Event round-up: Future Telecoms Conference 2026
The Future Telecoms Conference 2026, hosted by techUK on Tuesday 10 February, brought together government, regulators, industry and regional leaders to examine how the UK can translate digital ambition into delivery at scale. With telecoms now firmly recognised as foundational to economic growth, discussions focused on how policy, investment and innovation must evolve to support the next phase of deployment.
A standout moment of the day saw the Minister use the techUK stage to launch the government’s Mobile Market Review (MMR) call for evidence — signalling the importance of the conference as a convening point between policymakers and industry.
Across the programme, the message was clear: the UK has made strong progress on coverage, but attention must now shift toward quality, resilience and long-term sustainability.
Ministerial keynote
Opening the conference, Baroness Lloyd emphasised that digital infrastructure is the backbone of innovation and national competitiveness. She highlighted strong rollout momentum, with 83% of premises able to access standalone 5G and 86% of the country covered by gigabit broadband, while stressing that further action is needed to strengthen investment conditions and accelerate delivery.
In a significant announcement, the Minister formally launched the Mobile Market Review call for evidence at the conference. The review will examine how to support long-term investment and competition in the UK mobile market, assess whether existing policy and regulatory frameworks remain fit for purpose, and consider how best to prepare the sector for future technologies including 6G.
The Minister also reaffirmed major government commitments, including £1.8bn for Project Gigabit, planning reforms, updated telecoms security rules and a strengthened digital inclusion agenda — underlining that world-class connectivity is “not optional, but essential”.
You can find the Minister’s full speech here, and techUK’s insight on the newly published draft Statement of Strategic Priorities here.
Resilience and critical communications
A strong theme throughout the day was the growing importance of resilience by design. Speakers from across industry and government highlighted that mission-critical services, from emergency response to energy and transport, can no longer rely on single-network solutions.
Instead, the future lies in layered, multi-technology connectivity spanning fibre, 5G, satellite and emerging non-terrestrial networks. Panellists stressed that mission-critical operations require guaranteed availability rather than best-effort coverage, reinforcing the need for policymakers and industry to move beyond simple coverage metrics toward measures of reliability and performance.
Device readiness, supply chain robustness and indoor coverage were all identified as key enablers of resilient communications, alongside stronger scenario planning and closer public-private collaboration.
Can the sector power the UK’s growth ambitions?
Industry leaders agreed the UK has made impressive deployment progress but warned that the investment environment remains challenging. With real-terms consumer prices falling over recent years while deployment costs continue to rise, speakers argued that policy must evolve to better reward quality, innovation and long-term capital investment.
While UK networks are geographically extensive, panellists described them as “wide but thin”, lacking the density required to fully support advanced use cases, AI-enabled services and industrial transformation. Persistent barriers including planning complexity, land access and uneven network performance continue to slow rollout in some areas.
There was broad consensus that the next phase must focus on connecting everyone, particularly along transport corridors, in rural communities and within dense urban environments, supported by more joined-up policymaking and stronger demand-side stimulation.
The network of networks
Looking ahead, speakers also explored how future connectivity will depend on the integration of subsea, terrestrial, aerial and satellite layers. This emerging “network of networks” model will be essential to support cyber-physical systems such as autonomous vehicles, drones and smart industrial environments.
Speakers highlighted indoor connectivity as a persistent gap, noting that most real-world usage occurs inside buildings and must be better reflected in policy and deployment strategies. Satellite connectivity will play an important complementary role in extending coverage to remote areas but will not replace terrestrial solutions in dense environments.
The conference also pointed to the growing role of AI-driven, intent-based networking, which will enable devices and applications to dynamically select the most appropriate connection, converging communications, compute and sensing into increasingly intelligent infrastructure.
Ofcom keynote
Returning to the conference, Natalie Black set out Ofcom’s evolving priorities for the telecoms sector, reinforcing that the policy conversation is moving beyond headline coverage toward quality, resilience, security and consumer outcomes.
She noted that while full fibre rollout continues at pace, adoption remains a key challenge, with more than half of homes passed by full fibre yet to switch. This points to a growing demand-side gap that will require coordinated action across industry, government and local partners to address affordability, awareness and migration barriers.
Looking ahead, Ofcom signalled a more assertive focus on network quality and reliability, alongside its strengthened role on telecoms security following the implementation of the Telecoms Security Act. Natalie emphasised that maintaining public trust will be critical as the sector navigates major infrastructure transitions, including the copper switch-off and the retirement of legacy mobile networks.
She also highlighted Ofcom’s work to support continued investment while protecting consumers, underlining the importance of a regulatory framework that keeps pace with technological change and evolving user expectations.
