If you have any interest in the future of telecom, it might be worth your time to check out Telco 2.0, a conference that is kicking off on October 4, 2006. Telco 2.0 was set up by STL, a consulting/analyst firm in conjunction with Martin Geddes of Telepocalypse fame. I am a big fan of Martin, and have learnt a lot from him over the years, and this post is just a way of saying thanks for helping with my education. (Too bad I won’t be there, but I know some of my telecom buddies will fill me in.)

There’s a manifesto and blog for the conference and its details are here (“Industry Brainstorm.”) It is in London on October 4-5th focused on: ‘How to make money in an IP-based world‘.

1. Voice &Messaging 2.0 – Telephony/SMS meet Skype/Yahoo.
2. Advertising-funded Content – Exploiting customer data and attention.
3. Broadband Connectivity – New ways of funding and pricing networks.

The conference will feature speakers from Belgacom, Boingo Wireless, BT, Deutsche Telekom, European Commission, GSMA, France Telecom, Google, OgilvyOne, Orange, SlingMedia, Sony BMG, Swisscom, Telefonica, Telenor, TeliaSonera, Yahoo!. GigaOM readers can claim a 10% discount to take part. All you need to do is contact the event production team and quote “GigaOM 10% discount.” Online: www.telco2.net/event, email: bookings@telvents.com, tel: +44 (0) 207 864 9912.