The pandemic has highlighted spectacularly how dependent we are on the digital world when the physical one is out of bounds. Forward-thinking network operators have been struggling to become data-driven, customer-centric – that is, digital – businesses for a decade or more now.

The big question is, how much progress have they made? We looks at what’s obstructing them and their successes.

There is much talk of telcos turning into techcos – and certainly a flurry of activity has happened in parallel with the COVID-19 crisis on this front. But how realistic is this ambition – or that of becoming a digital services provider instead of offering many flavours of communications? Are we hanging too much on 5G and do the sums add up?

This conference will ask some awkward but fundamental questions, and seek to find inspiration answers – or at the very least, food for thought.