In this episode, the hosts tackle 6G technology and the global semiconductor market. They also discuss recent intrigue involving Meta, DT, and the policing of online speech. Plus, they try some weapons-grade beers after a last-minute guest cancellation. Entertaining banter and insightful discussions await!

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.

Discussion on Vodafone's strategic cloud deal with Microsoft for AI, Three's cloud infrastructure transition, and Apple's market dominance in recent podcast

The podcast discusses HPE's acquisition of Juniper Networks and its impact on the telecom sector. They speculate on America's efforts to suppress Chinese AI, debate Huawei's Ascend 910B chip, and unravel the UK Post Office IT scandal. Topics also include mRNA vaccines, cloud industry competition, and future guest plans.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Exploring wifi sector decisions, Lapland trip with Nokia, contentious US telecoms developments

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.