TELECOMS WORLD ASIA 2026 RETURNS TO BANGKOK AS ASIA'S TELCO INDUSTRY CONFRONTS ITS NEXT DEFINING CHALLENGE

Asia's premier telco event brings together 1,500+ professionals, 120+ sponsors and exhibitors, and 130+ speakers to tackle the industry's shift from scale to profit

BANGKOK, Oct. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- For years, the Asia-Pacific telecommunications industry operated from the same playbook - build more capacity, expand coverage, deploy the next generation of networks. That playbook hasn't disappeared, but it is no longer enough.

That's the backdrop to Telecoms World Asia 2026 (organised by Terrapinn), which takes place on 27-28 October 2026 at the Centara Grand and Bangkok Convention Centre, CentralWorld, Bangkok. Over two days, more than 1,500 senior executives from mobile network operators, MVNOs, wholesalers, regulators, and technology companies will gather to address the question reshaping the industry's boardroom agenda: how do you turn scale into profit?

"APAC's telco industry is at a critical inflection point." said Paul Clark, Managing Director (Asia), Terrapinn. "The operators, regulators, and technology leaders gathering in Bangkok this week know it better than anyone, and Telecoms World Asia 2026 is where the most senior voices in Asian telco come to move beyond the conversation and into action."

The 2026 programme is the biggest yet. Across multiple content tracks including Networks, The CX Lab, Wholesale, Digital Inclusion, and Strategy, 130+ industry leaders will address the pressures reshaping Asian telco business models in real time.

Day One opens with a direct challenge to the AI optimism that has dominated industry conversation: the keynote panel on GenAI asks not whether it can transform telcos, but whether operators can actually make it pay. Amar Huzaimi Md Deris, Group CEO of Telekom Malaysia, Rajeev Sethi, President Director & CEO of XLSMART, Sanjay Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer of Circles.Life and Hamza Khokhar, Chief AI Officer of Jazz take the stage, together with Jayanth Nagarajan, Director of EQator as the moderator to answer it. Then Bhupinder Singh, President of Vodafone Business International examines the road from 5G to 5G-A and eventually 6G, addressing the ambition, the execution gaps, and what operators should actually be planning for.

Day Two opens with the "Man + Machine" keynote, bringing together Dian Siswarini, President Director and CEO of Telkom Indonesia, Tarit Nimmanwudipong, Head of Corporate Strategy at TrueCorporation, Suresh Srinivasan, Group Head of Cyber Security at Axiata, and George Aprane, Managing Director Asia of Deutsche Telekom, alongside Sean Bergin, Co-Founder & President, APTelecom as moderator, to examine how leadership and operating models are being rebuilt for an AI-driven industry. China Telecom's Chief Engineer, Xinhua Shao then takes the stage to address one of the defining questions of the moment: How do you build networks that don't just operate, but learn and evolve autonomously at scale?

Expert voices sharing their insight at the event include:

• Raymond Ho, Executive Director and CEO, Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings Limited
• Nguyễn Hiền Phương, CEO, Vietnamobile
• Asif Naimur Rashid, Chief Business Officer, Grameenphone
• Pepijn Kok, CISO & Head of Cyber Security, AIS
• Erik Kvarvåg, CISO Advisor & Security Architect, True Corporation
• Ayomal Gunasekera, Chief of Group Customer Experience, Dialog Axiata
• Ziad Shatara, Managing Director & CEO, Robi Axiata
• Hiroki Kuriyama, President and CEO, NTT DOCOMO GLOBAL
• Abdul Rahman Ansyori, CEO, Telin
• Roderick Santiago, CTO - Enterprise Business Group, PLDT

The conference programme runs alongside a 120+ strong exhibition floor, where leading technology vendors and solution providers showcase the platforms, tools, and infrastructure solutions operators need to navigate the transitions being debated on-stage. They include Title Sponsor China Telecom, Gold Sponsors CommScope, China Mobile International, Equinix, NTT DATA, Plume, Tejas Networks and Yango Tech, Lanyard Sponsor China Unicom Global and many more. Roundtables and the TWA Skyline Sundowners give attendees the space to take those conversations further.

Operators from across the region are represented at TWA 2026, spanning Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan region, and Thailand and more, alongside international carriers from the UK, US, Germany, UAE, Oman, and beyond. MNOs, MVNOs, and government authorities attend on a complimentary basis.

For event information and the full conference agenda, visit:
https://www.terrapinn.com/JoinTWA2026

Press attendance is complimentary.

PRNewswire is an official media partner for Telecoms World Asia 2026.

About Telecoms World Asia
Telecoms World Asia is the only event curated exclusively for Asian telcos, shaped around the operators, networks, customers, and commercial realities that define this region. Now in its 20th year, TWA brings together Asia's most senior telco leaders annually in Bangkok for two days of peer-to-peer conversation, exhibition, and networking. For more information, visit https://www.terrapinn.com/JoinTWA2026

About Terrapinn
Terrapinn is a global business events company specialising in high-level conferences and exhibitions across telecoms, financial services, aviation, energy, and beyond. With events spanning Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas, Terrapinn brings together the decision-makers and innovators who shape what industries do next. For more information, visit terrapinn.com.

SOURCE Terrapinn Pte Ltd