Telecoms.com Podcast

This week only Scott and Jamie managed to make it into the studio after the long-weekend of chocolate, countryside walks and beer. This week sees the end of the 5G auction with the guys wondering why Ofcom feels it can charge so much, Facebook just continues to offer easy pickings for the technology journalists of the world and we finish off with a look at how to do M&A correctly… 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

Scott and Jamie are joined by Ray from Light Reading and go straight into the big story of the week: Cambridge Analytica. The guys more or less agree that it’s ultimately all about how little control we have over our personal data and wonder what can be done about it. More importantly they also speculate about which Star Wars characters they are. Ray steers conversation onto 5G for a change and stresses that it’s all very well banging on about clever radio technology, but unless you deal with the unsexy stuff none of it is going to happen. Finally Jamie manages to find a window in his cryptocurrency trading schedule to tell us about his chat with Vodafone’s UK CEO, who was refreshingly honest about the challenges he faces. 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

The usual suspects start by discussing an Ericsson interview Scott did at MWC but soon go off onto a random tangent about devices, about which Jamie claims to be indifferent despite being umbilically attached to his. Inevitable comparisons with Nokia ensue and they speculate about who is doing better. They both need to catch up with Huawei and they will probably be helped in that aim by Donald Trump, who seems determined to make it as difficult as possible for China to do business with the US, and Iain wonders why. They conclude with a look at the smart home market and dare to dream about the potential wonders of a smart pub. 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

Iain, Jamie and Scott move on from the rigours of MWC by reflecting on some of the conversations they had in Barcelona about how much progress we have made with NFV. The answer seems to vary wildly according to who you speak to and it seems clear that industry consensus remains elusive. Jamie then talks us through some of the highlights of the next version of Android, including a new indoor location technology, which leads to conversational tangents including Bluetooth and the MWC smartphone app. Scott concludes by reviewing the many positive messages he heard at the Women4Tech series of talks and discussions at the end of MWC, and notes how good it would be to have more female voices on the pod itself. 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

Such is our devotion to podcasting that we even did one from the MWC show floor in Barcelona. Scott and Jamie were joined by Dan Jones from Light Reading and Ed Barton from Ovum. They started with a look at the state of the megatrends that are 5G and IoT, with Scott reckoning talk around them got a lot more focused this year but some of the other guys were not so sure. Jamie has been focusing on artificial intelligence at the show, Dan has been all over the latest smartphone launches and Ed was intrigued by some of the latest moves concerning digital entertainment on mobile. We have pulled out all the stops to get this out to you in time for your flights home, so try to find some wifi and get downloading. 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

With the biggest telecoms event of the year just around the corner Scott, Jamie and Iain bring you this special preview of Mobile World Congress 2018 for you to download and listen to on the plane. Scott starts with the obvious stuff – the big buzzwords that are 5G and IoT. The level of 5G fervour will hit fever pitch but how many solid business cases will there be for the new wireless generation? The same goes for IoT, which promises much-needed diversification for operators but who’s buying. Jamie thinks artificial intelligence is no less important a tech trend as it will underpin everything else but, inevitably, the lads express concern about machines talking over the world. Iain concludes by asking if we’ve hit peak MWC and wonders how long the sprawling show can keep growing. 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

This week’s pod had to battle the odds to take place at all, with Jamie and Iain both on holiday and Telecoms Towers undergoing refurbishment, but Ray from Light Reading found a window in his hectic schedule to keep Scott company. First we heard about Ray’s trip to sunny Valencia to learn all about the state of European fibre. He expressed frustration at the apparent lack of urgency in building fibre to the building as it’s as important piece of infrastructure as any and the potential returns on investment are considerable. Then Scott explores a move that definitely hasn’t yielded any ROI as Nokia looks to move out of the digital health business only a couple of years after buying Withings for its expertise in that area. They finish with a reminder to make sure you download our MWC 2018 preview special before you fly out to Barcelona. 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

Scott and Jamie are joined by special guest Paul Nolan from PR agency CC Group, who tells us about a bit of research his company commissioned into how operators are going about the macro trend that is digital transformation and what vendors are doing to help them. Spoiler alert – it’s complicated. Scott tells us about his week in San Diego with Qualcomm, hearing all about the wonders of 5G and definitely not talking about all the other dramas Qualcomm is currently involved in. Lastly Jamie expresses his surprise that Twitter has managed to make a profit for once and can’t resist flirting with Scott. 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

This week, Scott and Jamie welcome back Iain ‘sicknote’ Morris to get knee-deep in the barrage of quarterly financials. In the UK, BT has wobbly through the three months like a bland jelly, Nokia and Ericsson contemplate life in the spending drought, while the technology giants suck up profits like a demonic Henry the Hoover. We also have a go at guessing what Apple might spent the billions it has stashed away in the bank… 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

Iain called a sickie this week so we drafted in Trystan, otherwise known as the man in the street, to give us a different perspective on all the stuff we bang on about. Jamie kicks things off with a look at increasing calls for transparency and what this says about the breakdown of trust, but they soon go off on a general social media tangent. Scott eventually moves things along to the US/China tensions and what this might mean for big US chip players, but slips in an Orange content tangent. They conclude with a quick trip to Amazon Go, which is using mobile technology to make the retail cashier redundant. 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