

Light Reading Podcasts
Light Reading
This feed is Light Reading's main podcast feed for "The Light Reading Podcast," "The Divide," "The Light Reading Extra," and "What's the Story?"Light Reading provides daily news, analysis and insight for the global communications networking and services industry. The publication was founded in 2000 and, since July 2016, has been a part of Informa Tech, a division of Informa PLC. We're part of a big team providing specialist research, media, events and training for businesses and professionals working in technology. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 30, 2025 • 33min
Coherent Routing Comes of Age: Discussing Heavy Reading’s New Survey Results
In this podcast, Heavy Reading analyst Sterling Perrin sits down with Ciena’s Sr. Director of Product Line Management, Rafael Francis, and VP, Product Line Management, Tim Pearson, to review the key findings and what they mean for the future of coherent routing in telecom.\For additional information, the related Heavy Reading white paper with the full survey results can be accessed here: https://www.ciena.com/insights/white-papers/ip-over-dwdm-global-survey-analysis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 28, 2025 • 20min
What's the Story? Charter, Cox to combine
Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast to discuss the $34.5 billion Charter-Cox merger, what the deal means for the companies and sectors involved, and what risks and opportunities for the deal are on the horizon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 22, 2025 • 40min
Telecom East: Samsung gets caught in Trump tariff crossfire
This week on Telecom East, Ross O'Brien of Delta Analysis talks about Huawei's challenge to Nvidia, Samsung's chips problems and how a small operator in the Philippines lost its spectrum. Then, Marc Einstein from Counterpoint Research joins to discuss Japan's telecom landscape. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 21, 2025 • 25min
Extreme Networks CTO on the trouble with 'AI washing'
There comes a point when the adage "there's an app for that" becomes too on-the-nose.Enterprises need to be able to manage numerous networking and security applications from multiple vendors, but balancing multiple APIs and licenses across those applications creates complexity, Nabil Bukhari, CTO of Extreme Networks, told Light Reading at the company's Extreme Connect event in Paris this week.During this podcast, Bukhari explains the challenges enterprises face in networking and security application management and how the use of AI can simplify network automation and connectivity. But, AI should be used for more than just automating tasks, it should also automate business outcomes, he adds. That could mean "automating the entire process your [networking and security] teams would do anyway" by using AI to troubleshoot problems, remediate issues and catalogue the steps AI took to solve the issue, he says. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 20, 2025 • 23min
The Divide: Trump terminates Digital Equity Act – now what?
This week: Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), on the impact of President Trump 'ending' the $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act and how advocates can fight to restore it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 14, 2025 • 17min
What's the Story? Gogo and the saga of 'rip and replace'
Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss how the 'rip-and-replace' program led to an odd network launch plan for Gogo, plus broader impacts of the federal program's delayed implementation and what to expect next. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 6, 2025 • 24min
The Divide: How DigitalC is closing Cleveland's connectivity gaps
This week: Joshua Edmonds, CEO of DigitalC, on the nonprofit ISP's history providing connectivity and digital skills training in Cleveland, and how DigitalC is working to meet its subscriber goals and commitments to the city. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apr 29, 2025 • 35min
What's the Story? Telecom and the Trump Tax
In this episode: Light Reading editors discuss Trump's tariff policies and their immediate impact on telecom, how the industry is reacting to rampant uncertainty and how things might change in the next several months. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apr 28, 2025 • 48min
Southeast Asia's huge data center buildout
Telecom East podcast hosts Robert Clark and Ross O'Brien analyze the mobile industry's 6G reset and dissect Huawei's latest financial numbers. Later, they discuss the hot Southeast Asian data center business with Lionel Yeo from STT GDC. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apr 23, 2025 • 37min
The Divide: Why states want the feds to 'get out of the way' of BEAD
This week: Missouri State Rep. Louis Riggs and Benton's Drew Garner join the podcast to discuss their collaborative effort with over 100 state lawmakers to urge the Trump administration to let states proceed with BEAD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.