2026 Agenda

Digital infrastructure is a staple to modern society, from fiber optics to data centers, it is the backbone that being at the forefront of the AI revolution depends upon.

2025 ignited the new era of consolidation in the fiber market. AT&T's acquisition of Lumen's mass market fiber connectivity reflects this broader trend of strategic realignment. This panel will examine previous acquisitons and activity going forward.

This is a dedicated session for data center operators, hyperscalers, neo-cloud, construction and engineering leaders with 1 hour of roundtable discussion followed by 30 minutes of refreshments and networking. Please contact charlotte.westerling@techoraco.com to register your interest.

Consumer demand for high-speed, reliable internet continues to escalate, with UBS predicting FTTH growth from ~50% to ~80% of US households by 2028. As competition intensifies and infrastructure cost climbs, fiber providers seek creative solutions to gain their share of the pie.

The fiber industry is at an inflection point. Market dynamics - ranging from rapid consolidation and M&A to the rise of AI and shifting customer expectations - are redefining what it takes to lead. For CTOs and business leaders, the challenge is clear: how do you balance modernization with growth, and turn efficiency gains into strategic investments?

This is a dedicated session for data center operators, hyperscalers, neo-cloud, and fiber providers with 1 hour of roundtable discussion followed by 30 minutes of refreshments and networking. Please contact charlotte.westerling@techoraco.com to register your interest.

Demand still outpaces supply across both core and emerging data center hubs. Google alone is set to invest $25 billion into AI data centers over the next two years. This panel will explore how the financing landscape is evolving and assess the outlook for an industry that keeps booming.

The US holds global dominance in the data center landscape, with reliable energy, strong connectivity and a favourable regulatory environment. 

Start your morning with a refreshing private beach yoga class at sunrise, surrounded by the calming sound of the waves. Ease into the day with calm, clarity, and focus. Renew and get inspired with our 50 minute yoga practice on the beach for the beginner to the most experienced yogis.

The cost is $30 per person and is first come first serve. Register here (https://harborbeach.idaypass.com/?servicename=MetroConnect&source=link)

Fiber providers are scaling faster than ever—but many are discovering that growth challenges don’t show up in the network. They show up in execution.

As subscriber counts rise and footprints expand, pressure builds across the order-to-install-to-cash lifecycle: manual handoffs, fragmented systems, slow launches, rising TCO and inconsistent customer experience. Build velocity alone is no longer enough. Business velocity = how quickly growth converts into revenue and operational leverage—is now the real differentiator.

At the same time, investors and operators must manage:

• Speed to market for new launches, expansions and acquisitions
• OPEX and total cost of ownership at scale
• Operational efficiency without adding headcount
• Customer experience as a lever to reduce churn and cost
• Technology decisions that support growth, integration and consolidation without replatforming twice

This roundtable brings operators and investors together to share what’s working, what’s not and what they would do differently.

Fiber and data center ABS has emerged as a compelling funding solution in digital infrastructure, with Zayo entering the space in February 2025. This panel will discuss the key considerations surrounding securitization and the timelines for entering the mainstream.

ISPs are looking to accelerate and improve customer experience and explore additional revenue streams beyond basic internet services. This panel will explore the opportunities for ISPs to leverage Agentic AI to unify data, workflows and decision making and compress innovation cycles so ISP’s experience massive growth in valuations.

Rapid expansion of AI training and inferencing infrastructure is continuing the surge of investment into high-performance networks. As data center developers shift to a power-first strategy, long-haul deployment of fiber is reaching new markets presenting huge opportunity for operators.

ISPs and FTTH operators are both looking to accelerate and improve customer delivery and explore additional revenue streams beyond basic internet services. This panel will explore the opportunities to develop customer delivery including those around AI, as well value-added services including video, cybersecurity, open access models, and leveraging fiber for smart home applications.

This is a dedicated session for utilities, energy companies, hyperscalers, data center operators and investors with 1 hour of roundtable discussion followed by 30 minutes of refreshments and networking. Please contact charlotte.westerling@techoraco.com to register your interest.

The recent wave of Wireline M&A in the US has triggered a multi-year consolidation trend that will reshape the industry as both operators and investors race for scale and maximal penetration against a dwindling pipeline of unbuilt high ROI passings. Looking forward, 500+ small and mid-sized Operators will be on the M&A playing field and looking to maximize value, either to acquire to gain scale, or be acquired by another operator, or strategic investors. In all cases, the game is on to transform and streamline the operators into an attractive asset and maximize valuations - the question is how? 

This panel will explore how the consolidation trend is expected to play out, how operators are evolving their businesses, and how the future of fiber financing is evolving including the rise of ABS.

This is a dedicated session for fiber operators, network designers, network construction, State Broadband Offices and key technology vendors with 1 hour of roundtable discussion followed by 30 minutes of refreshments and networking. Please contact charlotte.westerling@techoraco.com to register your interest.

Data center demand is ramping up globally, with the US poised at the forefront, growing from 25 GW to 80 GW in 2030 according to White & Case. This itself presents a broader megatrend towards both power generation and utilities and investment in transmission infrastructure and battery storage.

Mobile network operators are increasingly purchasing fiber assets to increase capacity on existing, and new, networks. It is both a commercially and technologically attractive structure, even more so with the looming shortage of available spectrum in the industry.

Public funding is a key driver of broadband deployment across the US, notable BEAD’s 42.5 billion deployment. This panel will explore allocations across state beneficiaries and how the program has developed since its inception.

Space-based technology is emerging as a solution to digital infrastructure both in connectivity and data centers, with Axiom Space and Lonestar Data Holdings as the latest in extending compute capacity beyond earth. This panel weighs up the pros and cons of this opportunity and its position versus terrestrial offerings.