The guys are joined by Telecoms.com Deputy Editor Andrew Wooden this week and start by discussing a recent interview of his with the CTO of Ukrainian operator Kyivstar, about the challenges of keeping communications online in a country under invasion. They move on to review the state of play with the big switch to standalone 5G before finishing with a quick look at the latest developments in the Twitter acquisition saga. 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 guys start this week’s pod by reflecting on a meeting with BT that resulted in a Monday night out. The original purpose of it was to offer a network strategy update so they reflect on that before moving on to the Open RAN for the second week running, because that’s where the telecoms action is these days. They conclude with a look at activities on both side of the pond that speak of governments trying to exert more control over online speech. 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 guys finally return from their respective summer breaks, tanned, refreshed and ready to pod. They start by mulling over the renewed interest in the satellite-direct-to-phone sector, catalysed by Elon Musk’s recently stated ambitions in that direction. They follow that with a look at the pros and cons of VMO2 dabbling with Open RAN before concluding by assessing the merits of European calls for big tech to contribute to the cost of telecoms networks. 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

In this final episode before everyone clears off for their summer holidays, the pod is delighted to welcome special guest Mike Ferris – Chief Network Architect of Dense Air. They start by exploring the concept of neutral host infrastructure and how that could provide the solution to a lot of the coverage challenges presented by 5G. That will involve the rollout of a lot of small cells, so they move on to discuss how that is best done, before concluding with a look at the pros and cons of state intervention in telecoms. 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

Pausing only to reflect on some Twitter banter with a former guest, the guys start by reflecting on Ericsson’s latest earnings and the market reaction to them, which they agree seemed a bit harsh. They move on to examine BT’s decision to become a bit less British, at least when it comes to its hiring decisions, before concluding with a look at the new phone launched by supposedly disruptive brand Nothing. 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

No guest but a refurbished studio this week as Iain bravely overcomes the effects of a long sesh the previous day. They start by reflecting on a few recent telecoms cloud stories, including the ongoing partnership between Vodafone and Google, and consider the pros and cons of such things. Italian operator group TIM keeps trying to reinvent itself, so they review that process, before concluding with a look at the latest attempts at digital censorship by the UK state. 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

Following a slight delay to accommodate their hectic social lives, the lads are delighted to once more welcome a special guest - Erlend Prestgard, CEO of Working Group 2. They start by learning all about his company, which seeks to disrupt the network core sector via the ‘as a service’ model. This inevitably leads the conversation towards the role of public cloud giants in the telecoms world, before they conclude with a quick look at some of the supply chain challenges faced by the industry. 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

Our run of special guests continues as we’re delighted to welcome Jarlath Finnegan, CEO of UK fibreco Giganet. Jarlath treated the whole pod team to a selection of Irish whiskies so, before finding out all about Giganet and the UK fibre market they were compelled to have a taste of all of them. They eventually meander onto a recent mobile edge event that Iain attended before concluding with the latest on the chaotic Indian telecoms scene. 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

We are delighted to welcome special guest William Webb back to the pod but decide to start by putting him on the spot over hist historical telecoms predictions, to see how many he got right. Eventually we give him a break and move on to news Vodafone snuck under the radar about spinning off its IoT unit, before reviewing Huawei’s latest attempt at reconciliation with the West. 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 guys are delighted to welcome special guest Dario Talmesio back to the pod. Dario is research director for service provider strategy at Omdia, which means he knows a lot about the mobile business, so they start by reviewing the current state of play with 5G. Before long they meander onto other telecoms industry talking points, before concluding by hearing about Iain’s chat with Nokia’s head of mobile networks. 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