Our 2021 Conference runs over two days: Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th November.
This page is updated as speakers are confirmed, timings tweaked, etc. Please be aware that the programme is fluid, and we reserve the right to make changes at any point. More detail about our conference speakers is available here.
Conference Day One: November 3rd
The first day of the 2021 Conference comprises four elements:
10:30 – 16:30 : Technical Showcase
The next five years will likely see phenomenal levels of growth and activity across the sector as the race to build accelerates further.
What are the strategies that will succeed?
Which tools and technologies will prove to be essential ingredients for successful - and rapid - deployments?
| 10:30 | Conference Introduction | Rob Leenderts & James Saunby - INCA |
| 10:35 | UKTDTF... & what's in it for you? | Dave Happy – UKTDTF |
| 10:45 | Data Sharing - Interoperability | Carsten Roensdorf – Ordnance Survey |
| 10:55 | Asset Re-use | Jeremy Gray – AssetHUB |
| 11:05 | Highways Data for FTTH Planning & Design | Ian Job – Gaist |
| 11:15 | Automated FTTH Design | Alain Meller – Setics |
| 11:25 | Network Design & Lifecycle Management | Anders Hellermark – Digpro |
| 11:35 | Wireless Design with WISDM | David Burns – Wireless Coverage |
| 11:45 | Panel Discussion: Fibre v Gigabit Wireless | Chair: James Saunby – INCA |
| Nigel King – Cambium | ||
| David Burns - UKWISPA | ||
| Hal Ponton – Voneus | ||
| 12:10 | Weather Effects on Overhead Cable Installations | Stephen Hough – Acome |
| 12:20 | PIA - The Fight for Space | Mike Knott – Corning |
| 12:30 | PIA Tooling Innovations - driving time and efficiency savings | Jerry Mills - Mills Limited |
| 12:45 | Lunch Break | |
| 13:30 | Wholesale Platform Update | Charl Tintinger – CWP |
| Niall Halpenny – Sonalake | ||
| Toby Treacher – BroadbandHUB | ||
| 14:10 | Network Disaggregation | Dave Keane Mirajkar – CommScope |
| 14:20 | XGS-PON | Ronan Kelly – Adtran |
| 14:30 | Superconverged Multi-access Edge | David Stokes – Ribbon |
| 14:40 | Panel Discussion: PON v P2P | Chair: Paddy Paddison – Wildanet |
| Hector Gibson-Fleming – Wessex Internet | ||
| Michael Maltby – Jurassic Fibre | ||
| Justin Leese – Ogi | ||
| Rob Baynes – Chief Customer Officer, Giganet | ||
| 15:05 | Refreshment break | |
| 15:20 | Robust OSS/BSS for exit strategy | Johan Hjalmarsson – Netadmin |
| 15:30 | Optimisation of passives | Simon Wade – Emtelle |
| 15:40 | Systems strategies, investor views, exit strategy | Lloyd Warn – Packetfront |
| 15:50 | Office and Field – Joined-up Thinking | John Tarleton – IQGEO |
| 16:00 | LINX Neutral Platform | Stephen Heron – LINX |
| 16:20 | Final wrap-up |
13:30 – 16:30 : Project Gigabit Workshop
| 13:30 | Welcome and Introduction | James Saunby - GreySky and INCA |
| 13:35 | Outline of Project Gigabit | Ben Hutchinson – BDUK/DCMS |
| 14:00 | Debate – Opportunity or Threat : the impact of Project Gigabit on the independent sector | Michael Armitage – Broadway Partners |
| Michael Lee – CEO, B4RN | ||
| John Irvine – CEO, WightFibre | ||
| Lloyd Felton – CEO, County Broadband | ||
| 14:30 | Break | |
| 15:00 | Panel Discussion/Q&A – Maximise the Opportunity : how to get the most from Project Gigabit | David Cullen – Prism |
| Jeremy Gray – Hubbub Group | ||
| Alastair Taylor – CEO, NYnet | ||
| 15:45 | Debate – Mind the Gap : will Project Gigabit actually deliver the ambition of Gigabit capable broadband for all? | Stephen Muldowney – WeLink Communications UK |
| Alastair Taylor – CEO, NYnet | ||
| Michael Lee – CEO, B4RN | ||
| Chris Taylor – Shropshire Council | ||
| 16:30 | Wrap up |
14:00 – 16:00 : Investor Workshop
| 14:00 | Welcome and Introduction | Charles Cameron – Cameron Barney LLP |
| 14:15 | UK Panorama – AltNet Investment and Fibre Build | Malcolm Corbett – INCA |
| 14:25 | Opportunities & Challenges for AltNet Investment | Oliver Bradley – Macquarie Group |
| Sean McLachlan – Aviva Investors | ||
| Ken Campbell – PMP Conseil | ||
| Steve Leighton – Voneus | ||
| 15:00 | Refreshment Break | |
| 15:15 | Regulation & Public Policy: Supporting or Hindering AltNet Investment | Robert Skinner – Octopus Investments |
| James Ratzer – New Street Research | ||
| David Cullen – ITS | ||
| Gita Sorensen – GOS Consulting | ||
| 15:50 | Wrap up |
19:00 – late : INCA Golds Awards Dinner
The culmination of our Awards programme, which aims to shine a spotlight on some of the brightest and best in our industry. Across the spring and summer, INCA Members have been invited to submit their nominations to identify the people and organisations that deserve recognition for their innovative projects, outstanding work and remarkable achievements.
Join us for dinner and a celebratory awards ceremony as we find out who has been chosen by our eminent panel of independent judges. Who will be taking home one of the rare and highly prized 'INCA Golds' awards. Not to be missed.
