The guys were delighted to welcome special guest Brandon Larson of Mavenir to this last pod before a brief break. It doesn’t take long for AI to make an appearance in the conversation, but that’s fair enough because it’s a big part of Brandon’s day job. They focus on what AI means for telcos, but there are inevitable tangents in the direction of assessing the utopian vs dystopian implications of the technology. They eventually move on to discuss BT’s latest quarterly announcement before concluding with a quick look at stories concerning OpenAI and Malaysia.

Mavenir, AI and BT

The guys were delighted to welcome special guest Juliette Scott from Openreach, following their half-term break. Openreach is the UK’s biggest wholesaler of telecoms infrastructure, including all the legacy stuff, and Juliette is one of the people responsible for migration from old to new. So they start by talking about that, as well as the broader UK fixed line telecoms environment. They eventually move on to acknowledge the completion of the merger between UK MNOs Vodafone and Three, before concluding with a spot of light AI doom-mongering.

Openreach, Threedafone and AI

A brief selection of tracks you can expect to hear at my residency on a Wednesday Night at Fibre Leeds

Fibre Wednesdays Mixtape

Episode overview:
Andrew Hall faces a unique challenge: building profitable telecommunications infrastructure across one of Africa's largest countries with one of its smallest populations. As managing director of Paratus Namibia, Hall oversees operations spanning vast distances where traditional business models struggle to pencil out.

Andile Masuku invites Hall to share on the realities of building networks where "you'll see three fibres running next to the road" instead of shared infrastructure, why COVID accelerated their consumer business, and how recent oil discoveries are reshaping Namibia's economic landscape.

Key insights:
- On geographic challenges: Namibia's vast distances and sparse population create unique infrastructure economics where covering remote areas requires careful return-on-investment calculations across extended payback periods.
- On competitive landscape: Operating alongside two state-owned enterprises creates complex market dynamics where regulatory considerations and different organisational mandates influence infrastructure deployment strategies.
- On infrastructure sharing: Despite logical benefits, competitive dynamics often result in duplicated infrastructure: "three towers standing next to each other" rather than collaborative deployment approaches.
- On consumer versus enterprise: Traditional enterprise focus (75% of business) provided stability, but consumer growth since 2016 now drives expansion, particularly accelerated during COVID-19 periods.
- On technology transitions: Moving from WiMAX limitations (4-10 Mbps) to fibre required strategic timing; balancing asset sweating against customer retention as bandwidth demands increased around 2018.

Notable moments:
1. Hall's description of infrastructure redundancy: "If you drive down the road, you'll see three fibres running next to the road. If you're driving from one town to the other, you'll see two or three towers standing next to each other"
2. The COVID-19 catalyst: Consumer business performed "very, very well" as people became "100% reliant, work-wise, education-wise, entertainment-wise on connectivity"
3. Recent oil discoveries creating positive economic outlook with increased foreign investment interest and improved business confidence

The development question:
Hall addresses the expectation that telecoms should "unlock growth economically for an entire nation" by emphasising education as the foundation. Paratus's corporate social responsibility focuses on educational sector connectivity because "for children to have access to the internet, it makes the world a lot smaller."

His perspective reflects broader African infrastructure challenges: balancing commercial sustainability with development impact, managing investor expectations whilst serving diverse stakeholder needs, and building institutional capacity in environments with limited technical specialisation.

"I think access to the internet plays a crucial role. And I think it starts at grass root level in the form of education... for children to have access to the internet, it makes the world a lot smaller."

Image credit: Paratus Namibia

Andrew Hall of Paratus Namibia: Building Networks Serving Small Populations Across Vast Distances

The lads are back in the studio and delighted to welcome back Ronan Kelly of All Points Fibre Network. APFN is a UK wholesale fibre provider, so they start by finding out more about the company and how it fits into the broader market. Discussion turns to the broader economics of fibre and the UK’s very competitive environment before they eventually turn to the perennial topic of ‘fair share’ contributions to network costs by US Big Tech and conclude with a Scott rant about the Online Safety Act.

APFN, fair share and online safety

Cut from East End Dubs set with Max Dean at Fibre

Max Dean East End Dubs Unreleased

🚨 VIP Booty — heavy hitter for the real club kids. Play it LOUD. 🔊🔥

Chain Of Fools (Tom Frost VIP Booty)

It’s double Nokia this week as our guest is from that company and the lads were also Nokia’s guests in Finland recently. Special guest Bjorn Capens is from Belgium and he brought over a selection of beers typical to that country. So they start by going though those before getting into Bjorn’s day job at Nokia, which focuses on fixed broadband networks, covering the history of broadband and the latest fixed network technology developments and market trends. They eventually get on to Iain and Scott’s visit to Oulu in northern Finland, where Nokia has just opened an impressive new wireless technology campus, before briefly reflecting on Oracle’s impressive recent earnings.

Nokia, Nokia and Oracle

Bar Fibre DJ competition mix 2025

The lads are delighted to welcome back special guest Lee Myall of Neos Networks. Pausing only to reflect on the recent Network X trade show, they get straight into discussing the UK fibre connectivity sector, in which Neos is a provider of backbone infrastructure. The conversation includes an analysis of the impact the booming AI and data centre markets are having on that space. They eventually move on to review Vodafone’s recent RAN tender announcements before concluding with a look at Ericsson’s latest quarterly earnings report.

Neos Networks,  Vodafone and Ericsson

Africa-focused technology, digital and innovation ecosystem insight and commentary.

Tom Frost & Half of Foxx & Frost

Bandcamp Link -> https://atom36.bandcamp.com

Residing in the North of England and having been under several alias's Tom has been on the DJ scene for over a decade and been blessed to play at some incredible venues and events over that time. 

Taking the plunge and becoming a full time DJ has given Tom more time into producing his own music. Music that has been widely well received. Releasing tracks on labels such as Enormous Tunes/Chills, No Definition and Let There Be House to name a few and finding support from big such artists as Nora En Pure & Friend Within.

Once a week we get together in a studio somewhere in London to take the piss out of telecoms and technology for an hour or so.

New tracks tagged #FIBRE