Conference 2017

Our highly regarded annual conference heads north for 2017, to the great city of Newcastle upon Tyne. Our venue for the event is the impressive Crown Plaza Hotel.

We are delighted that the Minister for Digital, Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP will give the keynote speech. Matt will be joined by leading figures from the altnet sector giving updates on progress in the year since INCA published the Building Gigabit Britain report, which was followed by government commitments to action.

Delegates at the conference will get the latest info on nearly £2bn of new funding initiatives including the Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund, Local Full Fibre Networks, plus 5G Testbeds and Trials. We will debate projects to reduce the costs of deploying new networks, schemes to extend rural broadband coverage and new initiatives to support the altnet sector.

The agenda is being designed with plans for a pair of half-day technical and finance workshops on the 15th, followed by the full conference on November 16th. Please get in touch if you want to get involved.

INCA Conference is a great opportunity to promote your products and services to an informed audience of managers and senior officials. For information about sponsorship and other promotional opportunities please contact Gill.

15th November - Two Half Day Workshops

Our plans include two parallel half day workshops on 15th November, followed by a dinner. The workshop themes are  Network Design, Build & Operations and Funding & Investment.
We are designing these sessions to provide an opportunity for in-depth discussion of some of the key issues faced by altnets, their suppliers and funders.

We are welcoming stand-alone participants to these seminars. So even if you can't make the main event, you can still take advantage of one of these half-day seminars on Wednesday November 15.

16th November - INCA Conference

The main Conference will run as a one day event with a series of plenary sessions, interspersed with parallel workshops and panel discussions.

The agenda planning includes:

• Progress since the Building Gigabit Britain Report in 2016 - One Year On report on development of the sector, policy and funding.
• New government programmes - the Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund, Local Full Fibre Networks, BDUK programmes, 5G Trials
• The position of digital infrastructure in the UK in relation to other countries
• Emerging issues for the sector - advertising of full fibre services, switching between infrastructures, access to spectrum for wireless operators, USO, local project development

Our plans include speakers from:

• Government - Digital Minister, Matt Hancock MP will give the keynote speech at the Conference
• Sector leaders from the altnets, Openreach and Vodafone
• Senior figures from key suppliers
• Representatives of Funders
• Central and local government officials

Conference Fees

Conference delegate fees are as below.

Standard Conference Delegate: £240 ex VAT (£288 inc. VAT)

INCA Member Delegate (Tier One and Two members only*): £192 ex. VAT (£230.40 inc. VAT)

The optional seminars on the afternoon of Nov 15 are charged at just £60 per person (plus VAT).

As ever, INCA will reserve a small number of free places at our conference on Nov 16 to enable the participation of unfunded community broadband projects who would otherwise be unable to afford to attend.

Free Conference Passes for Tier One and Tier Two Members

INCA members with a current Tier One (Gold) or Tier Two (Silver) membership are eligible for free passes. Tier One members can claim 2 free passes and Tier Two members can claim 1 free pass for the main conference on Nov 16. To claim your free passes for the conference please contact Gill Williams. It's an ideal time to upgrade your membership to Tier One or Two and take full advantage of this great conference offer.

If your organisation has been considering membership of INCA but hasn't yet made the commitment, now is the time. Join today at our Tier One or Two levels and enjoy a free conference pass or two, as well as a range of other valuable benefits. Contact Gill for the details.

*NB: The member discount options are only available to members at our Tier One (formerly Gold) and Tier Two (formerly Silver) levels. Other member organisations wishing to avail themselves of the discount rates and free pass options should contact Gill Williams to arrange an upgrade of their membership to either Tier One or Two.

Conference Sponsors

The support provided by our sponsors enables INCA to keep conference fees low, broadening participation. Contact Gill Williams for details.

Photo from Wikipedia by Wilka Hudson.