• AI traffic behaves differently than traditional application traffic, reshaping network requirements.
• Physical and agentic AI will be among the fastest growing network traffic categories increasing demand for uplink capacity, low latency and distributed infrastructure.

Nokia  published its Global Network Traffic Report, forecasting that AI will drive nearly half of global network traffic in 2035. The findings show networks will increasingly need to serve connected machines as well as people, with AI driving greater uplink demand, faster response times and more processing closer to users and devices.

By 2035, Nokia projects that total network traffic will nearly quadruple from 2026 levels to almost 3,789 exabytes (EB) per month, with 44% of that traffic driven by AI. The increasing adoption of autonomous AI agents and connected machines will challenge networks built primarily for downloads, increasing demand for upload capacity and real-time responses. Physical AI applications, including robots and vehicles that interact with their surroundings, are projected to generate more than 90% of their traffic over the network uplink by 2035.

Starting from a small base, agentic AI traffic is projected to reach 160 times its 2026 levels in 2035, while physical AI traffic is expected to reach 105 times its 2026 level over the same period. These projected workloads will require networks that support differing needs, from bulk uploads to continuous, real-time connections.

The report also forecasts a shift in where AI data is processed by 2035. While most AI traffic is expected to remain within the central cloud, edge and metro core infrastructure is projected to serve 36% of all AI-native traffic by 2035 as agentic and physical AI applications rise in prominence. More efficient models, low-latency requirements and data sovereignty needs are expected to bring intelligence and inferencing closer to users and devices, supporting a more distributed infrastructure known as the AI grid.

Beyond AI, the report projects that fixed wireless access (FWA) will generate more than one-third of consumer cellular traffic by 2035 as connections and usage grow, expanding cellular networks’ role in home broadband alongside mobile services.

Nokia’s Global Network Traffic Report (2026–2035) uses a bottom-up model of consumer, enterprise and AI traffic. It combines application usage, connected-device activity and agentic workflows with third-party research, expert review and Nokia lab testing and insights to assess traffic growth and characteristics, network distribution and potential uplink constraints.

Pallavi Mahajan, Chief Technology and AI Officer at Nokia: “AI is changing what we need from networks, not just how much traffic they carry. Networks built for traditional internet applications will increasingly have to support machines that place new demands on the uplink and require real-time responses. The next phase of AI will depend as much on the network as on compute. Network readiness must therefore be a central part of AI planning, not an afterthought. At Nokia, we’re building the distributed, AI-ready networks that make this next phase possible.”