Telecoms.com Podcast

The conversation dives into Nokia's staggering 70% profit decline and the impact of tariffs on their business. There’s a humorous yet insightful reflection on AI's role in journalism and creativity, raising concerns about authenticity. As the Open RAN market evolves, discussions touch on its challenges and skepticism amid shifting corporate strategies. Finally, geopolitical tensions, particularly regarding the EU's scrutiny of American tech giants, add another layer to the unfolding narrative in the telecom landscape.

Dag Peak, the Chief Product and Chief Technology Officer at Alianza, joins the discussion about enhancing human connectivity in the telecom industry. They explore the evolving telecommunications landscape, emphasizing the shift to cloud-based solutions and the impact of vendor consolidation. The conversation touches on AI's dual potential to both innovate and complicate telecom services, as well as the competitive challenges facing traditional companies against disruptive OTT services. They also dissect the implications of U.S. state pressures on corporate strategies, particularly in the tech sector.

In a lively discussion, the hosts tackle the ramifications of U.S. trade tariffs, comparing them to historic protectionist policies and exploring their impact on the telecom sector. Huawei's surprising growth amid geopolitical strife ignites debate, while the pros and cons of virtual RAN technologies reveal their transformative potential. The conversation flows into the complexities of global supply chains and corporate strategies in a shifting landscape, highlighting emerging partnerships and tech market trends.

Neil McRae of Juniper Networks, a telecom expert, discusses the highlights from the recent MWC trade show. He dives into the ongoing debate between private 5G and Wi-Fi, and speculates on whether 6G will ever make a significant impact. The conversation touches on Open RAN, examining its challenges and the diminished excitement surrounding the term. With a mix of industry insights and a pinch of humor from his pinball den, McRae explores how innovation continues to evolve in the telecom space.

The guys came straight from an early lunch to welcome the pod’s first ever lawyer – David Hunt – as their special guest. David specialises in the interface between companies and governments, so the conversation covered a wide range of topics, covering all parts of the globe. The US, Europe, and China inevitably featured strongly as the implications of recent developments on global trade were also explored, before they concluded with an analysis of Nvidia’s attempts to get into telecoms.

The lads have one more assessment of the recent Mobile World Congress trade show, this time with the benefits of hindsight and special guest, analyst John Strand. Geopolitics, along with AI, dominated the chat at this year’s show, so they discuss as much of that at telecoms purist Iain can tolerate, before moving on to more sector-specific stuff. They conclude by examining the news that some EU officials are being investigated on suspicion of receiving bribes from Chinese vendor Huawei.

Join Paolo Pescatore, a telecom analyst, Danielle Rios, CEO of Totogi, and Sylwia Kechiche from Opensignal as they dive into the dynamic world of telecom at MWC. They share amusing anecdotes from the conference while unpacking the transition of telecom towards cloud solutions and AI. The discussion veers into the implications of satellite services like Starlink, the transformative role of AI, and the current state of 5G networks. With a cocktail of insightful commentary and a dash of chaos, this gathering is anything but ordinary!

The pod is delighted to welcome back special guest, analyst Dean Bubley, for his now traditional preview of an event he prefers not to attend. They tackle the likely themes of Mobile World Congress 2025 and you don’t need to be Nostradamus to know AI will dominate. But what does that mean? The guys take the time to pick it apart and sort the wheat from the chaff. The other main themes covered are 5/6G, network APIs and geopolitics and this is published early to get you in the mood ahead of next week’s event.

The guys are delighted to welcome Pablo Tomasi of analyst firm Omdia this week, whose appearance is so well timed as to create the impression of planning. All three of them attended Ericsson’s big pre-MWC media and analyst presentation in London, so they start off by reviewing that, specifically Ericsson’s bets on the future of the mobile industry and the likelihood of them paying off. That leads to conversation about enterprise telecoms in general, before they conclude with a robust debate about the implications of Nokia’s new CEO appointment.

Just the core crew again this week as they brave the foul weather to bring you your weekly fix of telecoms banter. Chinese vendor Huawei snuck out a singly financial data point last week but Ian and Scott still managed to bang on about it, and the inevitable tangents, for an hour or so. They eventually moved on to look at the current state of US chip firm Intel before briefly questioning Google’s principles when it comes to AI.