FT Future of Media and Telecoms | Financial Times | 8 June 2017 | London, England

Convergence between global telecoms and media is finally becoming a reality, as evidenced by AT&T’s blockbuster $108bn agreement to buy Time Warner. This comes some 15 years after telecom operators placed ruinous bets on 3G licences in the hopes of becoming media giants; and as media and entertainment groups suffer continued falls in both subscriptions and advertising revenue.

The two industries face unstoppable competition from technology giants, as well as deep regulatory scrutiny of in-sector M&A.

With similar constraints on expansion, will telecoms and media truly come together at last – combining their respective state of the art networks and compelling content? Or is the disconnect between the two distinct cultures a barrier to meaningful partnerships?

Adam Crozier
CEO
ITV

Vittorio Colao
CEO
Vodafone Group

Dominique Delport
Global Managing Director
Havas

Sir Martin Sorrell
CEO
WPP

John Ridding
Chief Executive Officer
Financial Times

Sir Julian Horn-Smith
co-Founder
Vodafone

Emilio Azcárraga Jean
Chairman and CEO
Televisa

Prashant Gokarn
Chief Digital Officer
Indosat OoredooPriya Dogra
Senior Vice-President, Mergers & Acquisitions
Time Warner

Wim Ponnet
Group Director of Strategy and Commercial Development
Endemol Shine

Mauricio Ramos
Chief Executive Officer
Millicom

Sébastien Soriano
Chairman
ARCEP

Bessie Lee
Founder and CEO
Withinlink

Eric Benedict
Co-Head, Technology, Media and Telecommunications
AlixPartners

Daniel Bailey
Global Head of TMT
HSBC

Amos Genish
Chief Convergence Officer
Vivendi

Sean Williams
Chief Strategy Officer
BT Group

Enrique Medina Malo
Chief Policy Officer
Telefónica

Tim Davie
CEO
BBC Worldwide

Alexey Reznikovich
CEO
LetterOne

David Goldstein
Head of Asia
iFlix

Tracey Follows
Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer
The Future Laboratory

Vivek Couto
Founder
Media Partners Asia

HSBC

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