Telecoms.com Podcast

The traditional Mobile World Congress show floor recording of the pod is brought to you from the media centre this year. Once more they were delighted to welcome journalist George ‘available’ Malim as a special guest and start by reflecting on the dominant theme of the show – AI. They move on to share some of their other observations and experiences form MWC 24 until the video crew tell them to shut up because it has better things to do.

This special episode of the pod, recorded early to allow you to listen to it on the plane to Barcelona, features special returning guest – Analyst Dean Bubley. Most of the time is spent anticipating the key themes of discussion at the show, including 5G, AI, APIs and regulation, with an emphasis of cutting through the hype. Thery eventually move on to breaking news around European telecoms regulation before concluding with a quick look at Vodafone’s latest Open RAN announcements.

The pod was delighted to welcome returning special guest William Webb this week, who’s got a book out. The book focuses on how UK regulation is standing in the way of our strategic communications aims and how to fix it. Inevitably that leads to a few Ofcom and regulatory tangents, including recent developments in the EU. They move on to discuss the vision for 5G articulated at a recent Ericsson event, which includes another look at Open RAN, before concluding with a look at a neologism that describes how internet platforms inevitably deteriorate.

The pod was delighted to welcome super-sub Gabriel Brown, Analyst at Heavy Reading, who stepped in at the last minute after another guest pulled a sickie. They stated by reviewing a BT network update meeting all three attended that morning, with a lengthy tangent onto a TM Forum AI-themed gathering the day before. They move on to hear about Iain’s trip to Glasgow with Three, before concluding with a look at a deal between Disney and Epic and how it might revive the metaverse.

A last-minute guest cancellation opens the door for Iain and Scott to try some of the weapons-grade beers they were previously too scared to attempt. They decide to tackle 6G first, while they’re still capable, inspired by Iain’s recent dinner with Interdigital. That leads on to a couple of angles concerning the global semiconductor market before they conclude with some recent intrigue involving Meta, DT and the policing of online speech.

The pod was delighted to welcome its first special guest of the year – Charlie Ashton from Napatech. After reviewing his excellent selection of bribes, they get into Napatech’s areas of business, which Scott’s hangover makes him struggles to get his head around. That leads to a more general exploration of the chip sector as it pertains to telecoms before they conclude with a review of Ericsson’s and Nokia’s recent earnings announcements and what they tell us about the state of the sector.

The lads are back on the beers this week after just a single austere episode. They start by analysing the biggest story of the week, which involved a major strategic deal between Vodafone and Microsoft in which the former will lean heavily on the latter’s cloud infrastructure, inevitably including AI cleverness. The move on to discuss Iain’s recent interview with the CTO of Three, before concluding with a look at Apple’s market dominance.

After a month off for the winter break the pod is finally back and incongruously sober. Just as unusual was the presence of major news so early in the year so the lads start by analysing HPE’s mega acquisition of Juniper Networks, and what it means for the telecoms sector. They move on to speculate about the unintended consequences of America’s attempts to suppress Chinese AI development before concluding with a look at the UK Post Office IT scandal.

As has become tradition, the final pod of the year is a Christmas quiz in which special guest Elena Davidson from PR agency Liberty asks Iain and Scott questions based on Telecoms.com stories published over the course of the year. The lads were already three pints in before recording so expect heightened levels of silliness and even wilder tangents than usual. Have a great Christmas and we’ll see you in January.

Iain and Scott have to go remote this week because the trains keep going on strike. They spend most of this shorter pod picking apart the big deal RAN deal announced between Ericsson and AT&T, to see if it’s all it’s cracked up to be. To conclude, they just have time to give similar treatment to BT’s MAUD launch.

Iain and Scott recap the Glotel Awards, explore some of the topics covered in the Future Vision Executive Summit such as the ongoing fair share debate and the state of Open RAN, as well as reflect on the previous pod featuring Denis O’Brien getting written up in the Irish Independent.

This week’s pod guest is so special he even gets his name in the headline. Denis O’Brien is the founder and Chairman if Digicel group as well as being involved in a range of entrepreneurial and philanthropic ventures. They start by getting straight into Denis’s eclectic professional life, which involves a lengthy tangent into the ‘fair contribution’ debate. They then reflect on the corporate soap opera at OpenAI before concluding by reviewing more drama down under.

After a brief hiatus the pod is back and delighted to welcome special guest Claus Hetting, founder of Wi-Fi NOW. Pausing only to raise a glass to Hugh Bicheno, they get straight into exploring the often-overlooked wifi sector, including some important decisions to be made soon about spectrum allocation. They then move on to hear about a recent trip Iain made to Lapland with Nokia before concluding with a review of some contentious developments in US telecoms.

