Light Reading Podcasts

 John Deere's Kiel Ronning provides some fresh insight into how 5G-powered private networks are weaving their way into smart manufacturing, enabling the company to take advantage of low latencies, speed and other important performance metrics that make factories run more efficiently and flexibly. Ronning also considers how private networks will play into John Deere's short- and long-term plans and how the company can integrate IoT devices into private network environments. "We think this is a key turning point for us to ... introduce cellular connectivity in our factories so that we can take advantage of the low-latency, high-bandwidth and QoS components that come with that," he says. This interview was recorded during the Big 5G Event in Denver. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week's telecom news highlights included more trouble for Norwegian operator Telenor as it moves away from Myanmar. We also muse about the changing shape of Verizon's deal with the NFL and why 5G networks are still struggling to prove their worth to consumers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mo Katibeh, SVP of network infrastructure and build for AT&T, examines several new use cases for how the service provider is addressing the 5G customer experience for both consumers and enterprises. "In 2020, we achieved 200 million people, or PoPs, covered with our sub-6GHz 5G, and across the last year we've been able to expand that out from 200 to 250 million people across 500 markets, so very broad availability," said Katibeh. Katibeh also speaks to AT&T's efforts to close the digital divide and what's next for the operator's future fiber and 5G network buildouts. "Over the last few years, we've committed over $1 billion toward closing the digital divide," said Katibeh. "Across the next three years, we're going to commit $2 billion," Katibeh says AT&T's approach to the digital divide includes providing affordable broadband to areas with limited Internet access, through charitable contributions and also assisting students in accessing broadband to complete their homework from any location. In addition, AT&T is working with customers to deploy new 5G use cases across a number of verticals, including agriculture – one use case Katibeh mentioned centered around deploying IoT sensors to improve wine production. AT&T also recently teamed up with an AR application that makes the "images jump off the page" in children's books, said Katibeh.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Eric Frank, CEO of LightBox – a real estate information and technology platform – on his company's just-released nationwide Internet connectivity map, revealing that roughly 60 million Americans are disconnected. That number far exceeds the FCC's most recent estimate of 14.5 million. We discuss the various data sources that went into producing LightBox's map, what it tells us about the bigger picture of the digital divide in the US, and how LightBox hopes to use its map to work with the FCC and state governments on closing the broadband gap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jennifer Artley, SVP of Strategic Initiatives for Verizon Business, catches up with Light Reading after her keynote on Verizon's private 5G network deployment at the Port of Southampton, the UK's largest port.Southampton struggled to provide reliable Wi-Fi onsite and partnered with Verizon and Nokia to become the first mainland UK port with access to a 5G network. The UK port now uses 3.7GHz spectrum, which is similar to the midband C-band in the US. In addition, the network spans seven transmission sites running Nokia equipment, whereas the port's Wi-Fi network uses 200 access points."With this private 5G network, we closed those [Wi-Fi] dark spots completely in a more cost-effective way than it would have been to put fiber in place," said Artley.The first use case tested at the port on the private 5G network centered around health and safety by using drones to inspect cranes after storms.Artley also explains how Verizon is collaborating with other verticals to improve customer experience through 5G deployments.This interview was recorded at the Big 5G Event in Denver. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the FCC's former commissioners believes that Congress is poised to quickly approve around $65 billion in infrastructure spending on broadband in the US.However, he cautioned that telecom industry executives may have to wait for a year or more before they can expect to receive a portion of that funding."We're weeks away from something passing," Mike O'Rielly, a former FCC commissioner who is now principal at MPORielly Consulting, said.But he said the money contained in that legislation will likely be contingent on the FCC developing new maps showing the location of broadband services in the US. "Most of the money now is tied to new FCC maps," he explained. This interview was recorded at the Big 5G Event in Denver. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gordon Mansfield, AT&T's vice president of converged access and device technology, joined us here to offer an update on the company's deployment of a 5G standalone core and the anticipated benefits that will come from it. Mansfield also shed more light on AT&T's C-band spectrum deployment, the company's plans for open RAN and how AT&T's fiber buildout fits in with the company's network and service convergence strategy. This interview was recorded at the Big 5G Event in Denver. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Boingo CTO Derek Peterson provides an update on the company's partnerships with service providers on 5G deployments and how Boingo is supporting contactless experiences at airports. In addition, Peterson shares Boingo's approach to private networks and offers a sneak peek on his panel about virtualizing the 5G core. This interview was recorded at the Big 5G Event in Denver. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sidd Chenumolu, Dish Network's vice president of technology development, offers an update on the company's national 5G network buildout and what Dish hopes to learn as it moves ahead with its first 5G service deployment in Las Vegas. Chenumolu also illuminates why Dish is a big proponent of open RAN, why interoperability is critical, and how Dish is positioning itself as the prime system integrator for its ambitious 5G network rollout. This interview was recorded during the Big 5G Event 2021 in Denver and first published on Light Reading. