Connected Britain 2026: Take aways for telco leaders

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While telcos continue to criss-cross the country with connectivity, the industry gets a reminder of its national purpose – and why it needs to focus on the quality of its connections.

Bringing telecoms back home

As analysts, it is easy to get swept up in the new of the telecoms industry. In September 2026, Connected Britain provided a clear reminder of a more persistent and fundamental challenge: enabling everyone to connect to each other and the digital world. The new data centre and AI stages were noticeably busy, but keynote addresses focused on the importance of enabling all people to participate in digital life and feel the benefits of digital access to essential services, better online prices and the world of modern work.

Three topics were repeated throughout the event:

• Coverage isn’t enough – the UK needs better, more reliable, connectivity
• No single player can deliver the requirement for digital society alone
• Practical lessons about how to deliver this end.

From coverage to reliable connectivity

While the UK has made good progress with mobile and fibre coverage, its advancement as regards the connectivity experience has been insufficient. Regulator Ofcom’s Natalie Black put it plainly: the UK currently sits in the bottom third globally on mobile performance — not because of a “lack of bars”, but because people are often unable to do what they want when they want with their connection. BT and VodafoneThree highlighted their efforts to redress the issue: Reza Rahnama spoke about BT’s multi-spectrum deployment at cell level and optimisation through distributed core, while Andrea Donà highlighted VodafoneThree’s progress on its £11bn network upgrade.

Figure 1: Group Director for Networks & Communications at Ofcom, Nathalie Black’s address

Source: STL Partners

Natalie Ceeney of the Connection Project drew attention to the economic, as well as reputational, cost to operators of inadequate connectivity. She noted that while people are locked out of the digital world, operators can’t switch off costly legacy infrastructure as segments of the population remain dependent on it. She called for a faster, well-supported transition off legacy networks, not just for the good of society, but to enable a digital transformation that pays off for operator participants as well.

Ofcom’s Black stated that it would relentlessly focus on the delivered experience rather than technical coverage and creating the right conditions for digital adoption, such as the copper-to-fibre pricing framework (effective from 2029). It will also be emphasizing security and resilience (new obligations under the Cyber and Resilience Bill) and coordinating with the AI Security Institute. Black made the point that connectivity is embedded in boardroom topics like growth, innovation and sovereignty — and deserves a similar level of attention. However, the lived experience of UK telecom players suggests that connectivity hasn’t attain this status yet.

No one party can deliver alone

There was general acknowledgement that no single organisation — operator, vendor, neutral host or regulator — has the full toolkit to solve national connectivity issues. VodafoneThree’s Donà was explicit: the industry should “collaborate on infrastructure, compete on the top”. Neutral host provider Cornerstone’s Pat Coxen described how its activities were increasingly synced to operator strategy, demonstrating that the principle of collaboration is playing out. But the operating environment doesn’t always feel collaborative. Telco speakers listed barriers like inconsistent local authority planning rules, insufficient allowances for telco infrastructure’s critical status, and the need for coordination regarding spectrum policy (e.g. low-band spectrum release following TV switchover). While the industry should move together, these factors, and shareholder pressure for returns on the costs of spectrum and infrastructure also get in the way.

The call for collaboration extended beyond connectivity infrastructure. Andrew Western from the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions expressed that a future digital workforce to drive the industry depended on coordination across employers, government and education. He outlined the department’s work in this regard and called on the industry to participate in building the talent pipeline (e.g. apprenticeships and internships), not just consuming it. This conversation missed the perspective on how to protect entry level jobs when these are the most threatened by AI.

Dr Kamal Hothi OBE, Chief Strategy Officer at international trade and development body GoldenPoint Global, also stressed the importance of working together at this time of so much change and uncertainty. Hothi’s talk was framed in a human-capital context, but her points apply more broadly. Company leadership will not have all the answers in the current environment. They must be clear about company purpose, acknowledge strengths and limitations (be self-aware), and seek and empower others to be able to find the best outcomes for customers.

Focus on customer outcomes, play to your strengths, stay flexible

An STL Partners-moderated discussion on market dynamics impacting channel partners, evidenced the above principles as a playbook for channel success. Channel partners are used to serving UK businesses in this way: letting customer needs determine how they bundle multi-carrier solutions, security, and managed services in a way that no single incumbent operator can easily replicate, especially on a smaller or medium-sized business scale. FluidOne outlined multiple commercial models (sell direct, sell through others, or work alongside another partner), flexing its approach for the benefit of both the partner and the customer. ITS leverages the channel so it can focus on what it’s good at, connectivity. These companies’ core lesson was to do what it does well and let partners or providers cover the rest.

The principles have helped to sustain the channel ecosystem through disruptions over time and are relevant to those parties looking to deliver solutions to the UK’s digital challenge.

Conclusion

Across the day, the message to industry leaders was consistent: the era of competing purely on coverage and infrastructure build-out is ending. What replaces it — quality, resilience, security, and genuinely useful AI — cannot be delivered by any one player working alone. Success will be achieved by organisations willing to be honest about what they’re good at, collaborate on the rest, and stay agile enough to change course as customer needs (and technology solutions) evolve.

Across the keynotes, it would have been good to see more focus on how AI is starting to shape end-customer needs across the UK, and how telcos are tackling the skills challenge as AI changes requirements of work, for example. While it’s important to confront today’s problems, a more forward-looking stance would help prepare the industry for what’s next.