Conference Day Two: November 4th
The second day offers a full array of keynotes, panel discussions and break-out workshop sessions.
| 09:00 | Welcome & Introduction | Charlotte Holloway – Government Relations Director UK & Ireland, Zoom |
| 09:10 | Keynote | Ronan Kelly, CTO EMEA & APAC Regions, Adtran |
| 09:30 | Meet the Altnets I | Chair: Ros Singleton – CEO, Spring Fibre and Chair UK5G Advisory Board |
| Darren Woods – CFO, Freedom Fibre | ||
| Mike Lee – CEO, B4RN | ||
| Stefan Stanislawski – CEO, Connect Fibre | ||
| 10:10 | Workshops - morning session - a choice of three parallel workshops | |
| A: Switching & Wholesale | Chair: David Cullen – Group Director, Regulation & Policy, ITS | |
| Lloyd Felton – CEO, County Broadband | ||
| Robert Walker – Head of Alt-Net Strategy, TalkTalk | ||
| Niall Halpenny – Director of Telecoms, Sonalake | ||
| Toby Treacher – Managing Director, The BroadbandHUB | ||
| B: Consumer Take-up | Chair: Laura Holdgate – Principal Policy Adviser, Which? | |
| Selina Chadha – Connectivity Director, Networks and Communications, Ofcom | ||
| Till Sommer – Head of Policy, ISPA | ||
| Thomas Martin – Principal Solutions Engineer, Calix | ||
| John Irvine – CEO, WightFibre | ||
| Mike Locke – INCA | ||
| Rob Burles – Head of Regulation and Partnerships, Swish Fibre | ||
| C: Labour & Skills | Chair: Claire Stanley – Strategic Account Director, ASK4 | |
| Lewis Simington – Director of People Operations, County Broadband | ||
| Chris Sinclair – Principal Telecoms Consultant, Manpower | ||
| Matt Hunter – Managing Director Hellermann Tyton Connectivity | ||
| Adrian Head – Huawei | ||
| 11:00 | Networking break | |
| 11:20 | Meet the Altnets II | Chair: Matt Hunter – Managing Director Hellermann Tyton Connectivity |
| Sam Hales – Head of Communications, MS3 | ||
| Graham Sargood – CEO, Box Broadband | ||
| Ben Allwright – CEO, Ogi | ||
| 12:00 | Keynote | Dave Clarkson – Competition Policy Director, Ofcom |
| 12:20 | Panel - Competition and Regulation | Chair: Alex Blowers – Director of Regulatory Affairs, CityFibre |
| Daren Baythorpe – CEO, ITS | ||
| Graeme Oxby – CEO, Community Fibre | ||
| Gita Sorensen – Managing Director, GOS Consulting | ||
| John Irvine – CEO, WightFibre | ||
| Neil McArthur – Founder & CEO, Freedom Fibre | ||
| 13:00 | Lunch break | |
| 14:00 | Welcome back | |
| 14:10 | Keynote: Progress in Reaching the UK Gigabit Target | Henry Shennan, Deputy Director for Broadband Regulation and Investment, DCMS |
| 14:30 | Panel: Reaching the Gigabit Target – Industry Views | Chair: Tim Stranack – Founder, and Regulatory & Trade Director, Community Fibre |
| Matt Agar – Building Digital UK, DCMS | ||
| Rob Burles – Head of Regulation and Partnerships, Swish Fibre | ||
| Dan Butler – Director of Communications and Policy Strategy, Hyperoptic | ||
| Catherine Colloms – Managing Director for Corporate Affairs, Openreach | ||
| Cordia Liu - Head of Regulatory Affairs, Huawei | ||
| 15:30 | Workshops - afternoon session - a choice of three parallel workshops | |
| D: The Road to Net Carbon Zero | Chair: Daniel Heery – INCA Board Member | |
| Alison Heppenstall – Co Executive Director at Climate Action for Associations (CAFA) | ||
| Sarah Parsons – Director of Compliance, CityFibre | ||
| Graham Mitchell – Net Zero Programme Lead, INCA | ||
| E: Public Sector Innovation | Chair: Tracey Sheehan – Director, Convergent Consultancy | |
| Matthew Guinan – Dura-Line | ||
| Raj Mack – Digital Birmingham | ||
| David Happy – Dorset | ||
| Tom Allen – Cube Ultra Wales - 5G | ||
| F: Access To Infrastructure (ATI) | Chair: Jeremy Sheehan | |
| Gita Sorensen – Managing Director, GOS Consulting | ||
| Alex Cleves – DCMS | ||
| Shaun Fensom – Society Secretary, Cooperative Network Infrastructure (CNI) | ||
| Rob Leenderts – The AssetHUB | ||
| Di Howard – Atkins Global | ||
| 16:30 | Panel - Scaling Up: Opportunities & Challenges | Chair: Charlotte Holloway – Government Relations Director UK & Ireland, Zoom |
| Oliver Johnson – CEO, Point Topic | ||
| Alex Blowers – Director of Regulatory Affairs, CityFibre | ||
| Tim Stranack – Founder, and Regulatory & Trade Director, Community Fibre | ||
| John Irvine – CEO, WightFibre | ||
| Ros Singleton – CEO, Spring Fibre and Chair UK5G Advisory Board | ||
| Matt Hunter – Hellermann Tyton | ||
| 17:10 | Conference Wrap-up |
Conference Sponsors
We are grateful to our sponsors for their generous support, without which we wouldn't be able to run events like this.
Platinum Sponsor
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
