8 things we learned at ITW 2025

The general consensus is that 5G has not quite reached its potential – there has been a lot of investment, but without consumer and business uptake quite justifying the outlay.

However, the ITW keynote session envisaged a larger role in the connectivity mix for the technology, with recent research forecasting a doubling in the number of standalone networks in the coming years.

“Despite the adoption of 5G SA being much slower than anticipated, progress is still being made,” said Orange Wholesale International’s Emmanuel Rochas during the session.

“We're seeing the emergence of new use cases, particularly in high-mobility scenarios, roaming and applications exposed through APIs. The 5G APIs are already supported by SA deployments, which opens the door to substantial innovation.”

Network APIs are hyped for a reason — a technology that helps interfaces, providers, and networks communicate more efficiently is sorely needed.

But the keynote session speakers also sounded a warning that APIs themselves cannot do all the work – they need a coherently planned network to sit on top of.

Or as Sparkle’s CEO Enrico Bagnasco put it: “What we need to keep in mind is that APIs don’t just add themselves-it’s not effortless. It requires investment in the network and in building the functionality we want to expose.”

Multiple sessions and conversations in National Harbour touched on network APIs in some way, and the idea that they can drive transformation of businesses outside of their core area of application was an interesting one.

This came up again and again, in various contexts — API introduction encouraging companies to catalogue and document their products and services more clearly, as well as driving a more customer-focused, omnichannel approach.

The conclusion? If companies are going to make use of a technology that makes it easier for parts of their networks to talk to each other, the job is a lot easier with a coherent business structure and technology stack to begin with.

Perception is reality in a lot of cases – and according to various ITW speakers, this particularly applies to cybersecurity in telcos and other organisations. Improving the quality of threat protection is not just a case of buying and installing systems, it also involves changing company mindsets to see cybersecurity as something to be invested in rather than a cost of doing business.

According to Jennifer Raiford, CEO and CISO of Globe-Sec Advisory, this needs to start from the top. “It has to be prioritised at the board level. Leadership within companies must recognise that cybersecurity is not just a technical issue - it’s a business imperative,” she said.

This was echoed in a keynote address by Puja Athale, Microsoft’s global partner lead for telco and AI, who told the audience that she does not see AI transformation happening at all without cybersecurity underpinning it.

The power problem for data centres has been covered so extensively in the connectivity and digital infrastructure world that it went without saying in sessions related to it.

However, it was interesting to hear the openness of the conversations around renewable power, with an understanding that it is not possible to rely on green power generation for an entire data centre workload.

The solution needs to come from two sides, speakers concluded. This means not just investment in grid capability and power generation within a country’s general network, but also a realisation that data centres need to adjust their expectations regarding power availability rather than treating it as an afterthought.

The state of the US fibre market took up a lot of talktime at ITW this year. Although there is continued uncertainty regarding the over $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) rural fibre project, money is still flowing into the sector (this was one of the main conclusions from the recent Metro Connect event) and buildouts are happening across the country.

But according to Dan Caruso, Zayo’s former CEO, speaking at ITW once more, the benefit is somewhat out of balance.

“The Lumens and Zayos of this world need to push themselves to understand why the value chain is so advantageous to those who use the fibre and so disadvantageous to the infrastructure owners. Something is very broken and wrong here”

Diversity of connections and routes for fibre is always a priority for our industry – but what about the companies building these systems?

The large share of the data centre planning and building market currently enjoyed by hyperscalers was raised in a discussion regarding the commercial models of digital infrastructure, but the main area this applies to is subsea, and this is due to supply constraints.

The lead time for new subsea systems is inching over 4-5 years, according to ZOI’s Huda Al Ghabshi, speaking on a panel on what the new subsea ecosystem will look like, and this is something that needs to be addressed.

“Demand [for subsea cables] is increasing, but there is a scarcity of companies that can build them. We need more companies building and maintaining these key parts of the global ecosystem.”

Manufacturing capability needs to grow to make this happen.

The decline in the role traditional voice services play in telco revenues is stark—from 75% in 2018 to around 35% today, depending on the telco in question. But as the speakers on a voice-dedicated panel observed, it still plays an important role in the wider product offering of companies in the industry.

As panellists observed, this is being driven both on the technological level (with scalable and programmable voice services now available) and on the customer level, particularly in the security sphere, where applications such as number authentication are proving to be a promising area.

The conclusion? Voice is adapting and evolving, and it is still a crucial communications channel for users.

ITW Keynote: Geopolitical challenges delay subsea deployment, experts say

ITW Keynote: Industry giants push for smarter, more trusted networks driven by AI and 5G SA

ITW: Google director warns ‘ethical backbone must be built into AI development’

ITW: Cybersecurity demands greater accountability, industry leaders warn