RCI’s expansion into the AI critical infrastructure market aligns with a historic surge in demand:
- According to McKinsey & Company, global data center capital spending is projected at roughly $6.7 trillion through 2030, of which about $5.2 trillion is for AI-capable facilities.
- US data center power demand is projected to exceed 80 gigawatts by 2030, up from about 25 gigawatts in 2024, a more than threefold increase.
- The connectivity layer is scaling in step: according to the Fiber Broadband Association, the U.S. fiber landscape is projected to increase by 2.3X from 159 million fiber miles to 373 million fiber miles by 2029.
“Fiber demand is accelerating, and data center connectivity is now a major driver alongside traditional communication networks,” said Jeff Frankenfield, Senior Vice President of North America for HFCL, a leading fiber-optic cable manufacturer represented by RCI. “Our high-fiber-count, bend-insensitive cabling is engineered for the density AI facilities require, and a national partner like RCI gives us the reach and technical field support to serve the North American buildout.”
For RCI, meeting that surge builds directly on a four-decade foundation. The same categories the firm has represented for decades, including fiber-optic cable, optical connectivity and test, are core to the AI infrastructure buildout. Many of RCI’s customers are already carrying a substantial and growing volume of AI-driven data traffic on the networks they have built with the firm, and are expanding that equipment and those networks to support it. RCI already represents principals whose products are central to AI, including high-fiber-count optical cable, optical test, high-speed optics, and fiber solutions built for hyperscalers.
Over the past several years, by natural extension of those same principals and relationships, RCI has also gained exposure and built capabilities with products across adjacent critical infrastructure sectors, including water, cooling and power, the very categories the AI and data center buildout now depends on. Extending coverage into the broader AI critical infrastructure market is the logical next step in RCI’s evolution.
“I have spent my career building and running large networks, and the operators who come out ahead are the ones who see the shift coming. AI infrastructure is the biggest shift this industry has faced,” said Tom Maguire, former Chief Executive Officer of Brightspeed and a former senior executive at Verizon. “Rep Com has always anticipated these shifts and stayed ahead of its customers’ needs, which is exactly what this build demands: a partner that is technically deep, national in reach, and focused on where the industry is going next.”
What sets RCI apart is its model: a nationwide team of dedicated industry experts and technically-oriented salespeople with trusted local relationships in support of our manufacturers, distributors and customers. Backed by deep, tenured relationships, RCI’s national platform gives manufacturers broader reach and customers a single, trusted partner across the full portfolio of products.
About Rep Com International
Founded in 1983, Rep Com International (RCI) is the only independent manufacturers’ representative firm serving the U.S. telecommunications and broadband industry across all 50 states, with further extension of its national platform into the broader AI critical infrastructure market announced in July 2026. For more than 40 years, RCI has represented leading manufacturers of fiber, optical connectivity and test, outside-plant, power and safety products, connecting them with the customers, distributors and installers who build the nation’s communications networks. RCI’s 100 percent employee-based sales force combines local, on-the-ground expertise with consistent nationwide coverage and support. Headquartered in Venice, Florida, RCI represents principals including Prysmian, Vertiv, Viavi, HFCL, Infra Pipes and ProLabs, among others. Learn more at www.repcom.com.
Media Contact
Eric Farst, President
Rep Com International
efarst@repcom.com