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.

MWC 2024 preview special

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.

MWC 24 show floor special

The pod is delighted to welcome special guest Rafael De Fermin, SVP of the Nokia Networks Infrastructure business in Europe. They start by exploring exactly what Rafa’s bit of the company does, which leads to a broader discussion of the fixed-line world, on which mobile technology is increasingly reliant. They eventually move on to chat about trade shows, including the recent MWC and the surprisingly big LEAP, before concluding with a quick look at Apple’s battle of wills with the EU.

Nokia, fibre and trade shows

Policy expert and former FCC official Blair Levin joins the podcast to discuss changes on the horizon for BEAD, spectrum policy, US broadband strategy, USF reform and much more amid the new Trump administration and a new FCC.

Release date: 2/14/2025

Show notes: https://www.lightreading.com/regulatory-politics/blair-levin-on-what-s-next-for-bead-spectrum-policy-and-the-new-fcc

Blair Levin on what's next for BEAD, spectrum policy and the new FCC

Only Scott and Iain were around this week so they decided to look back on the year in telecoms over a few beers. The main story was 5G, of course, and they discuss whether or not it was worth the wait. Either way it has fast become a political football, so they spend the second half of the pod reflecting on the effect politics had on the telecoms industry in 2019.

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The year in review

Please see our new podcast page below for the latest info, show notes and more.

Blair Levin on what's next for BEAD, spectrum policy and the new FCC

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