Light Reading Podcasts

IBM's Bill Lambertson and Lumen Technologies' Dave Shacochis join the podcast to discuss the distributed cloud and how it supports the delivery of edge computing resources to enterprises."The distributed cloud allows you to bring down a whole set of public cloud capabilities and SRE [site reliability engineering] support on-premise or in your location of choice," explains Lambertson.Lumen recently deployed IBM Cloud Satellite, IBM's distributed cloud service, across 180,000 of the service provider's global edge locations. Shacochis and Lambertson share several use cases for how this deployment could help enterprise customers, such as providing video analytics to improve worker safety measures in manufacturing and distribution centers."The integration and use case we tested was more facility and worker-safety based. Hard-hat detection is one of the computer vision algorithms that IBM software already knows how to plug-in and detect," says Shacochis. "Avoid one accident and the whole system pays for itself in many ways." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Light Reading's Alan Breznick and Jeff Baumgartner weigh in on the burning questions surrounding the recently announced media moves by AT&T. The telecom giant is spinning out its WarnerMedia group to a new joint venture it will form with Discovery in a deal that will give AT&T $43 billion and a controlling stake in the new company. The move unravels the $84 billion merger between AT&T and Time Warner that was sealed just three years ago. What will it mean for AT&T and its competitiveness as a network operator? How will the new media company loom large on the pay-TV and consumer media landscape? Breznick and Baumgartner give their early reactions and address some questions that remain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve Miller-Jones of Limelight Networks joins the podcast to talk about the future of media and video distribution. The pandemic changed our media consumption patterns, but what happens when we all start going to live events and large venues again – and is there a new media business model emerging with that change? Miller-Jones said he expects that broadcast TV, live events and linear programming will still continue, but "our expectation is going to be that we can choose how we're going to consume that."He said we'll want to see different camera angles at live events, pause and revisit media on different devices, and have more to consume that's "about" the event or the things we're doing in-person. He said that move to provide companion content to in-person experiences means "additional data, additional services, additional applications, or content that comes with what we're consuming, and there's going to be, I suspect, a whole sort of emergence of a different type of storytelling, perhaps in a different type of content management and content production." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Mari Silbey, director of partnerships and outreach at US Ignite, as well as Alex Wyglinski and Casey Canfield, engineering professors and co-leads on a broadband deployment project in Clinton County, Missouri.The deployment, which will use RF-over-fiber to serve a rural community, was selected to receive grant funding through Project Overcome, a $2.7 million joint effort spearheaded by the National Science Foundation and US Ignite – with additional financing from Schmidt Futures – to fund novel broadband projects and find new solutions to closing the digital divide.We discuss more about Project Overcome, as well as details and plans for this specific deployment in Clinton County, Missouri, and the complexities of choosing the right technologies and outreach methods to service rural communities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Light Reading contributor Gagandeep Kaur joins the podcast to discuss the state of telecom in India in light of the ongoing surge of COVID-19 across the country.We discuss the most important stories happening in the Indian telecom sector – from forthcoming 5G trials to satellite services; how the current coronavirus outbreak is impacting the industry and her coverage of it; and what other developing topics she's tracking this year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stanford University's Nick McKeown joins the podcast to discuss a career milestone and a very forward-looking 5G project that involves (hopefully not) crashing drones on purpose. McKeown today is set to receive the 2021 IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal "for contributions to internet router architecture and software-defined networking." This will happen during the 2021 IEEE VIC (Vision, Innovation, and Challenges) Summit and Honors Ceremony, which will be held virtually on May 11 through May 13, 2021.After discussing the impact and importance of software-defined networking, McKeown reflects on what is changing about networking as we move toward more software-defined and open systems. Soon, he said, we'll be more worried about what we're doing on the network and not as worried about protocols and interoperability and hardware. "It's a big distributed system – a platform that is programmable by those who own and operate it," he said. "This is a massive change." