The pod returns after for Scott to go galivanting around France. They start by recapping that trip, along with some of the political developments that took place since the last pod, before discussing the nature and implications of Germany’s apparent ban on Huawei kit. Since he has been doing most of the work, they move on to explore a couple of stories Iain wrote around Open RAN, before concluding with a look at how little you have to pay for a new phone these days.

Huawei, Open RAN and cheap smartphones

The lads were delighted to welcome Harry Rippon of UK communications regulator Ofcom to the pod this week. They start by exploring the increasing number of roles Ofcom has in the UK comms market, touching on pricing and spectrum, before an inevitable Scott rant about censorship. That only leaves time for one more segment, in which Iain reflects on his attendance of the Fyuz event, as which Open RAN’s state or progress was a major theme.

Ofcom, regulation and Fyuz

Just Iain and Scott this week as they record ahead of the Glotel Awards evening. Pausing only to reflect on Iain’s hangover they start by discussing claims that T-Mobile US may be on the verge of ditching Nokia as a RAN vendor, which largely revolve around the pros and cons of using fans to keep things cool. They eventually move on to a story Iain wrote examining US vendor Mavenir’s struggles with 5G, before moving on to Scott’s pet topic of how geopolitics impacts the telecoms sector.

Nokia, Mavenir and geopolitics

Just Iain and Scott this time after their guest-athon last week. They start by reflecting on a great lunch the two of them had with Nokia and UK AI data centre startup Nscale. The latter is deemed worthy of an entire segment as it sits in one of the most hyped and fast-growing segments of the market. They eventually move on to the contrasting Open RAN market, which is going through a rocky time, before concluding with a look at one of the reasons for that – slowing mobile data growth.

Nscale, Open RAN and mobile data

Iain and Scott are forced to do the first pod of the year over Zoom because their office was broken. Pausing only to reflect on Christmas and the misery glory of sobriety, they start by reflecting on a busy start to the year for the US versus China cold war, with Huawei playing a central part as ever. The lads then settle back immediately into their respective pet topics, with Iain having written comprehensively on Open RAN and Meta giving Scott an excuse to bang on about censorship.

Huawei, Open RAN and Meta

Producer Pierre wasn’t well this week, so we were forced to speak to special guest Neil McRae of Juniper Networks over Zoom. Broadcasting from his pinball den, Neil offered an update on his company before reflecting on the recent MWC trade show. They covered a lot of hot mobile topics, including private 5G vs wifi, but definitely not 6G. That eventually led to speculation about whether 6G will ever be a big deal, before concluding with a look at a buzzword that has already lost its lustre – Open RAN.

Juniper Networks, 6G and Open RAN

This second pod of the week was recorded after the lads had been out for a few the previous evening. In the absence of a guest, Iain and Scott indulge themselves by reflecting on a conversation they had about AI after a few beers. They eventually move on to the big story of the week – Nokia’s quarterly numbers – and use that as the catalyst for a broader discussion of the Finnish kit vendor. The chat is rounded off by reflections on the Open RAN market and America’s rapidly evolving with the rest of the world.

Nokia, Open RAN and USA

This episode was recorded from the show floor of the Digital Transformation World 2025 event with special guest Analyst John Strand. Pausing only to review the Danish beer selection John provided, they get straight into a review of the show. Many familiar themes were covered once more, with AI providing much of the novelty, so the guys ponder how much progress is being made. They eventually move on to discuss recent news from US vendor Mavenir and what that may tell us about the industry, before reflecting on the US President’s involvement in a new MVNO.

DTW, Mavenir and Trump phone

6G, Open RAN and Google Cloud

One more summer bonus episode that will also be the last for two weeks as, ironically, Iain and Scott are off on their travels. The main focus this week is the $23 billion sale of spectrum by US telco EchoStar to its larger rival AT&T. The move begs all sorts of related questions, which the lads have a proper dig into. They eventually move on to Iain’s recent reporting on Huawei and its persistent presence in Europe, before concluding with some of Scott’s coverage of the UK’s attempts to police the internet, which are increasingly upsetting the US.

EchoStar, Huawei and UK vs US

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 #Open RAN