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lumen's Mike Benjamin joins the podcast to discuss the recent ReverseRAT update, a malware scheme that was used to target government and energy-sector organizations in India and Afghanistan. Benjamin and his team at Lumen's security research division, Black Lotus Labs, have been closely following the Remote Access Trojan (RAT) threat. The new iteration ReverseRAT web camera access and the ability to steal files via USB drives, explains Benjamin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Stokols, the Dish Network executive in charge of the company's growing camp of mobile brands, said Dish might not be done buying mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). This interview was recorded at the Big 5G Event in Denver on September 1. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we hear from Wanda Tankersley, chief operating officer (COO) at MTA (or Matanuska Telecom Association), a telecommunications co-op in Alaska. We discuss the unique middle-mile challenges to providing broadband in a rural and rugged state like Alaska, as well as the company's AlCan ONE project, the first all-terrestrial fiber line connecting Alaska to the Lower 48. We also get into MTA's recent efforts to connect students to high-speed Internet, the impact of supply chain and labor shortages on its plans to expand, and more.[Ed. note: Tankersley refers to MTA's coverage area as the size of West Virginia; however, the correct size comparison is the state of Massachusetts.] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This podcast will explore some of the key trends driving telecommunications networks, the challenges and opportunities for network operators, and how new innovations in optical transmission technology are helping to move the industry forward and enable exciting new services.This podcast is sponsored by Infinera. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Jennifer Alvarez, Co-founder and CEO, Aurora Insight, a company that measures the availability of spectrum and wireless networks in the rural US and abroad; as well as David Hartshorn, CEO of Geeks Without Frontiers, a nonprofit organization working to address the digital divide globally.The two organizations have recently formed a partnership to tackle the lack of reliable wireless broadband in underserved parts of the US and abroad. We discuss the details and goals of that partnership, the challenges surrounding broadband mapping across the world, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Verizon's Terrance Robinson joins the podcast to share key findings from the service provider's Mobile Security Index. In addition, Robinson shares insights about which mobile security threats are on the rise, and how enterprises and their employees can identify and address potential threats. The full report can be downloaded here. "We're seeing over a 360% year-over-year increase in phishing attempts on mobile devices," says Robinson. Bad actors are increasingly targeting text messages in their phishing attempts because the rate at which consumers read text messages is 98%, and 45% respond to those messages. By comparison – only 20% of email is viewed, with a 6% response rate, says Robinson.  In addition to addressing the rise of phishing, ransomware, shadow IT and other security threats, Robinson explains how enterprises can address these issues by developing Appropriate Use Policies and educating employees on how to better protect their devices. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week's telecom news highlights included all the damage, and damage control, surrounding T-Mobile's recent hack and data breach. We also ponder why cable operators are suddenly very popular mobile service providers and whether smaller cable operators will join the fray. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Dr. Tamarah Holmes, director of the Office of Broadband for the state of Virginia.Since the office was established in 2019, Dr. Holmes says Virginia has successfully closed half of its digital divide. Recently, the state's Governor Ralph Northam announced plans to invest $700 million in federal relief money toward achieving universal broadband access over the next three years.Dr. Holmes and I discuss how Virginia has been able to address connectivity needs through the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative, or the VATI program, for last-mile deployments, why it helps that the state's broadband office sits within the Department of Housing and Community Development, and how her office is preparing to distribute state and federal aid to close the remaining divide.Link to access the state's VATI grant program (just remember... Dog, House, Cat, Dog!): https://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/vati Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week's telecom news highlights included some M&A speculation involving Reliance Jio and T-Mobile Netherlands. We also covered the new roaming fees that are now summering in the UK. Finally, don't look up now but we have another satellite story – this one discusses SpaceX's decision to buy Swarm, a company that operates around 100 microsatellites providing IoT connectivity.Here are the stories we mentioned in the podcast:SpaceX buys IoT company Swarm amid heightened space competitionSouth Korea's Hanwha Systems sinks $300M into OneWebDesperation shows as BT and Vodafone resurrect roamingIndia's Jio may bid for T-Mobile Netherlands - reportSign up for our daily and weekly newsletters to get telecom service provider and vendor coverage, in-depth reporting and Light Reading interviews. