Unthinkable Lab: How to Unstick Telecoms in Europe

About this event: Exploring the Exceptional for Telecoms

This Unthinkable Lab is a unique and interactive event designed to challenge conventional thinking in the European telecoms industry in a multi-stakeholder environment.

European telecoms is ‘stuck’: customer satisfaction is often lacklustre, operators and investors struggle to find returns, successful new products and services are elusive, and growth seems a distant dream for many. Incumbents often turn to defensive and sometimes questionable political lobbying, alongside divestment and attempts to consolidate. Operators are highly dependent on an increasingly concentrated supply chain, disrupted by geo-political tensions, and innovation is piecemeal and rarely scales.

We want to explore exceptional possibilities, both ‘good’ and ‘bad’, safely and constructively, and understand how they might be reached or prevented. We believe that building better understanding between the stakeholders can be the key to unsticking much needed change.

Opportunities for change exist. Radical new business models, industry structures and technology approaches can liberate change and drive growth, and with the right models, investment and growth are possible.

The questions are, what are they, how do you make these models work, and what is stopping their adoption? Where are the catalysts?

In an era where operators, regulators, and investors recognise the need for reinvention but struggle to find incremental paths forward, bold, disruptive change will be needed. This event provides a structured yet open environment to explore revolutionary ideas, uncover hidden challenges, and debate the best pathways for change.

This is not a traditional conference; it is an interactive, solutions-driven session, bringing together key telecoms and adjacent stakeholders to think beyond the possible—to think the Unthinkable. Through facilitated discussions, scenario mapping, and collaborative exercises, we will explore the fundamental shifts necessary to reshape the telecoms landscape.

Who should attend?

This Unthinkable Lab is designed for senior executives and decision-makers involved in strategy, policy, investment, and innovation within the telecoms sector, including:

· Mobile and fixed telecom operators of all types

o Incumbents and challengers

o Cellular, fibre, wifi, towers, MVNOs, etc

o Enterprise, consumer, wholesale, specialised

o Global, national, local

· Regulatory bodies and policymakers

· Technology vendors and infrastructure providers

· Investors and financial analysts

· Enterprise telecoms and digital transformation leaders

· Industry analysts and consultants

Workshop format and agenda

The Unthinkable Lab will be a highly interactive session, limited to 30 participants to ensure meaningful discussions, networking, and engagement. Attendees are expected to participate throughout the full day.

Facilitators & Speakers

The Unthinkable Lab will be led by Dean Bubley and Andrew Collinson, seasoned analysts, strategists and facilitators in telecoms, technology policy, and business models. Together, we bring years of expertise in guiding disruptive discussions and fostering meaningful change in the industry.

We are independent thinkers and have frequently disagreed throughout 17 years of successfully working together. We believe that the skills and knowledge we’ve developed throughout our careers and in our unique working relationship can help to produce a different outcome for other industry stakeholders.

Dean is well known for his role as an active industry commentator and analyst through Disruptive Analysis, and via many industry events and online channels. He brings extensive knowledge of the European market, and global mobile, network and regulatory matters.

Andrew, now running Connective Insight, was previously Research Director at STL Partners, and specialises in stakeholder dynamics and strategy in connected technologies. He is also Associate Research Director at the CPaaS Acceleration Alliance.

Unthinkable Path Proposers

Two or three respected industry professionals will present alternative but related 'Unthinkable Paths' for discussion. We anticipate that the Proposers will represent different industry stakeholder groups. We are at an advanced stage of discussion with some possible Proposers and will share as soon as confirmed. If you would like to participate in this role please contact us ASAP.

Format and Compliance

The goal of the Unthinkable Lab is to discuss potentially challenging issues in a multi-stakeholder environment.

It will be held under the Chatham House rule and will not be recorded. Specific comments cannot be attributed to individuals or companies. We ask participants to act with tact and mutual respect.

We anticipate that our transparency and facilitation skills, the integrity of the participants and the wide range of stakeholders present, will ensure that Anti-Trust or other legal considerations will not be an issue. Any such considerations will be clarified, and at-risk discussions observed will be noted and immediately terminated.

Why attend?

· Explore new answers and possibilities to previously intractable challenges

· Engage with leading thinkers and decision-makers tackling telecoms' biggest challenges

· Debate transformative ideas in a candid, interactive setting

· Contribute to shaping the future of European telecoms strategy

· Build valuable connections with key industry stakeholders

This Unthinkable Lab is your opportunity to step beyond conventional wisdom and take part in defining the next era of telecoms.

Secure your place now – spaces are limited!

Info: o Outline of the day, round-the-room introductions, housekeeping, break times

Info: o European telecoms is “stuck”. Operators, regulators and investors know that reinvention is needed, but find it hard to plot an evolutionary or incremental way forward. Some form of revolution or disruption is needed, internally or from the outside
o Dean and Andrew will describe the situation and its boundaries / influences as we see it, and gather further input from the room. We need to think the Unthinkable
o Top-level view of “unthinkables” – structural change, technology refresh, regulatory/policy reinvention, geopolitical catalysts, new killer apps / services / devices / customer groups
o We will articulate the various stakeholder groups – and get representatives to give a perspective

Info: o Proposers will outline two or three propositions for disruptive change
- Proposers will outline their arguments for what should be done differently with specific vectors for change
o Each proposition gets initial Q&A / debate in the room as a whole
o Participants review the proposition in round-table format, capturing qualitative feedback and questions, grouped as stakeholders or in some other format as appropriate.
o Tables summarise feedback

Info: o Brainstorm all the other things that might happen of a consequential nature
o E.g. major AI advances for telecoms, possible geopolitical issues from US or China, shift in policy to “we’re done building broadband – we’ve got enough”, big wave of structural shifts, API economy suddenly explodes, UK & EU greenlight massive consolidation, various others we discussed
o Collectively score the options by likely impact on situation/paths and guesstimated probability of occurrence (2 x 2 map)
o Discuss UK vs other countries vs Europe vs world etc
o Discuss and review collective thoughts e.g. are there particular scenarios of note?

Info: o Room discussion on overall take on paths outlined
o Discuss the impacts of the possibilities outlined in 3 on 'do nothing' and 'unthinkable path(s)' (i.e. what scenarios/circumstances would suit either) and discuss stakeholder perspectives (stakeholder IDs to be agreed during day - what are the hidden snags/anchors/gotchas / inter-dependencies?)
o Conclusions and next steps
- How do we now see the Unthinkable path?
- What are the key steps needed and signs that it is happening?
- What are consequences for different stakeholders – winners, losers, changemakers, changetakers

Host or Publisher Dean Bubley & Andrew Collinson