2026 Indoor Wireless Evolution Workshop - London

In the AI era, Indoor Wireless will become even more important - and with ever more stakeholders and requirements. This is the only forum where everyone in the value chain can convene.

This is the second Disruptive Analysis Indoor Wireless event, covering 5G, 6G, Wi-Fi, DAS, spectrum, Neutral Host, Private Wireless & satellite/indoor convergence.

It will be a small-group interactive event. Participants will discuss the future indoor wireless opportunity, stakeholder needs and objectives, technological, policy and market forces, and what to do about them.

Indoor wireless is one of the most important, yet least-coordinated, parts of the connectivity and cloud/AI infrastructure landscape.

Most wireless usage happens indoors or at localised campus sites: in homes, offices, factories, hospitals, transport hubs, hotels, venues, retail sites and public buildings. New applications like AI, robotics, cloud access, AR/VR & smart building IoT expand the importance.
Advanced communications technologies such as FTTH, 5G / 6G and satellite D2D require indoor wireless complements, but awareness & integration is limited.
Yet responsibility for indoor & campus connectivity is fragmented across telcos & MNOs, Wi-Fi specialists, neutral hosts, towercos, private 5G suppliers, landlords, enterprises, systems integrators, device and tool vendors, regulators, local authorities, investors, standards/industry bodies and government departments.
The result is often a mismatch between needs, funding, policy attention and technical delivery.

This is not a conventional conference or “lean-back” seminar. It will be a highly participative workshop with structured discussion, breakout sessions and peer-to-peer exchange. It is intended for people who are willing to engage actively, share perspectives and challenge assumptions in a trusted environment. There will be a maximum of 35 participants.

This workshop is a small-group, interactive session for stakeholders who want to understand, and help shape, the next phase of indoor and on-premise wireless. It will look across public cellular, Wi-Fi, private 4G/5G, neutral host, DAS, IoT, edge, automation and future 6G-era technologies, as well as how indoor complements to satellite services are emerging.

The emphasis will be practical, strategic and policy-aware: what needs to happen, who needs to act, who pays, and how the industry can make indoor connectivity more visible to policymakers and investors.

The day will be run under the Chatham House Rule to encourage openness and collaborative debate. It will not be streamed or recorded. A summary of outcomes will be published, but will not mention names or companies unless agreed.

The event will cover two broad themes:

1. Awareness, alignment & coordination of the indoor ecosystem / policy domain
2. Emerging tech trends: 5G/6G, Wi-Fi 8/9, AI, Open RAN, satellite etc

First, how can the indoor wireless ecosystem become more aligned and more influential? We will examine the incentives and constraints facing fixed telcos, MNOs, Wi-Fi providers, neutral hosts, towercos, MSPs, building owners, enterprises, vendors, investors, regulators and government.

Topics will include drivers & use-cases, state-of-the-art for indoor deployments, new business and funding models, the question of “who pays?”, market sizing, the role of landlords and enterprise IT teams, public-sector buildings, planning and building regulations, and the case for treating indoor wireless as critical telecoms infrastructure rather than a private afterthought.

The workshop will also consider how to get governments and regulators — especially in the UK and Europe — to care more about indoor and on-premise connectivity. This includes indoor-friendly metrics, spectrum & broadband policy, shared-access models, public safety, resilience, competition policy, industrial strategy, smart buildings and public procurement.
We will also discuss whether there are credible “sovereignty” angles around indoor wireless, including supply chains, software control, Open RAN, cloud dependency, cybersecurity, resilience and UK/European technology capability.

Second, the workshop will explore new technology trends and opportunities that have emerged or accelerated.