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Verizon's Suzanne Widup joins the podcast to provide insight into cybersecurity trends and share key findings from the service provider's annual Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR). The full report can be downloaded here. As the senior principal threat intel analyst for Verizon and co-author of the DBIR, Widup has her finger on the pulse of hackers' evolving efforts to undermine network security via phishing attacks, ransomware and social engineering. "We've seen tremendous growth in our data sets over time on both social attacks and ransomware," said Widup. Hacker's approach to ransomware has evolved as well – "Now you not only lose access to your data but they can give it to other people … we've seen the commoditization of ransomware, giving out ransomware-as-a-service and how mature these marketplaces have become." In addition, as enterprises became more reliant on cloud networking during the pandemic, hackers took advantage of this shift. Bad actors also took advantage of public interest in pandemic-related news by incorporating language around COVID-19 into their phishing lures. "We did see more of the attacks targeting the cloud systems than we had before," said Widup. "The phishing lures take whatever the current headline is, so COVID was all over the place there."  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Prashanth Vijay, founder and CEO of Flume, a last-mile, dark-fiber-based home broadband service.Flume was launched in New York City in 2020 to introduce competition to the service provider market and to help bring affordable broadband to underserved areas.We discuss how Flume accesses and leverages dark fiber to deliver high-speed Internet at competitive prices, Flume's commitment to deliver broadband to New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) buildings through the NYC Internet Master Plan, and where the company plans to expand next. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week's telecom news highlights included an overview of Rakuten's impressively aggressive plans, a look at Telegram's rapid growth and the looming threat it presents to telcos, and a summary of the supply chain issues that broadband equipment providers are having as the pandemic has forced higher prices and longer wait times for many components and logistics services. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Clearfield CEO Cheri Beranek joins the podcast to talk about how she's helped build a company that keeps growing as more and more community broadband providers deploy fiber. Clearfield classifies utilities, municipalities and small telcos as "community" providers because, as Beranek explains, they "were not having their needs met by the typical Tier 1 incumbent providers." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Anthony Goonetilleke, group president of media, network and technology at Amdocs: a software and services provider for communications and media companies.We discuss how a recent survey Amdocs conducted on broadband issues is informing the company's priorities, as well as how service providers in Amdocs' orbit are rethinking the future of connectivity in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also talk about Amdocs' work with ISPs and tech giants like T-Mobile, Microsoft and others at the 5G Innovation Lab to find novel solutions for addressing the digital divide. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Verizon's Erik Sheehan joins the Light Reading podcast to provide insight into the operator's use of computer vision for a variety of reasons, such as assisting in network operations and improving technicians' ability to help customers troubleshoot connection issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lumen's Mike Benjamin joins the podcast to provide insight into a new remote access trojan, and explain who and what the bad actors were targeting. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gary Bolton, president and CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association, discusses the newly launched Optical Telecom Installation Certification (OpTIC) program, a new training and certification curriculum for fiber techs in North America. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Kaseya ransomware attack is the latest in a trend of bad actors working together to target the supply chain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week's telecom news highlights included some spectrum auction and siesta news from Spain, an update on how Verizon moved forward with a fabulous, free 5G phone promotion, and you'll find out what US city took a gamble on building a network that covered 65 square miles with broadband in just 45 days. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gabriel Sidhom, COO for Orange Silicon Valley, joins the podcast to provide insight into service providers' move to the cloud and shares five drivers that have pushed that cloud journey forward.Orange Silicon Valley got its start as a lab and R&D center, but has evolved to "be much more focused on external innovation. We refer to ourselves as an innovation center," explains Sidhom.In addition to discussing how technologies such as 5G are impacting telcos' cloud journey, Sidhom examines how the dynamic between hyperscalers and traditional service providers is changing."In the case of the telco, there's a strong synergy because a lot of the cloud players have what the telcos need, but the telcos also have what the cloud players need," says Sidhom. "It's all about getting as close to the customer as possible." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Paul Gaske, EVP and general manager for HughesNet in North America, which operates the largest satellite broadband network in the US.Hughes primarily connects rural areas of the country that are either unserved or still stuck with technologies like DSL or even dial-up. While Gaske says current Hughes speeds meet the FCC standard of 25/3 Mbit/s, he adds that the company is in the midst of a $600 million capital build of a "massive new satellite" that will allow Hughes to offer plans at 100 Mbit/s and 50 Mbit/s starting next year.With that in mind, Gaske also rebuffs the critique that satellite Internet is not "future proofed.""I think that the notion of future proofing just because you haul fiber around is quaint," he says. "The technology at both ends of that fiber has to change constantly for you to be future proofed. And that's the next proposition."We discuss the role of satellite broadband in closing the digital divide and Hughes' plans to meet demand for higher bandwidth and lower latency, as well as the company's recent announcement that it will participate in the FCC's Emergency Broadband Benefit program, making it the only national satellite provider to do so thus far. