Telco in 20

Startup MVNO MobileX is going after the US market with the belief that most mobile subscribers don’t know how much data they need. Instead of pushing unlimited plans, the company offers an AI-based tool that analyzes each subscriber’s usage and creates personalized plans for them. I spoke with MobileX CEO Peter Adderton last year, and now he’s spilling the beans on what’s been happening with MobileX, its plans for 2024, and the company’s exciting new deal with Walmart. Listen now to hear:    How MobileX's AI-based data forecaster tool debunks the idea that consumers understand their data needs [02:18];Strategies for using two SIMs, a primary and secondary, to lower costs while maintaining coverage [06:20];The impact of MobileX's new agreement with Walmart [10:04];What’s next for the company’s technology and marketing [12:35].Links and ResourcesVisit the MobileX website to learn more about the company.Listen to my conversation with Peter in 2023 in Telco in 20 episode 58, Live and Learn: A new MVNO approach with Peter Adderton.Learn about Totogi’s PlanAI product—and how to get your hands on our ML model that can predict churn 6 weeks in advance!Follow @peter_adderton on X—he’s a great person to follow and is constantly dropping great insights about how to build a great MVNO.The best part about following Peter? When he shares his real life-struggles with building MobileX or his wins with how people are swapping to MobileX.Learn more about the upcoming MVNO Summit at Mobile World Congress 2024. Totogi is a Platinum sponsor, along with Amdocs (of all companies—can you believe it?). Let’s meet while we’re there!Peter and I have strong opinions on whether or not mobile phones should be allowed in schools. Check out these letters to the New York Times on school cell phone bans:Should Schools Ban Cellphones?When Students’ Cellphones ‘Colonize Their MindsLast year, Peter and US Mobile CEO Ahmed Khattak exchanged words after their Telco in 20 episodes ran. They have different views about whether consumers know how much data they use, and they took their disagreement to Twitter. It reminds me of the Netflix show Beef, which just won a bunch of Golden Globes and Emmys!Check out this episode on our YouTube channel.You can find the transcript for this episode here.Wanna talk public cloud? Telco execs, set up a meeting with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value it can bring.Follow DRHave an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us knowFollow Telco in 20 on Twitter @TelcoIn20Follow DR on Twitter @TelcoDRThe Telco in 20 podcast won a 2022 Platinum MarComm Award, a 2022 Gold Hermes Award, and was recognized as a Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.  If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a short review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!This week’s guestAbout Peter AddertonPeter Adderton is founder and CEO of MobileX, a wireless brand positioned to disrupt the wireless industry. He is the driving force behind two of the most successful youth brands established in the mobile industry—Boost Mobile and Amp’d Mobile. Peter catapulted the Boost brand to become one of the fastest growing wireless brands in its category in all markets with annual revenues over $500M and more than five million subscribers.Podcast CreditsExecutive Producer and Host: Danielle Rios Royston, TelcoDRSenior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo MediaEditor/Marketing: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard MarketingEditing: Andrew CondellAssociate Producer: Kriselda DionisioMusic: Dyami Wilson Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s been a year since the GSMA announced its Open Gateway initiative and the telco industry is working to figure out how to monetize network APIs to their full advantage. For this episode, I talk with McKinsey & Company Partner Ferry Grijpink about the API economy and what operators need to do to capture revenue and build their strategic position. Listen now to hear: Ferry’s advice for telecoms that want to monetize network APIs [03:18];How telcos can leverage established relationships with enterprise customers to attract developers [06:58]; Ferry’s opinion on whether it’s important for telcos to own the developer relationship [09:22]; andThe importance of developing valuable use cases for network APIs to accelerate their adoption [13:22].Links and ResourcesCheck out these resources from McKinsey & Company:Navigating the three horizons of 5G business buildingWhat separates B2B GTM outperformers in tech and telecomRead more about Whoosh! and sign up for a meeting and demo at MWC24.Read more about the GSMA’s Open Gateway initiative and its DevCon event at MWC24 on February 28.Three Brazilian operators—Claro, TIM, and Vivo—just joined Open Gateway, bringing the total to nearly 40 operators on the Open Gateway train. In this video, Ross