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Murphy, CTO of wireless for North America with Nokia, joins the Light Reading podcast to examine areas where open RAN needs to be fleshed out for vendors and service providers to reap the full benefits of this technology.Murphy recently wrote a Guest Perspective column for Light Reading about the limitations of open RAN and the importance of developing standards to help the technology mature."The [open RAN] principles are good to opening up the system to more vendors but there are some challenges along the way," says Murphy in the podcast. "The purpose of that article was to lay them out. It's not saying that we, Nokia, think they're not surmountable, it just takes a little time. From the standards perspective, and this is a very important point by the way, we believe the whole concept of open RAN won't follow unless it's based on standards."He adds that the industry is relying on the O-RAN Alliance to develop open RAN standards, but "we don't really have the full suite of specifications at a maturity level that is good enough to build an end-to-end O-RAN compliant system yet, so more time is required."In addition, Murphy discusses the importance of meeting parity in the open RAN journey, which he describes in his article as "the set of features or capabilities available with O-RAN-compliant products that should, minimally, be the same as those deployed today and in the future with incumbent, integrated solutions." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Francella Ochillo, Executive Director of Next Century Cities: a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC, that works to support local officials and community leaders in their efforts to expand broadband.She and I discuss the challenges local communities face in having their voices represented in broadband policy making, as well as how inaccurate FCC mapping data imperils state and municipal efforts, and the day-to-day work that Next Century Cities is doing to ensure local communities can get access to the broadband funding and services they need. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It goes without saying that the editors at Light Reading are living the dream, but this job – nay, calling – is not all puppy tails and rainbows. The sad truth is that many of the email pitches we receive from public relations (professionals?) are off the mark.In this Light Reading podcast, editors Phil Harvey, Mike Dano, Jeff Baumgartner and I share some story pitches that are about as useful as a Shake Weight. Whether it’s letting us know which cities are the best to find herbal refreshment, where we can get travel-sized lawn samplings for our dogs to do their business or how to get more information on stories we've already reported on, these pitches were too wild not to share with our readers.While we've clearly made it onto some media contact lists that have nothing to do with the telecom industry, we are grateful to all the PR pros striving to better understand our beat, woo us with free water bottles (writing makes me thirsty!) and who actually answer our follow-up questions before the news breaks. Before you get a big head, though, we plan on future podcasts where we point out more pitches that simply struck out (so you’ve been forewarned). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nick Feamster, Neubauer Professor of Computer Science at the University of Chicago, returns to the podcast to provide an update on his research into how COVID-19 has impacted Internet traffic demands in the US. He also discusses the impact the pandemic has had on Internet performance and how service providers are responding to these changes.By analyzing interconnection data for two large ISPs in the US, Feamster and his colleagues identified a 30-60% increase in peak traffic rates in Q1 of 2020. In addition, their research data revealed a significant shift in traffic volume at the onset of the pandemic. Despite an influx of remote workers relying more heavily on home networks, the Internet has held up strong against capacity demands."I'm happy to report that the Internet, technically speaking, has done pretty well over the course of the pandemic," says Feamster.In regard to progress made during the pandemic concerning the digital divide, Feamster says some improvements have been made with subsidy programs, but "many communities and cities have the clairvoyance to recognize this isn't a long-term solution, necessarily, and it's been good as a stop-gap in some cases ... there are a number of places where the subsidy only needs to be part of the solution." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Shrihari Pandit, president and CEO of Stealth Communications, which provides fiber Internet to businesses in New York City.Since 1995 Stealth has been active in New York, where it has installed over 80 miles of fiber. In the last couple of years it's extended its service to underserved areas of Brooklyn, the South Bronx and Harlem.We discuss the company's expansion and what it takes to get fiber to businesses in underserved areas, how ending the digital divide will change the US economy, and why traditional government funding methods for building out broadband aren't working. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason Cohen, CEO and co-founder of MyBundle.TV, joins the Light Reading podcast to discuss how his company connects viewers to streaming services, and assists broadband and cable providers in identifying new customers.In addition, Cohen examines drivers behind the cord-cutting trend, and shares why many viewers are still holding out with traditional pay-TV services."One of the big misnomers is that everyone has cut the cord. There are still about 70 million households with traditional TV, and that's too many in our opinion. A big chunk of those don't know that there is YouTubeTV, Hulu, Sling…etc. We believe that with a helping hand, there are a lot of people who can make that transition to streaming that still want the traditional live TV content."Cohen provides insight into the channels and streaming services that are most popular among viewers – plus, some surprising results. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anand Shah, Verizon's director of technology strategy and architecture, joins the podcast to talk all about private networks. We cover the wide variety of use cases for private networks, the enterprises and industries that present the most challenging private network deployments; and we talk briefly about security considerations and edge computing advancements involved as well.Shah also reminds us that managed services is a huge opportunity that surrounds private networks, even in those cases where 5G is not the most urgent need. For many businesses, in fact, connectivity, networking and IT itself can all be delivered as a service. "I mean, you don't need an IT department now to manage these private networks, we got it for you," Shah said. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Peggy Schaffer, executive director for the ConnectMaine Authority.ConnectMaine was established in 2006. Since then, Shaffer says it has spent approximately $12 million in grant funding to expand broadband services to people.She and I discuss the state of broadband in the state of Maine and what her office has been able to accomplish; as well as what she hopes to see from federal broadband legislation and why she believes we need to stop giving money to the FCC. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from David Gilford, principal at HR&A Advisors and co-founder of the Broadband Equity Partnership: a consultancy focused on ending the digital divide in the US.In partnership with the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, the Broadband Equity Partnership recently issued a survey to 120 government and nonprofit broadband leaders across the country to assess local priorities for the federal government's broadband stimulus.David joins the podcast to discuss the results of that research and the key takeaways for Congress as lawmakers negotiate legislation around President Biden's $100 billion broadband plan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this sponsored edition of the Light Reading podcast, we chat with Tyson Marian, Plume's chief commercial officer, about the company's new product, WorkPass. We'll cover what WorkPass is and why Plume is building services for small businesses. As part of that discussion, we'll discuss how Plume uses its experience in managing smart homes – especially its cloud and AI expertise – to help small businesses deal with their most challenging network issues.As ever, with Plume, it's not just about the end user. The company's biggest customers are some of the world's largest service providers, so we'll discuss how those CSPs will use WorkPass to complement their existing offers and how it works with their current connectivity products and existing back-end systems.Marian conducts the entire podcast interview from a local small business he frequents to take a break from the WFH life. He offers some firsthand knowledge on how having smart connectivity options can make a difference as small businesses recover from their pandemic setbacks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yousef Khalidi, corporate VP of Azure for Operators at Microsoft and a member of the founding team of Azure, joins the podcast to discuss how his role has evolved to working on Azure for Operators. Khalidi explains why working with service providers requires a different approach to enterprise customers."Operators have very unique requirements," says Khalidi. "The level of carrier-grade networking and availability is higher than what most other customers need. On a technical level, things like packet processing, number of loads and so forth, are much higher than what you would need for an enterprise application."Khalidi also discusses the economic benefits operators can experience by partnering with a cloud provider, such as cost savings and new monetization opportunities, and how the cloud model enables operators to "really future-proof more of the infrastructure and concentrate on your value-add versus the plumbing." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Scott Willis, CEO of DartPoints, a colocation data center provider; as well as Bruce Garrison, chief revenue officer at Bluebird Network, a regional provider of fiber infrastructure.We discuss the different ways their companies are addressing the digital divide in the communities they serve, including in rural Iowa, and the ecosystem of companies necessary to improve access to connectivity and digital resources. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Gary Bolton, President and CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association: an organization of over 350 companies focused on delivering an all-fiber broadband network across the Americas.As the head of the Fiber Broadband Association, Gary is unsurprisingly pretty optimistic about fiber's potential and progress. We discuss why he says the US needs a fiber-first strategy and the legislation in Congress that could get us there, why hype around satellite broadband could be a "disaster" for communities, and why municipalities and electric cooperatives are becoming "the biggest emerging class of fiber deployers." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss which service providers and vendors are pulling ahead in the planning stages for 6G.In addition, Dano examines whether 6G will reach the terabyte per second speed threshold, and whether the industry will experience a smooth transition from 5G to 6G.While much is yet to be determined in regard to the benefits of 6G, Dano says there are two tangible improvements coming with the technology: "There's a discussion that 6G will be 80GHz and above that – 95GHz – all these super high-frequency communications. Most people agree that 6G is in even higher spectrum bands." The second tangible improvement, explains Dano, is that 6G could provide more realistic VR experiences where science-fiction movies such as Ready Player One become a reality. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ed Fox, CTO of MetTel, joins the Light Reading podcast to discuss challenges in extending SD-WAN services to home networks, whether SASE makes sense to enterprise customers and how MetTel is helping its customers navigate the onslaught of video conferencing and messaging applications."Extending SD-WAN to the home – we've done it sparingly and not as much as you would have thought," says Fox. As employees return to the office, Fox predicts that enterprises will take a hard look at the VPN, SD-WAN and SASE services available as they develop strategies around their move to the cloud and also balance IT support for remote and on-premises employees."There was a lot of trepidation [from enterprise customers] about extending the network to home," says Fox. "Also, the IT departments didn't want to do it because now I have to deal with 'Joe's' cable modem and all of a sudden I'm in his home network? Those are some of the things we saw that really surprised us." