National telecoms provider could make $2.7 billion selling recycled copper in AI boom — BT to strip 200,000 tons from legacy network
TL;DR
The UK's largest telecommunications company, BT, could potentially make $2.7 billion as it recycles all the old copper in its network as it upgrades to fiber optic. The massive amount is driven by the AI boom, as data center operators require more and more copper wires for power.
Nauti's Take
This shows an upside almost nobody talks about: the AI buildout makes old infrastructure valuable again and helps fund part of BT's fiber rollout. The limit of that math is the copper price, which can fall as fast as it rose.
Anyone working in infrastructure or procurement should treat data center raw material demand as a cost factor of its own.
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