The pod is delighted to welcome special guest Nick Johnson, Head of UKTIN, this week. They start by exploring what UKTIN is all about and what role the state should play in assisting domestic industry. The UK recently hosted a big get-together to discuss the pros and cons of artificial intelligence, so they move on to discuss that, before concluding with a round up of some recent operator news.

This short and sweet episode of the pod was recorded from the show floor of the Network X telecoms trade show. They were delighted to welcome our good friends from CC Group PR, Anais and Chloe, who had a couple of bits of news of their own to share. They start by reviewing some of the highlights of the show, at which the fibre industry had a major presence, before moving on to discuss a new CC Group telecoms industry study, which includes a look at cloud strategies.

An increasingly rare pod with just the two of Iain and Scott this week. They start by reflecting on a big night out with EE, which leads naturally to a discussion of the operator’s bright idea to significantly expand its consumer offering. The other big news of the week was a pair of gloomy updates from Ericsson and Nokia, so they move on to analyse those, before concluding with a look at the latest from the US crusade against the Chinese tech sector.

We are delighted to welcome podcaster, author and former Chief Economist at Spotify Will Page as our special guest this week. We start by looking at how the music streaming app went global with the help of a partnership with a telco. Moving on to Will’s book leads to a broader discussion about economic disruption and the digital economy before assessing the regulatory environment as it affects the technology industries.

We’re delighted to welcome back Telecoms.com Deputy Editor Andrew Wooden to the pod this week. They start by reviewing a few pieces of news that affect the geopolitical arm-wrestle between the US and Chinese spheres of influence. This leads naturally to a discussion on the progress of Open RAN technology and they conclude with a recap of the arguments for and against making some US companies pay a ‘fair contribution’ towards the cost of European networks.

The pod is delighted to welcome back special guest Jennifer Kyriakakis of MATRIXX, who was in town after the Digital Transformation World event. Pausing only to address some robust feedback from someone affiliated to it, they start by reflecting on the show and where it fits into the telecoms mix. The dominant theme this year was AI, so they move on to discuss its implications for the industry, before concluding with a look at Germany’s hardening stance towards Chinese kit vendors.

Despite an early start Scott still managed a cheeky PR lunch before this pod. No guest this week and the lads start by reflecting on the latest Apple launches, including the now customary four iPhones. Spoiler alert: nobody was impressed. That topic naturally leads on to the matter of China, which is rumoured to be placing restrictions on iPhone use, and which apparently continues to find ways around the US tech embargos. They conclude with a look at the latest effort by the UK state to restore some momentum to Open RAN.

The lads have finally stopped mucking about in other countries so the pod returns after its summer break. And who better to welcome them back than the pod’s most frequent guest – telecoms and tech exec Mary Clark? Pausing only to sample some weapon’s grade pale ale Mary brought over from the States, they start by examining the significance of Huawei’s latest smartphone launches. They then move on to ponder the fortunes of the Open RAN market before concluding with a quick analysis of potential leadership changes at the European Commission.

The lads manage to squeeze in a pod between their various summer holidays, principally to enable Scott to document his tan. They start with a look at the state of Japanese internet and telecoms giant Rakuten, which recently lost one of its most important execs. BT, meanwhile, has wasted little time in appointing a new CEO, so they move on to discuss that, before concluding with a look at America’s increasingly self-harming attempts to stop China developing technology.

In the final pod before a summer holiday break, Iain and Scott reflect on a nice dinner with BT that even Producer Pierre got an invite to. It coincided with the news that CEO Philip Jansen will be moving on so the lads start by reviewing some of the speculation around why that happened and who could replace him. They move on to talk about a recent event hosted by analyst firm Omdia that looked at the pros and cons of AI before squeezing in a quick summary of Europe’s digital ID ambitions.

Fresh from a spot of lunch with Red Hat, the lads start by reflecting on a great day out at Wimbledon with Vodafone and some of chats that were had between games. They move on to discuss a new Twitter-like social media platform launched by Facebook-owner Meta, before concluding with a round up of the latest news concerning Chinese tech giant Huawei.

The lads start by anticipating another day out at the tennis that Producer Pierre, who isn’t going, hopes will fall foul of the British weather. They start with their previous tennis enabler Orange, which is the latest operator to abandon an attempt at diversifying its business. Iain then attempts to summarise the strategic partnership announced between Nokia and Red Hat in language Scott can understand, before the latter finishes with some rants about political intrusion in the tech sector.