Key themes will include:

• AI + indoor wireless: network planning and optimisation, automation of operations, spectrum management, user experience optimisation
• New use-cases & capabilities: Physical AI, robotics, computer vision, sensing, positioning, building intelligence, edge AI, digital twins, smart home, healthcare, accessibility, uplink-centric networks, latency, network APIs
• Fit with 5G & future 6G: Mapping of indoor wireless to 5G models such as network slicing, AI-native 6G & AI-RAN, fit with Open RAN, ISAC
• Architectural shifts: Evolution of DAS, small cells, JOTS-type models, MOCN neutral hosts, virtualisation, public/private 5G hybrids, other models
• Expanding roles of Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 8 & 9 expectations, IoT connectivity, OpenRoaming & federation/offload models
• Test, design, measurement & experience: Evolving range of tools and data options, including crowdsourcing, on-device agents etc,
• Extension of satellite connectivity: D2D direct-to-device will struggle indoors. What are the options for repeaters, or DAS / Wi-Fi convergence?
• Spectrum issues: 6GHz, 3-5GHz for 5G, spectrum sharing & coexistence, mmWave, 6G expectations, policy considerations eg WRC-27
• Other technologies: Relevance of Bluetooth, UWB, Matter etc.

Who should attend

Executives involved with indoor wireless strategy, policy & regulatory, product development, CTO office, partnerships and network/infrastructure planning.

- MNOs & MVNOs

- Fixed telecom operators & ISPs

- Towercos / infracos / neutral hosts

- MSPs & systems integrators

- Enterprises

- Government policymakers + regulators

- Property companies & venue owners

- Tech vendors – cellular, Wi-Fi, silicon, DAS, smart buildings, devices, IoT, test & measurement

- Investors

- Industry associations

- Others – spectrum management, cloudcos, semiconductors, academics, consultants

Experienced presenters and facilitators

The workshop will be led by Dean Bubley, a well-known analyst and commentator on wireless technologies, policy and business models. He has covered indoor wireless tech for over 20 years. and has previously run numerous public and private workshops on Indoor Wireless, Neutral Host networks, Private 4G/5G, Wi-Fi, 6G, spectrum, network APIs, edge compute, network & telco AI and telecom sovereignty and is the author of countless reports and articles on related topics.

The interactive sessions will be facilitated by Andrew Collinson of Connective Insight, formerly head of research at STL Partners. Andrew and Dean have collaborated for over 15 years.
There may also be "expert witnesses" giving short talks by invitation. Please inquire if this may be of interest.

Info: | Attendee personal introductions & objectives for the day
| Top-level view of the indoor wireless landscape, key use-cases & applications, different location types & the basics of why in-building wireless is tough, new technology & policy trends
| Open Q&A

Info: | Who are the key stakeholder groups, and their needs and priorities? How to align & promote?
| Users (consumer/B2B), MNOs, fixed operators, enterprises, property companies, investors, regulators, policymakers, IT/cloud/AI sector, tech vendors, public safety, towercos / infracos etc
| Table breakout discussions & insight sharing session #2
o Priorities and opportunities – what do different groups expect from indoor wireless?
o Challenges – what are the technical, regulatory and commercial challenges they face?
o Questions and actions: how should they work with other stakeholders, and what actions are needed to attain their objectives?

Info: | Trends & developments: 5G & 6G, WiFi8/9, local spectrum & PLTE/P5G, new neutral host approaches (JOTS, small cells, Open RAN etc), offload & OpenRoaming, planning/design tools, slicing, network APIs & QoD / QoE, AI & automation, integration of satellite + indoor
| Table breakout discussions & insight sharing session #1 (c 4-5 tables of 5-6 people)
o Priorities and opportunities – what are the new opportunities & revenue drivers?
o Challenges – what problems are impeding innovation, deployment and usage?
o Questions and actions: what new insights / knowledge do we need, and what are the most pressing next steps?

Info: | Key policy / regulatory domains for indoor wireless
| Spectrum, indoor-specific policies & consultations, R&D funding, infrastructure/upgrade funding, guidance & sources of advance, KPIs & measurement, building regs, competition & tax, national WiFi, export opportunities, cybersecurity, sovereignty etc.
| Facilitated discussion for the room: What are the policy priorities, what is easy / hard, which parts of government need to work together, where is consensus, what is the international dimension?

Info: | Conclusions & learnings
| Open discussion on topics raised during the day
| Does there need to be an Indoor Wireless Forum or other group? What interactions should occur with WFA, WBA, GSMA, MIF, WIA, CTIA, EUWENA, TechUK, ECTA, BBF, CCIA, OnGo Alliance, Mobile UK etc? National or international?
| How can policymakers be influenced? How to get different tech groups to work together? What should follow-on events & other activities look like?

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Clermont London, Charing Cross, Strand, London, United Kingdom

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