Ortega, VP product management at Microsoft Azure, weighs in on Open Gateway, Azure Programmable Connectivity Architecture, and the future of network APIsIf you build it, they will come worked in the movie Field of Dreams, but I’m not sure it’s going to work for Network APIs. Not even if you had it to Azure and leverage their developer ecosystem. I think for this one, telcos, you’re going to have to do some work.Ferry is a return guest on the Telco in 20 podcast. Don’t miss our conversation in episode 45, Drumming up ways to increase ARPU with McKinsey. I *still* owe him dinner for disrupting his talk! Maybe I’ll catch him in Barcelona.A rare Ferry and DR sighting in the wild! I got the chance to meet Ferry in person for the first time a few months ago at TM Forum in Copenhagen.You can find the transcript for this episode here.Wanna talk public cloud? Telco execs, set up a meeting with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value it can bring.Follow DRHave an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us knowFollow Telco in 20 on X @TelcoIn20Follow DR on X @TelcoDRThe Telco in 20 podcast won 2023 and 2022 MarCom Awards, a 2022 Hermes Award, and was recognized as a Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.  If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a short review? It takes seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!This week’s guestAbout Ferry GrijpinkFerry leads the McKinsey Center for Advanced Connectivity within McKinsey & Company’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications Practice, and advises telecommunications companies on strategy, marketing, and operations, including mobile operators that are launching adjacent businesses in areas such as mobile health and money services. He also co-leads McKinsey’s research on deploying and commercializing next-generation infrastructures, such as fiber, mobile broadband, and 5G networks.Podcast CreditsExecutive Producer and Host: Danielle Royston, TelcoDRSenior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo MediaEditor/Marketing: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard MarketingEditing: Andrew CondellAssociate Producer: Kriselda DionisioMusic: Dyami Wilson Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

BT Group started its journey to the public cloud years ago, which has put the company in a strong position to take advantage of the strategic capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI). For this episode, I talk with Josie Smith, chief architect, digital, at BT Group, about the company's efforts to reduce its applications from thousands to hundreds, bring AI into the organization, and drive monumental change across its employee base. Listen now to hear:How BT Group’s transformation program, Simplify, is poised save the company £3 billion by 2025 [02:53]; The details of its massive effort to slash technical debt and increase agility [05:29];How BT Group’s workforce is responding to its digital transformation [08:57]; andWhat the company is doing to unleash AI’s potential [12:24];Links and ResourcesLearn more about BT Group.Check out this Light Reading article, BT eyes 100% shift to public cloud, not “pretend mist” of private, by Iain Morris.Another great read is Raconteur’s piece featuring BT Group’s chief digital and innovation officer, Harmeen Mehta, who isn’t afraid to call out industry’s fear as a roadblock to innovation and growth. AI productivity improvements are real. Journalists like to sensationalize job cuts but if you’re worried about your job being affected by AI, I have one piece of advice: learn AI and be the best at it. Companies need leaders and contributors who know how to transform work with AI.Josie is such a Star Trek fan that she actually walked down the aisle to the theme song from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Check it out! I like Star Trek, but I’m more of a Star Wars fan. My favorite Yoda quote? “Do, or do not. There is no try.” Watch the famous clip from the Empire Strikes Back. You can find the transcript for this episode here.Wanna talk public cloud? Telco execs, set up a meeting with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value it can bring.Follow DRHave an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us knowFollow Telco in 20 on Twitter @TelcoIn20Follow DR on X @TelcoDRThe Telco in 20 podcast won a 2023 MarCom Award, a 2022 Hermes Award, and was recognized as a Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.  