Towards a fully connected UK
The conference also explored what the UK’s connectivity landscape could look like by 2035, with panellists setting out an ambitious vision of networks that go far beyond carrying data.
Future infrastructure is expected to integrate communications, compute, sensing and AI-driven capabilities as standard, enabling applications such as always-on health monitoring, predictive transport systems and highly automated industrial environments. This reflects the growing importance of ultra-low latency, high reliability and intelligent network orchestration.
Speakers stressed that delivering this vision will require more than incremental upgrades. Greater alignment between connectivity policy, industrial strategy and public service transformation will be essential, alongside sustained innovation funding in areas such as advanced wireless, photonics, AI and distributed compute. Skills and adoption were also highlighted as critical enablers.
The discussion underlined both the scale of the UK’s opportunity and the need for coordinated action to translate strong research capability into real-world deployment.
Local delivery in action
A recurring message throughout the conference was that while national policy sets the direction, delivery happens locally. Representatives from Greater Manchester and the West of England demonstrated how combined authorities are increasingly acting as digital conveners — coordinating planning, supporting rollout and aligning connectivity with wider growth strategies.
Speakers emphasised that local authorities play a critical enabling role, particularly in tackling planning friction, improving site access and ensuring deployment aligns with local growth priorities. As network build moves into more complex and commercially challenging areas, this place-based coordination is becoming increasingly important.
Greater Manchester’s World Class Connectivity strategy, supported by a 3,000 km public-sector fibre spine, illustrates how devolved leadership can accelerate deployment and enable smarter, data-led investment decisions. These regional examples reinforced the importance of strong collaboration between central government, local authorities and industry.
Panellists also noted the growing importance of better data sharing between operators, regulators and local authorities to support more targeted investment decisions. New regional telecoms functions are helping councils streamline planning processes and act as more effective partners to industry; even where direct capital funding is limited.
Looking ahead
The Future Telecoms Conference 2026 showed that the UK has built significant momentum in digital infrastructure.
However, the next phase will be defined by execution. Delivering the UK’s 2030 and 2035 connectivity ambitions will require modernised regulation, stronger investment incentives, deeper regional collaboration and a decisive shift from measuring coverage to delivering dependable, high-quality connectivity.
If these elements align, the UK will be well positioned to lead globally in the next generation of advanced digital infrastructure.
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techUK brings together government, the regulator, telecom companies and stakeholders to help the UK maximise the benefits of adopting advanced communications services. We ensure our members have a clear understanding of market developments, customer requirements, and government priorities. Visit the programme page here.
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Meet the team
Tales Gaspar
Programme Manager, UK SPF and Satellite, techUK
Tales has a background in law and economics, with previous experience in the regulation of new technologies and infrastructure.
In the UK and Europe, he offered consultancy on intellectual property rights of cellular and IoT technologies and on the regulatory procedures at the ITU as a Global Fellow at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI).
Tales has an LL.M in Law and Business by the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) and an MSc in Regulation at the London School of Economics, with a specialization in Government and Law.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Phone:
- +44 (0) 0207 331 2000
- Website:
- www.techUK.org
- LinkedIn:
- www.linkedin.com/in/talesngaspar
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Sophie Greaves
Associate Director, Digital Infrastructure, techUK
Sophie Greaves is Associate Director for Digital Infrastructure at techUK, overseeing the Telecoms Programme, the Data Centres Programme, and the UK Spectrum Policy Forum.
Sophie leads our work across telecoms networks, security and resilience, supply chain diversification, advanced communications technologies, spectrum policy, and data centres - bringing these areas together into a dedicated Digital Infrastructure unit. She was previously Head of Telecoms and Spectrum Policy.
Prior to joining techUK, Sophie completed a masters in Film Studies at University College London; her dissertation examined US telecoms policy relating to net neutrality and content distribution.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Phone:
- 0207 331 2038
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiegreaves/,https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiegreaves/
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Josh Turpin
Programme Manager, Telecoms and Net Zero, techUK
Josh joined techUK as a Programme Manager for Telecoms and Net Zero in August 2024.
In this role, working jointly across the techUK Telecoms and Climate Programmes, Josh is responsible for leading on telecoms infrastructure deployment and uptake and supporting innovation opportunities, as well as looking at how the tech sector can be further utilised in the UK’s decarbonisation efforts.
Prior to joining techUK, Josh’s background was in public affairs and communications, working for organisations across a diverse portfolio of sectors including defence, telecoms and infrastructure; aiding clients through stakeholder engagement, crisis communications, media outreach as well as secretariat duties.
Outside of work, Josh has a keen interest in music, painting and sailing.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Phone:
- 020 7331 2038
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-turpin/
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