I personally assume that AI is such a significant and transformative matter that the data centers it requires will be built despite the opposition, but in a different way. First, further away from population centers where opposition is fiercest, and second, where energy availability is good and the available source hardly competes with the needs of residents.
What would this mean for Nokia then? More decentralized data centers will require more optical and IP solutions due to already increased distances, in other words, increasing demand for Nokia’s products and services. Another slightly more uncertain consequence may be that if the location of data centers is very far away and latency becomes too high, edge computing in the form of AI-RAN could become a more viable alternative, again potentially benefiting Nokia.
Of course, if, contrary to my understanding, data center construction almost completely stops, the situation is undoubtedly net negative for Nokia even if AI-RAN were to get a boost. But therefore, I believe in the relocation of data centers, not in the cessation or even significant slowdown of data center construction due to negative public sentiment.