diff --git a/packages/collector/src/agent/opts.js b/packages/collector/src/agent/opts.js
index 2b988e5836..25a5ac2c17 100644
--- a/packages/collector/src/agent/opts.js
+++ b/packages/collector/src/agent/opts.js
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ exports.requestTimeout = 5000;
 exports.host = '127.0.0.1';
 // @ts-ignore - Cannot redeclare exported variable
 exports.port = 42699;
+// @ts-ignore - Cannot redeclare exported variable
+exports.dataPort = 42699;
 /** @type {string} */
 exports.agentUuid = undefined;
 // @ts-ignore - Cannot redeclare exported variable
@@ -30,6 +32,8 @@ exports.init = function init(config) {
   exports.host = config.agentHost;
   // @ts-ignore - Cannot redeclare exported variable
   exports.port = config.agentPort;
+  // @ts-ignore - Cannot redeclare exported variable
+  exports.dataPort = config.agentDataPort;
 
   // TODO: Why is autoProfile part of agentOpts? O_o
   // @ts-ignore - Cannot redeclare exported variable
diff --git a/packages/collector/src/agentConnection.js b/packages/collector/src/agentConnection.js
index 7ca47d69c5..cceff652c7 100644
--- a/packages/collector/src/agentConnection.js
+++ b/packages/collector/src/agentConnection.js
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ exports.announceNodeCollector = function announceNodeCollector(callback) {
 
   logger.debug(`Announcing the Node.js collector to the Instana host agent at ${agentOpts.host}:${agentOpts.port}`);
 
+  // Agent announcement uses agentOpts.port (agent connection port)
   const req = http.request(
     {
       host: agentOpts.host,
@@ -235,6 +236,8 @@ exports.sendLogToAgent = function sendLogToAgent(logLevel, message, stackTrace)
 
   const payload = Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(payloadObject), 'utf8');
 
+  // Log forwarding uses agentOpts.port (agent connection port) for now
+  // this can be customized if we use OTLP transformation for logs in the future
   const req = http.request(
     {
       host: agentOpts.host,
@@ -271,6 +274,7 @@ exports.sendLogToAgent = function sendLogToAgent(logLevel, message, stackTrace)
 function checkWhetherResponseForPathIsOkay(path, cb) {
   cb = util.atMostOnce('callback for checkWhetherResponseForPathIsOkay', cb);
 
+  // Agent readiness check uses agentOpts.port (agent connection port)
   const req = http.request(
     {
       host: agentOpts.host,
@@ -452,10 +456,12 @@ function sendData(path, data, cb, ignore404 = false) {
     return setImmediate(cb.bind(null, error));
   }
 
+  // Use dataPort for sending all telemetry data (metrics, spans, profiles, events, etc.)
+  // dataPort defaults to agentPort but can be configured separately for future use cases (e.g., OTel format)
   const req = http.request(
     {
       host: agentOpts.host,
-      port: agentOpts.port,
+      port: agentOpts.dataPort,
       path,
       method: 'POST',
       agent: http.agent,
diff --git a/packages/collector/src/types/collector.d.ts b/packages/collector/src/types/collector.d.ts
index 008b263e59..a6028fe49d 100644
--- a/packages/collector/src/types/collector.d.ts
+++ b/packages/collector/src/types/collector.d.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ export interface AgentConfig {
 export interface CollectorConfig {
   agentPort?: number;
   agentHost?: string;
+  agentDataPort?: number;
   agentRequestTimeout?: number;
   tracing?: {
     stackTraceLength?: number;
diff --git a/packages/collector/src/util/normalizeConfig.js b/packages/collector/src/util/normalizeConfig.js
index d288dbf188..8c018afe88 100644
--- a/packages/collector/src/util/normalizeConfig.js
+++ b/packages/collector/src/util/normalizeConfig.js
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ module.exports = function normalizeConfig(userConfig = {}) {
   // as extraFinalConfig to core's normalize function.
   finalConfig.agentHost = normalizeAgentHost(userConfig, defaults);
   finalConfig.agentPort = normalizeAgentPort(userConfig, defaults);
+  finalConfig.agentDataPort = normalizeAgentDataPort(userConfig, defaults);
   finalConfig.agentRequestTimeout = normalizeAgentRequestTimeout(userConfig, defaults);
   finalConfig.autoProfile = normalizeAutoProfile(userConfig, defaults);
   finalConfig.reportUnhandledPromiseRejections = normalizeUnhandledRejections(userConfig);
@@ -73,6 +74,24 @@ function normalizeAgentPort(userConfig, defaultConfig) {
   return value;
 }
 
+/**
+ * @param {import('../types/collector').CollectorConfig} userConfig
+ * @param {{ agentPort: number }} defaultConfig
+ * @returns {number}
+ */
+function normalizeAgentDataPort(userConfig, defaultConfig) {
+  // Future logic for OTLP enabled check can be added here to determine which port to use
+  const { value } = util.resolve(
+    {
+      envValue: 'INSTANA_AGENT_PORT',
+      inCodeValue: userConfig.agentPort,
+      defaultValue: defaultConfig.agentPort
+    },
+    [validate.numberValidator]
+  );
+  return value;
+}
+
 /**
  * @param {import('../types/collector').CollectorConfig} userConfig
  * @param {{ agentRequestTimeout: number }} defaultConfig