If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a short review? It takes seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!This week’s guestAbout Josie SmithJosie Smith is leading and driving the re-architecture of BT Group’s digital landscape from 2400 applications down to 500, taking BT Group from a telco to a techco, and from monolithic to modular, agile, and flexible. She is guiding a future for BT Group that connects for good and creates an exceptional experience for customers. Josie is a leader who engages with energy, creativity and fun, and a pioneer of outcome-based approaches as a method of truly linking strategy and execution at pace. She is an ambassador for women in tech/engineering and advocates for inspirational learning in the sciences across all ages to increase diversity within the STEM industries. Podcast CreditsExecutive Producer and Host: Danielle Royston, TelcoDRSenior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo MediaEditor/Marketing: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard MarketingEditing: Andrew CondellAssociate Producer: Kriselda DionisioMusic: Dyami Wilson Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s time to announce our top episode of 2023! It’s been an incredible journey for the Telco in 20 podcast—now clocking in with well over 100,000 total listens. We’ve had some great guests this year, like Mats Granryd from the GSMA, McKinsey & Company Partner Ferry Grijpink, and Microsoft’s Rick Lievano. There were tons of popular episodes, which made it a race to the finish line to name our Best of 2023. In the end, none topped my conversation with Mobi CEO Justen Burdette. He joined me in April to talk about the Hawaiian MVNO’s public-cloud-native mobile core, its collaboration with Working Group Two, and the benefits of embracing the public cloud. Listen now to hear: What makes Mobi unique from traditional MVNOs [3:51];How having its own mobile core benefits its customers [08:03];Why having a cloud-first mindset changes the game [12:25]; andWhat makes Working Group Two's APIs so powerful [14:59].Links and ResourcesWhat does it take to be a top 10% podcast? Or even a top 1%? Top 10% podcasts get 50,000 listens per year, while the top 1% get more than 2 million! In 2023, the Telco in 20 podcast moved into the top 5% in annual listens. Yay!Telco in 20 has now turned in 81 episodes. Eighty-one! I still remember recording the first one with Jim Abolt. I never dreamed I’d make it to 81! Did you know that only 50% of podcasts make it past episode 25? For 2024, we’ll pass 100! Yikes!Wanna know what our top episodes of the year were? Including Justen’s episode, these were the other top episodes pulling in a combined 19,000+ listens:Ep 62 - Running your network on the public cloud with Juniper NetworksEp 71 - Save bookoo bucks with CloudFixEp 76 - Into the Nexus of GenAI with MicrosoftEp 77 - Why do subscribers churn: network coverage or price?Visit the Mobi website.Learn more about Mobi’s work with Working Group Two.Justen talked about the beauty of APIs—learn more about Totogi’s Churn Prediction Service, Charging as a Service, and Whoosh!Read about Mobi’s deal with T-Mobile US to expand into the continental US 5G marketYou can find the transcript of this episode here.Listen to this conversation on our TelcoDR YouTube channel.Wanna talk public cloud? Telco execs, set up a meeting with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value it can bring.Follow DRHave an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us knowFollow Telco in 20 on Twitter @TelcoIn20Follow DR on X @TelcoDRThe Telco in 20 podcast won 2023 and 2022 MarCom Awards, a 2022 Hermes Award, and was recognized as a Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.  If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a short review? It takes seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!This week’s guestAbout Justen BurdetteJusten Burdette serves as the chief executive officer for Mobi, the regional wireless provider for Hawaiʻi. He previously served as vice president of products at Tucows, where he helped lead the growth of its Ting Mobile wireless brand to over $90 million in annual revenue before its acquisition by Dish (Nasdaq: DISH), at the time making it the fifth largest independent MVNO in the country including its Ting IoT business. He also led the launch of its Ting Internet fiber-to-the-home ISP in several regional markets, and helped manage the development of its in-house CRM, BSS, and OSS platform, which has since become a standalone SaaS startup, Wavelo.Podcast CreditsExecutive Producer and Host: Danielle Royston, TelcoDRSenior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo MediaEditor/Marketing: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard MarketingEditing: Andrew CondellAssociate Producer: Kriselda DionisioMusic: Dyami Wilson Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s telcos have all but given up on monetizing the insatiable growth of mobile data usage, instead settling for one-size-fits-all pricing plans. But rather than give up the fight, Totogi is using the public cloud, AI, and data-driven algorithms to help the industry adopt dynamic, personalized pricing that maximizes the bottom line.In this episode, Totogi’s Chief Operating Officer Cyrus Mistry joins me to talk