Conference Agenda

Join us for a visionary opening keynote from one of the leader’s shaping the future of digital infrastructure.

A staple of Metro Connect, the state of the market address breaks down the investment landscape across fiber and data centers, providing critical insights to fuel decision-making across digital infrastructure.

As AI moves beyond training LLMs in gigawatt-scale data centres, towards an inference-led world, the entire architecture of digital infrastructure must evolve. With a push for highly interconnected edge data centers and ever more dense fiber networks a new, more distributed internet infrastructure is needed.

• How are leading operators evaluating the opportunity posed by the shift towards inference?
• Will existing networks be able to meet the demand? Or is massive new investment in higher capacity fiber routes required?
• What headwinds is the industry facing and how are leading executives mitigating them?

After several years of capital formation, aggressive build‑out, and private equity inflows, digital infrastructure is entering a more disciplined phase. Higher interest rates, slower deployment timelines, and overlapping asset footprints are forcing operators and investors to reassess scale, efficiency, and long‑term returns.

•  How are global macroeconomic and geopolitical risks impacting investment in digital infrastructure within the US?
• What are the key drivers of M&A across digital infrastructure? From efficiency through scale, to new market entrance and even distressed M&A
• How are creative deal structures, like JVs and structured equity, emerging to meet the scale of capital required for digital infrastructure?

While fiber deployments across the US have been full speed ahead for years, much of the existing fiber is old and not suitable for the capacity demands of AI. With significant capital being deployed to build new networks to meet the demands of AI driven traffic operators must evaluated the suitability of existing infrastructure when exploring new routes.

• How are fiber networks evolving to meet evolving customer demand?
• Capital remains available, but investor scrutiny is higher—what has fundamentally changed in how operators think about deploying it? And how is the shaping preferences for builds vs buy?
• Are we moving from an aggressive buildout phase into a more selective, returns‑driven market?

2026 has already seen several significant fiber transactions from Frontier and Verizon to Bluebird Fiber and Everstream, this wave can be expected to continue. Driven by lower cost of capacity, a more permission M&A environment and lower multiples for fiber assets. This wave of transactions is creating winners and losers.

• How are investors defining success and failure within each fiber asset class? And what lessons can we learn?
• What is driving the valuations and multiples of fiber assets?
• Can a wave of consolidation be expected or will macro economic headwinds put the breaks on M&A?

In recent years, FTTH has been dominated by a race to build and overbuild markets with capital-intensive new networks coming online the focus on monetization and increasing penetration rates is increasing, changing the definition of success from homes passed to uptake and ROI.

• What strategies are operators pursuing to drive up penetration rates? Is customer experience, emerging as a key differentiator to drive uptake?
• Do value added service like, ISP MVNOs or cybersecurity, represent the most effective way to increase ARPU?
• How are operators positioning business for sale?

The rush to deploy fiber is accelerating with AI driven demand, continuing FTTH expansion, and BEAD money starting to deploy. This acceleration of deployment is putting pressure on operators, supplier and construction firms to keep projects on schedule. This pressure is only compounded by tariffs, inflation and buy America requirements.

• How is the industry addressing talent shortage, permitting, and supply chain to keep builds on schedule?
• What impact is network design and increasing capacity having on physical deployments?
• How is early-stage collaboration between operators, construction firms, contractors, suppliers, and utilities reducing friction and deployment timelines?

This roundtable will unite financing and investment teams from operators, neoclouds, and hyperscalers, with select PE firms and bankers for a facilitated discussion around data center investment. Topics will include: 

• Where are new investment opportunities emerging, and how are deal structures and investment vehicles evolving?
• Capital recycling strategies for completed projects 
• Diversifying risk exposure and assessing products vehicles available in deal structures 

A chance to run your own roundtable with up to select 25 participants.

This is a dedicated meetup for those enhancing customer experience and driving monetization within in operators. Opening with an interactive roundtable discussion before informal networking with refreshments.

Throughout the AI power rush, data center connectivity has been relegated as access to power became the number one driver of site selection. This push into less connected, power abundant geographies has necessitated long-haul greenfield fiber builds.  With the growth of inference and increasing importance of latency we are seeing the importance of connectivity in site selection increase.

• How are operators evaluating greenfield fiber builds to under connected sites with fewer tenants?
• Does the shift to inference return us to a fiber first world of site selection?
• How are fiber operators evaluating the opportunity posed by a shift to a more distributed data center landscape?

As more digital infrastructure assets mature into predictable, cash‑flowing assets, asset‑backed securitisation (ABS) has become a powerful financing tool to lower the cost of capital and unlock new sources of long‑term funding. As ABS becomes more established in digital infrastructure the nature of deals is evolving.

• What has changed in the market to make fiber and data center infrastructure attractive for securitisation, and how are lenders and investors  assessing risk, duration and cash‑flow stability?
• How is access to lower‑cost, longer term capital through ABS is influencing network expansion, M&A strategies and the ability to scale infrastructure more efficiently?
• How are deal structures changing as ABS for digital infrastructure matures?

As AI adoption accelerates and gigawatt scale campuses are being deployed, data centers are one of the most active and fast-growing investment categories. This panel will discuss how investors are adapting fund terms and deal structures to navigate this evolving landscape.

• How is capital being deployed in a shifting risk and macro environment?
• Direct or co-invest: how are large funds pursuing investments?
• What are the biggest LP sensitivities around development risk, power procurement or tenant concentration?

As digital infrastructure becomes more distributed and latency‑sensitive, a strong interconnection landscape is emerging a critical ecosystem enabler. From supporting cloud on‑ramps and content localisation to underpinning edge compute and AI inference traffic, interconnection is playing an increasingly critical role in shaping resilient and low latency digital infrastructure.

·       How are operators building out new interconnection points across the country and how can DC operators support their expansion?

·       Are dense interconnection ecosystems the key to delivering the potential of inference?

·       How operators are quantifying the ROI of new localised interconnection through performance gains, improved customer experience, and faster service deployment.

As demand for digital infrastructure accelerates across the US access to talent has emerged as one of the most critical bottlenecks to growth. From network engineers and splicing crews to project managers and construction partners, operators that can attract, train and retain talent are gaining a decisive advantage in their ability to deploy and operate with speed and scale.

• Where are labor shortages most pressing, and what impacts are we seeing across planning, construction and operations?
• How are operators ensuring access to talent, from larger players building training schools to smaller operators reliant to efficient crew scheduling and third-party suppliers?
• With customers increasingly scrutinizing workforce plans, is access to top tier talent emerging a key strategic differentiator?

This town hall gives delegates the chance to hear candid insights from data center developers, fiber providers, municipalities, and adjacent sectors such as oil and gas projects, in successes and challenges of getting projects of the ground. Delegates will have the opportunity to submit questions and hear answers in real-time. 

Format: 

10 minutes – Introductions from panellists & call for questions 

30 minutes – Audience Qs 

5 minutes – Wrap up 

This is a dedicated session for FTTH operators, network designers, and State Broadband Offices with 1 hour of roundtable discussion followed by 30 minutes of refreshments and networking.  

A chance to run your own roundtable with up to select 25 participants.