rather than weeks and rapidly connect to thousands of clouds & AI service providers through vendor-neutral hubs.
As covered in my previous blog post, the agentic AI landscape is filled with exciting projects that show what’s possible when we push hardware to its limits. That’s why enterprise CTOs need to stop asking “What can we do with agentic AI?” and start asking “How can we do it at scale?”
It’s not easy to take a proof of concept and expand it into a global system where hundreds of distributed AI agents connect, coordinate and share data in real time. In fact, the network may be just as big of a blocker as the compute.
To make the leap, enterprises must be able to:
- Connect distributed endpoints across cloud and on-premises environments
- Ensure low-latency inference
- Reach AI ecosystem partners, including foundation model providers
- Balance global expansion against local data sovereignty requirements
They can’t meet these challenges using traditional, static network infrastructure. Many enterprises are instead partnering with forward-thinking network service providers (NSPs) to build new networks that are as intelligent and agile as the AI agents they connect.
Equinix provides the vendor-neutral data center foundation these NSPs need. For example, Verizon Business recently tapped Equinix as the launch partner for the programmable networks portion of their Verizon AI Connect initiative.
Together, Verizon and Equinix are helping customers get answers to their biggest network infrastructure questions, paving the way to success with AI and other advanced digital use cases.
By partnering with Equinix on its programmable networks solution, Verizon Business can offer our joint customers:
- The ability to connect infrastructure and applications in as little as minutes/hours, not months
- Private connectivity that helps protect data by bypassing the internet
- Access to a vibrant ecosystem of cloud, AI and other IT service providers
Enabling a better user experience with end-to-end automation
The solution integrates with Equinix APIs to automate every step of the network deployment process. This helps provide fast and reliable service for Verizon Business customers.
Also, Verizon Business can now onboard new enterprise customers typically in a matter of days, not weeks. This means they can capture new revenue opportunities faster.
Customers can provision new connections in near-real time by entering the details for the connection they want using Verizon Business’ self-service portal. The system automatically makes the API calls to create the required Equinix Fabric® connections.
If the customer’s on-premises environment is on network at Verizon, they’re pre-provisioned to connect that environment to thousands of clouds and other service providers, supporting quicker, easier hybrid multicloud connectivity.
The Verizon Business solution is designed so that even the interconnections within Equinix data centers—which function as vendor-neutral interconnection hubs—are automated as well. Customers can rapidly connect to any ecosystem partners colocated at Equinix, including the major cloud providers and neoclouds that drive their AI strategies forward.
Ensuring predictable costs and operations
Equinix Fabric offers high-bandwidth ports that are ideal to support Verizon Business’ programmable network, providing essential flexibility for our joint customers.
Attractive Equinix Fabric pricing options are designed to help manage networking costs as AI workloads grow.
Equinix also offers many observability options, including the ability to ingest streaming event and metric data into third-party tools like Datadog and Splunk.
Setting the stage for global expansion
The solution will start with redundant Equinix Fabric deployments in four major U.S. metros. Verizon plans to tap into Equinix’s global scale and metro density by expanding into additional strategic U.S. metros in the future.
Because the solution is built around end-to-end automation, it’s highly repeatable across these different locations. Adding a new metro works largely the same way no matter where that metro is. The underlying infrastructure does not have to be manually configured, leaving little room for human error.
What telco leaders can learn from the Equinix-Verizon partnership
This new solution is just the latest development in our long-standing relationship. Verizon currently operates in more than 100 Equinix data centers, and Equinix Fabric has deployed more than 1,000 virtual connections on behalf of Verizon globally.
The trust we’ve built is a large part of why they chose us to support a Verizon AI Connect rollout that serves as a blueprint for the future of interconnection, enabling AI-ready connectivity that’s designed to be agile, cost-effective and reliable on a global scale.
The foundation we’re building is designed to extend over time. As enterprise AI moves closer to the edge—to branch locations, distributed endpoints, and wherever decisions are made—automation, low latency, and simplicity need to follow. Verizon and Equinix are aligned in that direction. For instance, we’re working together to simplify last-mile delivery, which remains a hidden barrier to network success.
Equinix has been a vendor-neutral provider from the beginning. This is one of our biggest competitive differentiators, and it’s one reason why more than 2,000 network service providers are at Equinix today. They get the full value of ecosystem solutions, no matter who provides them.
Equinix is building the future of enterprise networking with the help of NSP partners like Verizon. To learn more about what this future will look like, and how you can help build it with us, visit Equinix for network service providers today.
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