Another guest-free episode as the industry eases into the summer holiday season. Most of the source material is supplied by Iain this week and they start by reviewing one of his stories reporting on Deutsche Telekom’s attitude to the EU telling operators not to use Huawei kit. They move on to review Nokia’s big summer product launches before concluding with a look at some of the more immediate challenges posed by the artificial intelligence boom.

No guest this week but Scott had to be dragged away from following the first day of the Ashes and the lovely weather to sit in a studio for your loosely telecoms-themed entertainment. The big news of the week was the official announcement of the proposed merger between Vodafone and Three in the UK, so they start with that. They move on to discuss the EU’s increasingly strong position on ‘high risk’ telecoms vendors before concluding with their reflections on a recent event they attended that focused on private networks.

We recorded this on a Tuesday because a little bird told us Charles Miller – CEO of satellite-direct-to-phone company Lynk – was in town and up for some podcast action. Pausing only to reflect on an old-school long lunch with Hyperoptic, we get into the physics, logistics and economics of enabling regular mobile phones to connect directly to satellites. The only other news we had to make time for was the launch of an augmented reality headset by Apple.

After a brief pause the pod is back with a bang, thanks to the presence of special guest, analyst John Strand, who brought an obscene amount of beer with him. John is known for not pulling his punches on telecoms industry hot topics, and is especially strident on the threat posed by Chinese vendors, so they spend much of the time discussing that position, before concluding with a similar treatment of Open RAN.

The absence of a guest resulted in a total loss of conversational discipline this week. A meandering pod touches on the increasingly likely merger of Vodafone and Three in the UK, the semiconductor industry as it affects telecoms and upheaval in the world of digital media. This episode is a must for fans of the stream-of-consciousness ramblings of middle-aged telecoms hacks.

The podcast finally gains legitimacy from the inclusion of a special guest who has a book out. That guest is Professor Sean Ennis and they start by discussing his book – Internet Empire. Sean’s academic focus is competition policy so they move on to some telecoms-specific issues in that area, before concluding with a look at how Malaysia has found itself in the middle of the geopolitical battle of wills between the US and China.

The pod is delighted to welcome back former Chief Network Architect at BT Neil McRae, who starts by telling us about his new job. They move on to talk about 6G, with Scott and Iain having recently attended a conference on the matter, then get a report from Neil on a UK telecoms investment initiative he is part of, and conclude by trying to unravel the intricacies of the latest innovations in the Radio Access Network and why, if at all, we should care.

After a short break the pod returns with special guest Tom Bennett from Freshwave. His company is all about neutral host infrastructure, so they start with a look at that market. Inevitably, Open RAN works its way into the conversation which, in turn provides an opportunity to discuss interesting startup EdgeQ. The situation between the US and China is never far from telecoms chat these days either, and they conclude with a look at how that conflict is ramping further.

It’s the Easter holidays so we had to record this episode over Zoom because Pierre is on his travels. After another AI Armageddon tangent, the guys start by reflecting on a recent UK decision to investigate its public cloud market over competition concerns, which coincides with their broader concerns in this area. They move on to recap a recent visit to Vodafone, at which it showed off its energy-saving efforts, before concluding with a review of some recent corporate shenanigans.

The pod is delighted to welcome back media technology Analyst Ed Barton this week. Following a refreshingly short preamble, they get straight into Ed’s area of expertise, which includes tangents onto video streaming, social media and AI Armageddon. They then reflect on a day out Iain and Scott had with Rakuten Symphony before concluding by reviewing Huawei’s recent annual report.

Scott, Iain and Pierre get some rare quality time together on this week’s guest-free pod. Inevitably the preamble is somewhat protracted but they eventually get on to reviewing the latest news surrounding BT, including some recent media coverage that landed its CEO in hot water. They move on to discuss the implications of a ban in Chinese 5G kit in Germany before concluding with a look at the competitive implications of the vRAN movement.

The podders are delighted to welcome a special guest from Ericsson for the second straight week, celebrated by a couple of laboured analogies from Scott. Christian Leon heads up the networks business in Europe and Latin America, so is a great person to discuss the current state of 5G, especially when it comes to monetisation. That leads naturally onto topics such as 5G hype, network exposure and millimetre-wave.