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Any major sporting event has plenty going on behind the scenes. On this podcast, NTT's wizard behind the curtain, aka Tim Wade, shares his insight into data capture and analysis for the Tour de France.As VP of the Advanced Technology Group for Sport at NTT, Wade has witnessed firsthand how data analysis of the Tour de France has changed since the race was first digitized in 2015. Initially, data captured from cyclists provided real-time updates but now the entire event has a digital doppelgänger.Wade explains the process of creating a digital twin of the Tour de France, and how NTT is digitizing maps of the course, tracking cyclists, and highlighting important data points such as the best locations for the live audience to watch the race. In addition, Wade explains the role of edge computing, AI and 5G in supporting data analytics for the race. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Dominic Marcellino, director of strategy and business development for Kajeet: a provider of Internet connectivity services for students, enterprises and state and local governments, working with all major wireless carriers in the US.Kajeet recently partnered with the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, on a six-month pilot program to deliver free Internet access. We discuss the details of that partnership and other ways Kajeet is teaming up with cities, schools and libraries to better connect communities, the challenges to forming municipal partnerships and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week's telecom news highlights included some revealing numbers about the annual MWC Barcelona event, the US government walking back an unprecedented cloud computing contract for its defense systems, and a whimsical story about 5G-connected, remote controlled cars in Las Vegas, where the high temperature on July 12 will be 113 Fahrenheit. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Light Reading's editors are premium targets for PR firms and marketing experts all across the media landscape. But not all story ideas make it from the inbox to the front page.Our roundup of near-miss pitches this time around includes some howlers for Father's Day, a racy tech support scheme and some canned comments about canned wines to watch with your favorite deep-cable dramatic movies.Light Reading's Phil Harvey, Mike Dano, Fiona Graham and Kelsey Ziser have a good-natured discussion about whimsical gift ideas and far-out story pitches, and take a summertime dip into the pool of bad marketing ideas as they review some recent PR pitches that completely struck out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Matt Dunne, founder and executive director of the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI), a nonprofit action tank that started in 2017 to close the rural opportunity gap for broadband services.We discuss the impact the digital divide has had on the rural US over the past 20+ years and how the Center on Rural Innovation works with communities to help them build out broadband, among other things. In addition, we discuss why rural America does need fiber infrastructure, despite what some industry stakeholders would have you believe, and which state and federal policies are and are not working when it comes to helping rural communities get connected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Digital Twins, high fidelity digital mirrors of processes or physical objects, are being used in many industries to optimize business outcomes but remain relatively new in telecommunications and 5G networks.In this podcast, two industry specialists from HERE Technologies describe how this concept can be applied to the design of mobile networks to accelerate new site selection and equipment deployment, reducing costs while boosting operational efficiencies and customer experience.This podcast is sponsored by HERE Technologies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week's telecom news highlights included a look back at some huge 5G product news for Nokia, a summary of some new cloudy ideas coming from Mobile World Congress, and a summary of what's up at Switzerland's Astrocast – a company launching a network of satellites for IoT connectivity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ray Dolan, chairman and CEO of Cohere Technologies, joins the Light Reading podcast to discuss how Cohere is working with partners such as VMware, Capgemini Engineering and Intel on developing an open RAN platform for Vodafone that improves 5G capacity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Roger Timmerman, CEO of UTOPIA Fiber, an open access municipal fiber network in the state of Utah, formed by a group of 11 cities in 2004. (UTOPIA stands for Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency.)As an open access network, UTOPIA provides fiber and infrastructure, but not service. Instead, customers can choose from a variety of participating local providers, including Rise Broadband, Veracity Networks, Fibernet and others.We discuss why these cities chose the municipal open access model, how it works and why it works. And we get into the ongoing debate around federal support for municipal networks, and what other municipalities should be prepared for as they embark on building out broadband. