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.
Nov 27, 2023•2 hr 7 min
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.
Nov 20, 2023•1 hr 53 min
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.
Nov 06, 2023•1 hr 30 min
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.
Oct 30, 2023•47 min
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.
Oct 23, 2023•1 hr 55 min
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.
Oct 16, 2023•1 hr 28 min
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.
Oct 09, 2023•1 hr 40 min
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.
Sep 26, 2023•1 hr 45 min
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 ...
Sep 18, 2023•1 hr 27 min
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 l...
Sep 11, 2023•1 hr 48 min
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.
Aug 14, 2023•1 hr 44 min
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.
Jul 14, 2023•1 hr 47 min
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.
Jul 10, 2023•1 hr 25 min
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.
Jul 03, 2023•2 hr 4 min
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.
Jun 26, 2023•1 hr 51 min
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 foc...
Jun 19, 2023•1 hr 49 min
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.
Jun 07, 2023•1 hr 46 min
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.
May 30, 2023•2 hr 5 min
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.
May 15, 2023•2 hr 3 min
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.
May 09, 2023•1 hr 50 min
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.
May 02, 2023•1 hr 55 min
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.
Apr 24, 2023•2 hr 4 min
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.
Apr 11, 2023•1 hr 47 min
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.
Apr 03, 2023•1 hr 53 min
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.
Mar 27, 2023•1 hr 45 min
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.
Mar 13, 2023•1 hr 33 min
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.
Mar 03, 2023•1 hr 9 min
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.
Feb 24, 2023•1 hr 47 min
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.
Feb 10, 2023•1 hr 45 min
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.
Feb 06, 2023•1 hr 50 min
