Built It. Now Prove It. The Great Alt-Net Reckoning: From Coverage to Cashflow

OVERVIEW

The UK alt-net sector has delivered one of the most ambitious infrastructure builds in recent history. With c.16 million premises passed and more than 2.7 million customers connected, the narrative is shifting. Capital is tighter. Coverage advantages are narrowing. Consolidation is accelerating.

2026 won’t reward the fastest builders: it will reward the most commercially disciplined operators. This private dinner convenes senior technology, strategy, and operations leaders to debate what it really takes to convert network footprint into durable enterprise value: higher penetration, stronger ARPU, structurally lower cost-to-serve, and integration at speed - without operational fragility.

We’ll explore:

• Penetration as a science, not a hope strategy

What genuinely moves take-up beyond 25–30%? Where do data, proposition design, and service experience create measurable lift?

• ARPU in a price-sensitive market

Premium tiers, wholesale models, bundles, and value-added services: which levers are credible, and which are wishful thinking?

• Cost-to-serve as the hidden battleground

Where margin quietly erodes across provisioning, assurance, field operations, and care - and how to industrialise operations without damaging CX.

• Consolidation without chaos

Building a repeatable post-merger integration playbook and a resilient operating spine that enables scale, speed, and lower change risk.