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week's telecom news highlights included Viavi's ongoing pursuit of a merger with Exfo, Rakuten's open RAN plan to reveal what it's really paying for telecom gear, and we briefly ponder why Nokia would roll out the red carpet for open RAN developers in Dallas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Sarah Armstrong, executive director of the Internet Society Foundation, a non-profit philanthropic organization founded in 2019 to support the Internet Society's vision of an open Internet for everyone, everywhere.The Internet Society Foundation is currently reviewing a round of grant applications from entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, Senegal and Colombia for local digital literacy and Internet adoption initiatives. Winners are eligible for grants of $150,000 each for projects lasting up to 24 months.We discuss the Internet Society Foundation's work to tackle the digital divide and the various challenges to broadband access and adoption around the world, and how the organization is using its "SCILLS" grant program to promote education and economic growth through community-led Internet initiatives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Juniper Networks CEO Rami Rahim joins the podcast to discuss why future 5G services will be virtualized, how AI can improve network performance and what's next for the Apstra and Netrounds acquisitions.The networking company wants to further automate data centers "because the future of 5G services is going to be virtualized, it's going to leverage the distributed telco cloud." Later in the podcast, Rahim discusses 5G as a catalyst for Juniper to heighten its focus on improving performance in WAN transport networks as service providers converge mobile, fixed access, enterprise and residential networks. Find out more about Juniper's M&A history on Light Reading's website and be sure to sign up for the Light Reading Weekly newsletter for the telecom news, analysis and interviews. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Telia Carrier CEO Staffan Göjeryd joins the podcast to explain what its divestment from Telia Group means for the service provider. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week's telecom news highlights included a piece of good news for TikTok users in the US, a big bet on BT's fiber rollout from French telecom giant Altice and Starlink's plans to provide in-flight Wi-Fi. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Ben Edmond, founder and CEO of Connected2Fiber, a cloud platform that allows fiber providers and MSOs to plan and monetize service routes; and Mel Wagner, CEO of INDATEL, a nationwide network of 700-plus rural broadband operators, and a client of Connected2Fiber.We discuss the work their companies are doing in rural America to accelerate broadband rollout, the challenges rural operators face with deployment and monetization – including current year-long delays in getting fiber materials – what policy decisions would benefit rural ISPs tasked with building broadband to the hardest-to-reach areas, and why it's crucial to fund middle-mile deployments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week's news highlights included a look at big telco job numbers (they're dropping), Huawei's software strategy and T-Mobile's plans to connect rural America. This podcast first appeared, in video form, on Informa Tech's executive community, The Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from community leader Ini Augustine, founder of Project Nandi: a program that provides devices, technical support and broadband assistance to local families in Minnesota's Twin Cities. Project Nandi was launched in 2020 following the onset of COVID-19 to help prevent Black, Indigenous, Latinx and Asian students from being left behind by remote learning.We recorded our conversation shortly before the first anniversary of the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and shortly after another Black man, Daunte Wright, was fatally shot by police during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.She and I discuss how her community's digital divide was worsened by the coinciding crises of the pandemic and police violence, why solutions like Project Nandi to address broadband inequity are necessary (though extremely hard to get funded), her plans to start a community fiber project and her message to legislators working on broadband bills in Washington, DC.Donations to support Project Nandi are being accepted here: https://www.givemn.org/organization/Project-Nandi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Washington State Representative Drew Hansen, who has served the 23rd district since 2011. He is the lead sponsor of the Public Broadband Act, a recently passed law in Washington that effectively reverses a prior state law banning municipal broadband.We discuss the digital divide in Washington and why the Public Broadband Act was necessary, the difficulty (and "nonsense") he and his colleagues faced in getting it passed, what the next steps are once the law officially takes effect in July and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Cheri Beranek, president and CEO of Clearfield, a company that designs, manufactures and distributes fiber optic management products.We discuss how Clearfield creates its products to be scalable and cost effective for service providers, how the company is preparing for what she calls a forthcoming "fiber bubble" amidst labor and supply shortages, whether or not it's realistic to deploy fiber everywhere in the United States – and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom Wlodkowski, VP of accessibility for Comcast, joins the podcast to share how he got started in the accessibility field and explains the evolution of Comcast's Voice Guidance system on Xfinity X1 and the development of the Xfinity X1 Adaptive Remote."In 2014, we launched the industry's first accessible set-top box experience for people who are blind or visual impaired on our X1 platform and we called that Service Voice Guidance. Think of it as a screen reader inside of a box, even though it's in the cloud because X1 is all cloud-based," says Wlodkowski. "Voice guidance, once it's enabled, reads all of the UI (user interface) elements as you navigate with the remote control using the D-pad (directional pad)."Previously, visually impaired users were limited to scrolling up and down on channels, and features that most people take for granted were inaccessible to them, adds Wlodkowski. The Voice Guidance capability provides visually impaired users with the ability to now "navigate TV listings, schedule and play back DVR recordings, navigate on-demand content and control settings such as parental controls," explains Wlodkowski.The end result of adding more accessibility features to content platforms extends beyond those with disabilities, says Wlodkowski. Closed captioning is one feature that everyone can benefit from, such as when an actor is difficult to understand or sound mixing muddles dialogue."When you build an inclusive product, you end up building a better product for everyone," says Wlodkowski. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.