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Light Reading's Alan Breznick is back on the podcast to discuss whether the NFL's $110 billion deal with a number of streaming video services will be the nail in the coffin for traditional pay-TV bundles."Everybody wants football and it's amazing that with football games on so many different places that the NFL is getting overexposed," says Breznick. "But it seems like you can't overexpose the NFL."In the lineup of streaming services that will now provide access to NFL games, Amazon Prime gained exclusive national TV rights to NFL's Thursday Night Football slate for a cool $1 billion per year.The move to hosting football games on streaming services also provides viewers with the ability to watch games on a number of different devices, which grants the NFL access to new data and insights into how viewers want to consume content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adtran's CTO, Ryan McCowan, discusses the benefits of Mosaic One, a network and services optimization platform purpose-built to reduce subscriber churn. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Blair Levin, who oversaw the creation of the National Broadband Plan under President Barack Obama and served as FCC Chairman Reed Hundt's chief of staff under President Bill Clinton, as well as Clint Odom, senior vice president of policy and advocacy at the National Urban League.Earlier this year, the National Urban League put forth the Lewis Latimer Plan for Digital Equity & Inclusion, outlining steps toward ending the digital divide and creating a more equitable and inclusive society in the US.We discuss the goals of the plan, which include deploying networks everywhere, overcoming the significant adoption gap, using networks to improve the delivery of essential services and creating new economic opportunities in the digital economy – and how the National Urban League and others are working with policy makers at the federal level to advance this agenda. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Bruce McClelland, CEO of Ribbon Communications, about his company's work with broadband service providers in the rural US.McClelland says he took advantage of this last year of lockdown to reach out to policymakers in Washington, DC, and local reps at the state level, to "gauge tone" on rural broadband. We talk about his takeaways from those conversations, as well as the challenging economics around expanding broadband in hard-to-reach areas, why he's enthusiastic about the outcome of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The King of Cable, aka Alan Breznick, returns to host the 14th year of Light Reading's Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies event on April 28-29. While this year's event will be virtual, Breznick and his fellow cable industry experts will cover an array of topics including 10G, DOCSIS 3.1 and 4.0, DAA, Wi-Fi 6, fiber deployments and more.Breznick joins Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser on the podcast to discuss which topics will be covered during the event and provide insight into challenges and business opportunities facing the cable industry. One conundrum facing cable operators is whether there's a future in pay-TV or if the real revenue lies in streaming services."One big question is whether cable TV will stay a big pay-TV player and how that will happen," says Breznick. "Traditional pay-TV is going by the wayside and a lot of operators are exiting or downplaying the business and trying to make the pivot to be a streaming player and the aggregator of streaming services." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Kostas Kastanis, deputy CEO of Upstream – a mobile technology company that works with providers to offer affordable and secure access to Internet services, primarily in emerging markets.Our conversation focuses on Upstream's work in Africa, where its service Zero-D offers free Internet access through an ad-supported model. Kastanis says this works especially well in countries like Nigeria where 1 gig of data costs more than an average day's pay. We discuss how Zero-D works for users and providers, and other ways to solve the unique challenges to delivering and accessing the Internet in Africa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Light Reading podcast welcomes Gabriel Brown, Heavy Reading's principal analyst, mobile networks and 5G, to preview some of the discussions and topics that will be part of the 5G Next Wave Digital Symposium.The symposium will be moderated by Brown, along with Jim Hodges, chief analyst, Heavy Reading, and it will feature speakers from Swisscom, Anritsu, Red Hat, 5G Americas, Telus and more.As the 5G network goes from a 4G enhancement to a true, standalone next-gen network, the prospect of additional network investment and more immersive services is on the horizon as technologies like 5G core, edge cloud and network slicing take hold. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MNJ Technologies COO Ben Niernberg returns to the Light Reading podcast to discuss predictions for growth in the MPLS and SD-WAN markets.According to a recent Avant Communications report, over 60% of enterprises plan to increase or significantly increase their SD-WAN usage this year and 59% plan to increase MPLS usage in 2021.Niernberg shares his perspective on these results, explaining that enterprises' plan to increase SD-WAN usage wasn't a surprise to him since the technology is "well past the early adoption phase." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, we hear from Claude Aiken, president and CEO of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA), which represents the wireless Internet service provider industry, covering an estimated 6 million customers.We discuss the role of fixed wireless technology versus fiber when it comes to ending the divide in rural and hard-to-reach areas, how WISPs have kept people connected during the pandemic and the organization's policy priorities under the Biden administration. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of the Executive Spotlight Q&A features Plume Co-founder and CEO Fahri Diner, a veteran telecom entrepreneur and investor that Light Reading has covered for several years. In this interview, we discuss Plume's origins, why it exists, and what technology advantage the company has in the market.We also talk about Plume's recent $270 million funding round, a massive Series E round that brings the company's valuation to $1.35 billion and its total equity funding to date to $397 million. Diner discusses the reason behind the funding, what Plume will invest in next and how it addresses some of the most impactful trends happening in the connectivity and smart home space.The Executive Spotlight Q&A is a sponsored Light Reading audio production. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of The Divide, we hear from Judge JD Clark of Wise County, Texas and Councilmember Craig Rice of Montgomery County, Maryland – co-chairs of the National Association of Counties (NACo) Broadband Task Force. The task force, formed in October 2020, is a coalition of nearly three dozen county government officials from across the US studying the country's digital divide and the challenges facing underserved communities.We discuss what the task force hopes to achieve, why FCC mapping needs an overhaul, why broadband should be treated as a utility and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Light Reading Senior Editor Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast to discuss the state of streaming video services and why they're eating away at pay-TV subscriber numbers. He also discusses new streaming services such as Paramount+, whether live sports can keep pay-TV alive, and what other features are keeping pay-TV subscribers from cutting the cord. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Light Reading podcast welcomes Dan Kurin, the tech coordinator at Factory Two and Brandon Corder the CEO of Beats x Beers to discuss an upcoming experiment with low-latency broadband in Flint, Michigan.Using the LoLa software system, developed in Italy and popularized by Internet2, a group of musicians at Factory Two will conduct a real-time musical performance and hip hop masterclass over a low-latency fiber network for students across town at the Flint Cultural Center Academy. This event, called Beats x Broadband, is sponsored in part by US Ignite as part of its National Science Foundation-funded Smart Gigabit Communities program. The class takes place on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 4:00 pm ET and you can watch it on Facebook Live. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss the significance of the FCC's $81 billion C-band spectrum auction.Mike recently wrote that 5G in the US will become a lot clearer by the end of March, with the C-band spectrum winners soon to be revealed. In this episode, we discuss how the results of the auction are likely to shake out and what impact the spectrum allocated will have on Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile's 5G plans going forward. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of The Divide, we hear from Dr. Nicol Turner Lee, a senior fellow in governance studies and the director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institute. As a researcher and policy advocate, Dr. Turner Lee went on a ten-city tour investigating the digital divide in the US up close, which she writes about in her forthcoming book, "Digitally Invisible: How the Internet is Creating the New Underclass."We discuss what she saw during that tour, what is and isn't working when it comes to telecommunications policy, and best practices learned from public-private partnerships to get people connected during the pandemic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Erik Brenneis, head of IoT for Vodafone Business, joins the podcast to discuss growth in the IoT market and explains how Vodafone Business' customers are using IoT in their sustainability strategies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Heavy Reading's Sterling Perrin gives a quick rundown of what's coming up in the optical networking space for 2021 as he previews Light Reading's Optical Networking Symposium on February 16 and 18. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pablo Tomasi, principal analyst for Private Networks at Omdia, joins the Light Reading podcast to discuss his predictions for the growth of private LTE and 5G networks."By 2025 … the size of the global market will be $5.2 billion," which is a significant leap from the predicted market size of $1 billion this year, says Tomasi,Private networks could be a major opportunity for telcos to "enter into new relationships with enterprises. It provides them with the ability to sell additional technologies and services," he adds.In addition, Tomasi shares his forecasts for private network market growth on a geographical level, the impact of CBRS on private networks in the US, which verticals could benefit the most from these networks, and when and where 5G will be a factor in private networks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of The Divide, we hear from Virginia Lam Abrams, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Strategic Advancement at the alternative broadband provider Starry.Starry's service is live in five major cities, and the company sets itself apart as a hybrid fiber-wireless provider that uses fixed-wireless technology for last-mile connections.We discuss Starry's overall rollout model and "customer-first" approach, how the company is bringing affordable broadband to people living in public housing, and the "basket of solutions" needed at the policy level to end the digital divide. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Light Reading podcast welcomes Detlef Nauck, Head of AI & Data Science Research for BT's Applied Research Division. Nauck gives us an overview of his work and the processes involved in using AI and machine learning in traditional telecom networks.Nauck said BT is working to help drive standards for machine learning model management and governance – if companies can better explain and interpret what machine learning technology is doing, they can use it more effectively and prevent an automated network from adding capacity in the wrong places and inadvertently costing the telcos more money.He also pushes back on the idea that automation driven by AI is a permanent job killer. "The way [human-in-the-loop] AI models operate, and basically, orchestrating the strategy of these models, will be controlled by people," Nauck said. "And so AI models become advanced tools for the network engineers to keep control of the network." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode features Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA). We talk about what digital inclusion work looks like, how the digital divide is being made worse by digital redlining, and what needs to happen at a provider and policy level to change that.Sign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to "The Divide" – a new podcast from Light Reading exploring the ongoing digital divide: why it still exists, where it still exists and what needs to be done to fix it.Today's guest is Anna Read, a research officer with the broadband research initiative at The Pew Charitable Trusts.We discuss ongoing challenges to broadband access and adoption, which policies and efforts are (and are not) working, and how state programs and public-private partnerships can make a difference.For more from Pew's broadband research initiative, check out the show notes to this episode on www.lightreading.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to "The Divide" – a new podcast from Light Reading exploring the ongoing digital divide: why it still exists, where it still exists and what needs to be done to fix it.Our guest is Ernesto Falcon, senior legislative counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). We discussed the need for nationwide fiber infrastructure in the US and what's holding that up, what the pandemic has revealed about broadband policy in the US, and what to expect from the incoming Biden administration on the broadband front. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week the podcast welcomes eero CEO Nick Weaver to discuss in-home connectivity and how his company has changed since it was bought by Amazon in 2019. The podcast covers the proliferation of Wi-Fi 6, the new demands on home routers now that everyone's been home for nearly a year and, finally, eero's progress on its efforts to become a home connectivity partner for service providers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dario Talmesio, research director for Omdia's service provider strategy and regulation practice, talks about the big topics that will shape the year ahead for communications service providers (CSPs).This podcast, recorded in late December, covers the industry's progress in 5G and where the world of mobile broadband is going next (01:45); the evolving role of cloud providers in the CSP ecosystem (07:30); the economic fallout of COVID-19 and how telcos will retain customers who have lost work or have been hit with medical bills (12:15); and the push for more corporate social responsibility both in environmental concerns and hiring practices (17:25). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mari Silbey, senior director of Partnerships and Outreach for US Ignite, joins the Light Reading podcast in this episode, recorded in late December. Silbey provides an update on "Project Overcome," a program by US Ignite and the National Science Foundation to improve the reach of broadband in underserved areas.Also, she shares an update on the Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) program, which is US Ignite's effort to work with partners in testing new technologies that could improve rural broadband access."For rural America, there's probably not one technology that will solve everyone's problems, and we need to experiment with how to bring them together in different ways to get the best connectivity for these folks that can't otherwise be connected," she said. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are the Huawei bans working? What will the US do next year to keep China's champion from 5G world domination? Phil Harvey returns to the podcast to give us the latest on Huawei's turbulent year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Light Reading podcast is going off-topic. As folks are winding down for the holiday weekend, we've recorded an episode featuring a noted telecom luminary talking about a bunch of stuff that has nothing at all to do with broadband, open RAN or SD-WAN.Ciena CEO Gary B. Smith joins the podcast to discuss his journey as a photographer – how he got started, his 20-year photography drought and the hows and whys behind his current work. See the show notes for links and all the details on www.lightreading.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner was on the podcast this summer talking about the launches of HBO Max and NBCU's Peacock. Now he's back and on this episode, Jeff gives an update on those streaming services and others that have been announced since then, and what the streaming landscape looks like as we head into 2021. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.