about how Totogi’s AI-powered charging is revolutionizing the industry, how it stands out from the other legacy chargers, and why Totogi’s optimized approach presents a huge opportunity for telcos. Listen now to hear: Why revenue optimization in telco is such a big idea [04:21];How public cloud and AI provide the one-two punch needed to enhance telco charging systems [05:05];What separates Totogi’s future-focused, multi-tenant, SaaS solutions from on-prem chargers [06:10];How having one model for all customers is actually a GOOD thing [09:33];Listen to our conversation by clicking play above or subscribe through your favorite podcast platform – see the links in the right column above. Links and ResourcesCheck out the Totogi website and find us on AWS Marketplace.This episode is dropping while the Totogi team is at AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas. Are you here too? Book a time to meet!Amazon’s method of optimizing revenue, backed by a pricing team of 16 experts and a whopping 1,400 developers, wields two acres of underground servers operating with machine learning. Read this McKinsey article from 2017 that talks about how airlines can take revenue optimization to the next level. Now that’s what I’m talking about!Check out Cyrus’ Ted Talk about his simple process for optimizing all areas of our lives, from health to wealth to relationships.Cyrus and I have known each other for decades. In the 1990s, we appeared together on the PBS show Livelihood, which focused an episode on our work lives at Trilogy. That’s where our hard work started and pretty much never stopped. If you want to see what I was like in 1998, give it a gander.Watch the inspiration behind our Totogi music, Saturday Night Live’s fan-favorite skit, What’s up with that. Keenan Thompson kills it!You can find the transcript for this episode here. Listen to this conversation on our TelcoDR YouTube channel. [LINK]Wanna talk public cloud? Telco execs, set up a meeting with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value it can bring. Follow DRHave an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us knowFollow Telco in 20 on Twitter @TelcoIn20Follow DR on X @TelcoDRThe Telco in 20 podcast won 2023 and 2022 MarCom Awards, a 2022 Hermes Award, and was recognized as a Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.  If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a short review? It takes seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!This week’s guestAbout Cyrus MistryCyrus is the chief operating officer at TelcoDR and Totogi. He was previously chief operating officer at GoGuardian, one of the largest EdTech software companies in the world, and director of product management at Google, where he was responsible for the commercial Chromebook hardware and software business worldwide. Cyrus managed the enterprise, education and consumer sides of several products at Google including Android, Chrome, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Google Tasks, and the Google Search Appliance business. He has over 25 years of hardware and software experience with roles in product management, program management, business development, marketing, consulting, and software development. Cyrus has four degrees from Johns Hopkins, with post-graduate work in natural language processing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.Podcast CreditsExecutive Producer and Host: Danielle Royston, TelcoDRSenior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo MediaEditor/Marketing: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard MarketingEditing: Andrew CondellAssociate Producer: Kriselda DionisioMusic: Dyami Wilson Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When innovative new tech comes along, established software vendors face a balancing act between maintaining existing solutions for current customers and adopting disruptive new tools to stay competitive. For this episode, I talk with Bruce McClelland, President and CEO of Ribbon Communications, about his billion-dollar company’s efforts to juggle both priorities, its adoption of cloud-native software, and what it sees happening with telcos’ public cloud deployments. Listen now to hear:The mix of hardware and software in the business [04:26];Where Ribbon sees demand for the public cloud in telco and what’s driving it [08:17];Why the company chooses to remain cloud-agnostic [10:56]; and Bruce’s thoughts on network workloads running in public clouds [14:23]. Links and ResourcesLearn more about Ribbon Communications. Grab a copy of the 1997 best-selling business book, The Innovator’s Dilemma, by  Clayton M. Christensen Bruce and I are fans of the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A. Check out comedian Tim Hawkins’ hysterical take on The Beatles’ classic song, Yesterday, which pays homage to the restaurant, sweet tea, and waffle fries. Let’s meet up at AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas on November 27 – December 1. I’ll be hosting a fantastic hospitality lounge with great food and drinks (and even a sommelier!) and zipping around the HyperLoop in a Tesla. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out this video. You can find the transcript for this episode here.Wanna talk public cloud? Telco execs, set up a meeting with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value it can bring.Follow DRHave an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us knowFollow Telco in 20 on Twitter @TelcoIn20Follow DR on X @TelcoDRThe Telco in 20 podcast won 2023 and 2022 MarCom Awards, a 2022 Hermes Award, and was recognized as a Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.  If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a short review? It takes seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!This week’s guestAbout Bruce McClellandBruce McClelland is CEO and President of Ribbon Communications (Nasdaq: RBBN), a global communications and network solutions provider to service providers, enterprises, and critical infrastructure sectors. Bruce is a technical business leader with a proven history of developing and growing sustainable, profitable businesses through technology and business cycles. Before joining Ribbon, Bruce was CEO at ARRIS and led its sale to CommScope, where he served as COO. During his tenure at ARRIS, Bruce held multiple leadership positions and had a key role in the successful acquisition and integration of multiple companies including Ruckus, Pace and the Motorola Home Business. Bruce began his career at Bell Northern Research and held several leadership roles at Nortel. He has served on the boards of ARRIS and Benu Networks, and actively supports the Georgia Cystic Fibrosis chapter. Bruce holds a BS in Electrical Engineering (Great Distinction) from the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.Podcast CreditsExecutive Producer and Host: Danielle Royston, TelcoDRSenior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo MediaEditor/Marketing: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard MarketingEditing: Andrew CondellAssociate Producer: Kriselda DionisioMusic: Dyami Wilson Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Andrew Walker, communications and media industry lead at Accenture, discusses the challenges faced by telcos transitioning to the public cloud, the transformative power of GenAI, and strategies for attracting skilled cloud talent. Topics include Accenture's advice on starting the move to the public cloud, legacy vendors spreading uncertainty, AI in telco, and competing for cloud talent.

Discover why subscribers churn and the challenges consumers face when choosing mobile phone plans. Learn about the tradeoffs between MNO vs MVNO plans and the impact of network coverage on customer decisions. Explore strategies for saving money on phone plans, including discounts and prepaid carriers. Get insights into consumers' data usage and the benefits of a crowd-sourced coverage map. Hear about the differences between MNOs and MVNOs and how carriers are now competing on price.

Over the last few years, Microsoft has been working overtime to become a carrier-grade hyperscaler for the industry. For this episode, I talk with Microsoft Chief Technology Officer for the Worldwide Telecommunications Industry Rick Lievano about the recent general availability of Azure Operator Nexus, its work with AT&T, and Microsoft’s $13 billion investment in OpenAI. Listen now to hear:Where telcos are today with their move to the public cloud [02:33];How Azure Operator Nexus is poised to change the game [04:02];The latest on Microsoft’s network cloudification work with AT&T [7:17]; andThe company’s big bet on GenAI and how it’s paying off for telco [12:57]. Links and ResourcesCheck out this awesome story in Fast Company, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella is winning Big Tech’s AI war. Here’s how.Learn more about Azure Operator Nexus and read the announcement about it becoming generally available this summer. Listen to Rick’s first time as guest on the Telco in 20 podcast, episode 5, The BFCs: Putting Microsoft Azure to the test for telcosReady to hear more great stuff about GenAI and telco’s future with the public cloud? Catch my keynote at MVNO Nation Live, running October 23 - 25 in Valencia, Spain. Learn about the ninja move of pickleball, the Erne, and learn how to do it yourself!You can find the transcript for this episode here. Wanna talk public cloud? Telco execs, set up a meeting with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value it can bring.Follow DRHave an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us knowFollow Telco in 20 on Twitter @TelcoIn20Follow DR on X @TelcoDRThe Telco in 20 podcast won a 2022 Platinum MarComm Award, a 2022 Gold Hermes Award, and was recognized as a Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.  