Trends, fads, and facts: key learnings and 2026 predictions for your global WAN

AI wasn’t just a buzzword this year, but it's been shaping how enterprises design and select their networks. We saw NaaS making headlines, new satellites launching, and a sharper focus on latency. And the list goes on. 

In this webinar, our CTO, Rick Mur, walks you through the key takeaways from 2025 and what we expect in 2026. No fluff — just a GNX straightforward look from the field at where global connectivity is headed. Some of the headlines:

DIA takes over MPLS

This year's surprise was that DIA has become the preferred option for large enterprises. Key reasons are pricing, with DIA often being more cost-effective than MPLS, and the ability of DIA to better support cloud applications, which are now dominant across the business landscape.

Broadband and LEO join the mix

In 2025, we saw many customers choosing broadband as a secondary line. While it doesn't offer guarantees, it's again a cost-effective alternative as a backup line. The same goes for LEO, which we saw stepping strongly into the enterprise landscape as a secondary or tertiary line, thanks to improvements in bandwidth and stability across this technology.

Nevertheless, we also expect LEO to become a strategic choice for enterprises in 2026, not just for secondary/tertiary lines.

Deterministic peering? 

A conversation that came up several times this year. However, we tend to propose a more pragmatic approach to optimize the performance of your internet networks. 

Latency in your network design

With AI in the mix, the amount of data running in your network and across data centers around the world. This underscores the need to pay closer attention to your latency, which is no longer a product but a key criterion in the design of your networks. 

Design for resiliency

Cloud outages and subsea cable cuts have been hitting the news more often than we'd like to admit, which is a key reminder for enterprises to plan for resiliency, understand where their data is, and have a plan for when an outage happens.

New customer demands

Until very recently, asking for minimum download speeds was enough in customers' RFPs. But that's changing too. It was interesting to see that, since this year, upload speeds have dominated the RFP sheets. Which makes sense. As AI and application usage grow, upload speeds are equally important, so setting a baseline for your network becomes key.

Data center growth

While no one is surprised by the news of more data centers, it's interesting to see that many of these are happening in the Nordics and the UAE - mainly driven by the affordable power in these regions; although, connectivity isn't as affordable, especially in the Middle East. So if these are relevant to your business, plan ahead.

NIS2 coming into effect

Especially for European companies, be aware that you'll be expected to be compliant with NIS2 regulations. For networks, SASE is a key enabler, which may also drive your network transformation plans.

New NaaS use cases outside the data center

We expect to see more from NaaS in 2026, with usage-based billing, greater automation, and less manual effort becoming priorities in the connectivity landscape.