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.

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Open RAN, metaverse and public cloud

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.

Threedafone, Threads and Huawei

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.

Huawei, Open RAN and Europe

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.

DTW 2023, AI, and China

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.

China, Open RAN, and fair contribution

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.

Spotify, digital economy and regulation

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.

EE, Ericsson/Nokia and US vs China

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.

Network X, fibre and cloud

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.

UKTIN, AI and operators

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.

Wifi, Nokia and US broadband

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.

Denis O’Brien, OpenAI and Australia

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.

Future Vision, fair share and Open RAN

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.

The Telecoms.com Podcast: Ericsson, AT&T and BT

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.

Christmas quiz special

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.

HPE, AI and the Post Office

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.

Cloud, Vodafone and Apple

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.

Napatech, chips and telco blues

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.

6G, chips and Meta

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.

BT, Three and metaverse

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.

Regulation, 5G and enshittification

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

No guest this week so you get a looser version of the podders, including some extra fruity language.

Vodafone, Open RAN and digital control

The pod was delighted to welcome its first ever special guest from Microsoft – Shawn Hakl VP of 5G Strategy. They start by asking for an overview of what Microsoft’s interest is in the telecoms sector these days, which has increased significantly in recent years. That leads naturally to a review of the role the public cloud plays for operators, before they conclude by asking Shawn about the 5G part of his job title.

Microsoft, public cloud and 5G

The pod is delighted to welcome special guest Alex Lawrence, Editor of 6G World, for this week’s episode. Unsurprisingly, the spend the first half of the recording discussing 6G, including what it might be and whether or not we should even bother with it. Since 6G’s success may be determined a more helpful regulatory environment, they move on to the topic of telecoms regulation, before concluding with a review of Ericsson’s recent news.

6G, regulation and Ericsson

Iain and Scott are forced to do this pod over Zoom due to producer Pierre selfishly taking an Easter holiday. The main theme of their conversation is Huawei’s recently announced 2023 financials, which seem a lot more healthy than any of their Western equivalents. That leads naturally to an examination of how effective US sanctions against Huawei and China have been, before they conclude with a broader look at the geopolitical environment that is behind all these shenanigans.

Huawei, China and geopolitics

The pod is delighted to welcome back special guest Neil McRae, Chief Network Strategist at Juniper Networks. The main theme of the chat was derived from recent quarterly earnings announcements by Ericsson and Nokia, which were very similar as they’re both suffering through what could be described as a telecoms recession. There also were plenty of networking tangents, including some DIY stories from Neil.

Quarterly earnings, networks and telecoms recession

The pod is delighted to welcome special guest Igor Leprince, CEO of Boldyn Networks, to this week’s episode. After lamenting the Scott’s roaming experience in Venice, they start with an introduction to Boldyn and where it fits into the broader telecoms mix. That leads natural to an exploration of the neutral host market in general before they conclude with an analysis of America’s decision to reintroduce net neutrality rules.

Boldyn, neutral host and net neutrality

Iain and Scott start this week by looking at how the increasingly politicised US telecoms regulator, the FCC, will be affected by the change in government. As if to show it’s no less inclined to politicise telecoms, European operators joined forces to plead for state assistance with OpenRAN, which the guys discuss next, before concluding with a look at recent mobile spectrum auctions.

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: http://ow.ly/XPA150KWZmO

FCC, OpenRAN and spectrum auctions

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.

The Telecoms.com Podcast

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