If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a short review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!This week’s guestAbout Rick LievanoRick Lievano is the Worldwide CTO for the Microsoft Telecommunications industry. He works with customers and partners in developing telecommunications industry solutions and reference architectures to address the rapidly changing needs of service providers across the globe. He is an enthusiastic participant and speaker in many industry communities, an advocate of industry frameworks and open standards, and holds TM Forum Open Digital Architecture and Business Development Manager Career Certifications. At TM Forum, he is a member of the Collaboration Sub-Committee, overseeing the effective creation and adoption of pragmatic best practices and standards to deliver value to the membership. Rick currently leads initiatives to help operators achieve more by infusing artificial intelligence across their business. Podcast CreditsExecutive Producer and Host: Danielle Royston, TelcoDRSenior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo MediaEditor/Marketing: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard MarketingEditing: Andrew CondellAssociate Producer: Kriselda DionisioMusic: Dyami Wilson Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Nokia revealed a significant rebrand at Mobile World Congress 2023, signally a shift in the company’s focus to enterprise and B2B, which it sees as the future of telecom. For this episode, I talk with Nokia Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Europe Azfar Aslam about Nokia’s new direction, the challenge of refactoring legacy products, and what’s in store as the hyperscalers work to become carrier-grade cloud providers. Listen now to hear about:The balance of hardware and software in Nokia’s portfolio [04:34];How the company is adapting products for a public-cloud-driven future [06:44];How it weighs the benefits of refactoring for the public cloud against maintaining a common software base [10:30]; andAzfar’s thoughts on network workloads running in public clouds [12:51].Links and ResourcesCheck out Nokia’s technology vision for 2030. It talks about the network of the future (a network of networks!) and how open APIs and the monetization of those APIs will be key. Hmm, sound familiar? 🧐Read about Nokia’s super cool rebrand in The Verge.What is cloud native, and how can you be sure that vendors are designing their applications correctly? Watch my hilarious Top 5 List with TelecomTV and Ray LeMaistre where I explain this misused term.Check out Totogi’s Whoosh! offering that can help CSPs pull developers from Twilio’s ecosystem and into an operator’s. You’ll need this for those network APIs.Check out Nokia’s press release about its work on DISH’s 5G standalone core networkLearn about what DISH is doing with the public cloud and then check out my conversation with DISH Wireless EVP and Chief Network Officer Marc Rouanne.You can find the transcript for this episode here.Did we talk about dinosaurs in this episode? WE DID! RAR! 🦖 Sometimes dinosaurs can be cool, like when they’re movie stars and scare common folks. Watch the official trailer from Jurassic Park 2, which was filmed on Asfar’s favorite Hawaiian island, Kuwai.Wanna talk public cloud? Telco execs, set up a meeting with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value it can bring.Follow DRHave an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us knowFollow Telco in 20 on Twitter @TelcoIn20Follow DR on X @TelcoDRThe Telco in 20 podcast won a 2022 Platinum MarComm Award, a 2022 Gold Hermes Award, and was recognized as a Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.  If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a short review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!This week’s guestAbout Azfar AslamAzfar is passionate about driving customer success and has shaped technology and business strategies for over 60 Communications Service Providers and Large Enterprises globally. His experience spans new technology evaluations and product introductions, from portfolio and investment optimizations to E2E evolution of communications networks and AI-enabled automation. Azfar has also been deeply involved in corporate strategies, including M&A, new market entry, and establishing new lines of business. His current focus includes helping customers chart their journey toward new value creation in industry 4.0 in the high-performance critical networks era.Podcast CreditsExecutive Producer and Host: Danielle Royston, TelcoDRSenior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo MediaEditor/Marketing: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard MarketingEditing: Andrew CondellAssociate Producer: Kriselda DionisioMusic: Dyami Wilson Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.