The guys shot their traditional special podcast from the show floor of Mobile World Congress again this year. Ericsson was kind enough to find them a space to record, so Scott and Iain start by chatting to Peter Linder from that company. Later they bring on Omdia analyst Dario Talmesio and veteran journalist George Malim to hear about their experiences at this year’s show.

The lads a joined by returning special guest, telecoms Analyst Dean Bubley, for this episode recorded early in the hope that people listen to it on their way to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. They start by asking Dean why he’s not a fan of the show, before getting into the major themes those of us who will be attending expect to explore. Scott’s attempts to impose conversational discipline on the pod fail miserably but then again, it is a two-hour flight.

The trains permitted a return to the studio this week, which is just as well since there won’t be one next week because of half-term. Telecoms.com Deputy Editor Andrew Wooden joins the usual suspects to reflect help reflect on visits they made to Vodafone and BT. They then take another look at the latest signs of a shift in EU telecoms M&A policy before concluding with a quick chat about recent developments in AI.

Due to a combination of striking UK trains and the harsh Texan winter, we were forced to conduct this guest episode over Zoom. But that in no way diminished our delight in welcoming returning special guest John Baker of Mavenir. Open RAN being the core of his day job, much of the pod is spent arguing the toss over whether it’s delivering as promised, but they still find time to look at EU telecoms policy and Ofcom over-reach.

The pod is delighted to welcome special guest Rajesh Pankaj, CTO of Interdigital, and they start by asking what exactly his company does. That leads on to a wide-ranging chat about telecoms R&D, patents, standards and, ultimately 6G. They still find time at the end to hear about Scott’s latest piece of self-indulgent writing, in which he tasked himself with a full summary of all the revelations coming from the Twitter files.

We’re delighted to welcome another special guest, Colin Evans from Juniper Networks. In the process of working out exactly what Juniper does, conversation soon turns to a variety of network-related themes, including automation and the mobile edge. Having done a general telecoms deep dive, they conclude with a look at Ericsson’s recant quarterly earnings release and what it might indicate about the broader industry.

The guys finally make it back into the studio and are delighted to be joined by Roslyn Layton of Strand Consult, who is an expert on telecoms public policy. She was in town for an Ofcom consultation on net neutrality, so they start with a deep dive into that topic, including its many definitions and interpretations. An overlapping trending topic is the issue of whether the biggest video content producers should pay a ‘fair contribution’ to the cost of running networks, so they conclude with a discussion of that.

New year, same old train strikes so the first pod of 2023 is another Zoom one, unfortunately. Telecoms.com Deputy Editor Andrew Wooden joins to offer an overview of the major themes from the Consumer Electronics Show. They move on to a couple of Qualcomm announcements from the show before concluding with a look at a major European Open RAN development.

We’re delighted to welcome back special guest Elena Davidson, CEO of Liberty Comms, who had the cunning plan of devising a telecoms quiz to see if Iain and Scott are any good at their jobs. They had to do this one 2020-style, over Zoom, because the trains are on strike, but hopefully it’s still a good listen. See you in the new year!

The team finally manages to get a pod out for the first time in three weeks, which may also be the last of the year thanks to train strikes. Thankfully they are delighted to welcome special guest Phil Siveter, CEO for Nokia UK and Ireland and they start by picking his brains about some of the various technological trends his company has a stake in. The big news story of the week was Vodafone losing its group CEO, so they move on to speculate about who could replace him, before Scott concludes by moaning about the erosion of his digital civil liberties.

No guests this week as the lads record the pod a day early to make time for a big Friday lunch. They start by reviewing Vodafone’s latest quarterly numbers, which seemed to reflect the general economic gloom. Eventually they move on to one of Scott’s pet peeves, state censorship of online speech, before recklessly lurching into the high drama afflicting the cryptocurrency sector right now.

The pod is delighted to welcome back special guest Neil McRae, the departing Chief Architect at BT. They start by asking him why he’s clearing off and what, if anything, that says about BT’s technology strategy. Moving on to recent news, the three of them reflect on the carnage in the big tech jobs market, before concluding with a quickfire question round designed especially for McRae.

The lads return to the studio after their jaunt to Amsterdam but reflect on another trip Iain took since then to Madrid for the Fyuz event. The main topic there was Open RAN so they start by going over what was discussed and what that says about the current state of play with that technology. Quarterly earnings season seemed to offer clues about how things are going with both the metaverse and the public cloud market so they conclude by meandering around those topics. Stay up to date with the most important telecoms stories from around the world with the Telecoms.com daily newsletter. Delivered FREE and direct to your inbox every day: ow.ly/XPA150KWZmO