Telecom Talks 2025
Tech scouts from 20 cutting edge global telcos who serve over 3B customers across 20 countries along with select vendors, investors and startups building the future of the communications gather annual for a focused, high impact, and intimate annual meeting with telco case studies, startup pitches, technology demos, facilitated networking and prearranged, private meetings packed into a half day, can't-miss agenda.
- Date:4/9/2025 01:00 PM
- Location 333 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, CA, USA (Map)
- More Info:Remote Access available to Telecom Council members
Description
FULL DETAILS | ATTENDEE LIST | AGENDA | PRESENTATION LIBRARY
Silicon Valley, California, April 14, 2025/Meeting Recap/ Our Telecom Talks meeting is one we only do once a year, and where we turn the idea of a pitch session upside-down. The meeting focused on a very wide range of ideas around innovation in the telecom sector for 2025, with startups bringing the innovations, and network operators offering a path to market. Globally, the telecommunications industry is expected to generate revenues of approximately US$1.53 trillion in 2025, representing about a 3% increase over the previous year. Although telcos move steadily, they are a reliable partner that steadily collects revenues from the market, and sharing in that revenue by offering some innovation is attractive for startups.
The Telecom Talks meeting turns the usual startup pitch format on its head. At Telecom Talks, the big Telcos also pitched to the startup audience on why they are a great path-to-market, and are good partners to work with. The telcos discussed their various programs for finding, curating, and onboarding startup partners. Of course, it’s not just telcos that spoke. We also had over a dozen great startups that pitched their innovative solutions to the telecom audience and corporate venture capitalists. The meeting also featured vibrant breaks, demo tables, and a lunch session to facilitate networking. Additionally, the meeting included managed one-on-one 15-minute Matchmaker Meetings, pre-arranged and curated to allow startups and telcos to speak privately about potential partnerships.
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Several key contributors and speakers shared their insights in our “Case Studies” section. The cast studies are intended to illustrate ways that telcos do, in fact, make fruitful partnerships with startups by telling some of these stories. Christina Claure (Sr. Manager - Technology Innovation & Industry Partnerships at T-Mobile US) discussed T-Mobile US's work with a startup partner on real-time, remote collaboration for Formula 1. Beni Eugster (Cloud Operation Manager at Swisscom) and Ian Webster (CEO at PromptFoo) presented Swisscom's efforts in securing AI from malicious attacks and their partnership with a startup in that domain. Marcus Bartram (Partner at Titanium Ventures) and Sebastian Spitzer (Director Partnerships & Alliances at BforeAI) highlighted Titanium Ventures' partnership and investment in a startup focused on predictive cybersecurity, also using AI. Naturally, AI figured heavily in the presentations throughout the day.
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The meeting also explored the importance of partnership in the current technological landscape. The telecom industry is at a crucial juncture, with the widespread adoption of 5G, the emergence of 6G, and the increasing convergence of telecommunications with other sectors like cloud computing and AI. According to a Deloitte analysis, the global telecom services market size was estimated at USD 1,983.08 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.5% from 2025 to 2030. This growth is fueled by new solutions that will come from internal and external sources such as startups. The telecom sector plays a pivotal role across other industries, providing the essential connectivity that underpins various new tech driving digital transformation. As stated in a PwC report, "Telcos play a pivotal role, providing the glue that binds the participants together and enables them to drive their individual and collective growth."
As for the innovators & startups, they gave tight, compelling presentations on topics such as:
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We very much appreciate the innovations these startups brought to our table. The goal of the Telecom Council is to foster business relationships and reduce the time it takes for members and innovators to get deals done, which gets real products in the hands of real customers sooner. We are constantly looking for a win-win-win that includes telcos, startups, and end customers.
The Telecom Council extends its gratitude to the hosts, SRI International, and all the presenters and panel speakers. All presentations will be available in the Telecom Council’s Member Library.