NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE & MODERNISATION
Early discussions and predictions about artificial intelligence and automation inspired technologies that completely reshaped society. Andrew Ng, a globally recognised AI expert, summarised the technology’ s impact on nearly every aspect of life in 2017, when he said,“ AI is the new electricity.”
Many early proponents of AI focused not on its danger to human intelligence, but rather its potential as a tool to improve and support it. Former IBM CEO Ginni Rometty expressed clearly that AI would help us rather than replace us, pointing to a future where people and machines work together.
More than any other industry, telecommunications is pivotal to the AI revolution. As demand for connectivity accelerates beyond traditional boundaries, driven by cloud computing, AI workloads and the proliferation of edge applications, telcos face unprecedented challenges in network capacity, resilience and operational efficiency. For the international arm of Australia’ s largest telecommunications company, Telstra, the solution lies in expanding infrastructure and fundamentally reimagining how networks are architected, operated and managed through AI and automation.
Wayne Lotter, Head of International Networks at Telstra International, has unique insights into this transformation. Leading Telstra’ s international network engineering and operations whilst serving on the company’ s global network and
60 July 2025