Light Reading Podcasts

SCTE Cable-Tec Expo is in Philadelphia September 19-22, a triumphant return to an in-person cable-fest since the 2019 show in New Orleans – just mere months before the whole world went to hell. But the show is back. Booths will be erected. Real, live people will be milling around schmoozing. Technology and products will be on display that can be seen and (gasp!) touched.Prediction: Someone might get drunk! And Light Reading will be there to cover it all! Or at least as much as we can get to before our brains melt under the white hot pressure of engineering diagrams, mathematical equations and enough slide decks to make a product manager weep with joy. But what will this year's show be about? Feel free to check the event schedule to get a sense of what's what. You'll see sessions on DOCSIS 4.0, rural broadband, AI, an update on cable's power efficiency efforts, something about how cable's combating video piracy, and an announcement on who is going to take home the big money in the "10G Challenge."Please, read away if you must. But audio can be – nay, is – much more fun! In this episode of the Light Reading Podcast, editors Jeff Baumgartner and Nicole Ferraro and cable analyst/guru Alan Breznick chew the fat on what they think the show will be about, or at least what they think it should be about. The point? Thinking occurred. We'd tell you more here, but that would be like spoiling the finale of Lost. Please go listen to our banter. You'll be glad that you did. Or if you're still the reading type, you can download a lightly edited transcript of the podcast here.Or if you're just too damn busy getting ready for the show and only have time to cherry pick the audio, here's a timestamped list of stuff we chatted about: Our sense of what the hot topics will be at the show (01:09) Hey, there's not a lot on the agenda specifically about a five-letter F-word (4:25) Alan reviews what's in store at the Light Reading-hosted breakfast sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday of the show. Chance of bacon: 87% (05:26) What we think will be the focus of the opening general session (7:00) Should the industry be concerned about slowing broadband subscriber growth? Short answer: yep (11:15) We speculate on whether Comcast will remain the Lone Wolf when it comes to Full Duplex DOCSIS (14:30) Predictions on the big takeaways from the show (16:45) — Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marc DeBevoise has had a front seat during the video market's streaming revolution. He was a top exec at CBS when the broadcaster surprised the media world in 2014 with the launch of CBS All Access, a service that has since evolved to become Paramount+ following the merger with Viacom and the eventual formation of what's known as Paramount Global today. "In 2013, we started to pitch internally that we needed to go over-the-top and disrupt ourselves," he recalls. He's also been front and center to witness the shift to streaming on mobile devices, the surge of direct-to-consumer streaming services and, more recently, the rise in streaming deals for live sporting events. DeBevoise joins the Light Reading Podcast about five month after becoming CEO of Brightcove to discuss his vision for the streaming tech specialist and to dig into some key trends that are impacting the broader industry. In addition to setting a goal to become "most trusted streaming technology company in the world," DeBevoise is focused on accelerating growth at Brightcove and creating more scale for a business that's evenly split in serving customers in the enterprise and media/entertainment sectors.  DeBevoise, an exec also late of Starz and NBCUniversal, believes there's scale to pursue amid a "shift" in the market whereby some of largest media companies around the world are looking to save money on streaming technology and the resources required to support it by hooking up with specialized streaming companies such as Brightcove. DeBevoise also weighed in on several big picture streaming trends, including the rise in sports rights deals and whether the underlying streaming infrastructure is prepared to handle major live events such as Amazon's big deal to live-stream Thursday night NFL games starting the night of September 15. "I think the technology is there to support it," he said. "I think this week, you'll see the audience come in light versus what the TV audience was, just because it's harder to find and there is a section of the population that just doesn't yet embrace this part of the ecosystem, but it'll get there. I have full faith." You can download a lightly edited transcript of the podcast here. If you want to skip around and listen, here are a few topics discussed during this podcast:A rundown of DeBevoise's priorities at Brightcove and his vision for the streaming specialist (00:22) How DeBevoise intends to scale Brightcove's business (5:00)  How DeBevoise has identified a shift in the marketplace in which large media companies around the world are seeking to save money on streaming tech, opening a possible door for Brightcove to step in (7:00) What's surprised DeBevoise about the way the streaming market has evolved (17:45)Whether today's streaming infrastructure is up to the task to take on massive, live sporting events amid Amazon's exclusive to stream Thursday night NFL games (24:00) Looking beyond video, an exploration of other apps and services will start to cut into the streaming pie (29:00) Thoughts on why the volume levels for 4K streaming remain relatively small (30:30) —Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Light Reading's Mike Dano explains why T-Mobile now claims to be the biggest wireless network operator in the world. He also discusses T-Mobile's strategies around spectrum acquisition, it's fixed wireless access service and more. In addition, Mike weighs in on the new iPhone 14 and it's satellite connectivity feature. Sign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Former CEO of QOS Networks Frank Cittadino, now SVP of edge services for Zayo Group, joins the podcast to discuss why Zayo acquired managed service provider QOS Networks. In addition, Cittadino explains Zayo's edge and multi-cloud strategies and the difference between network monitoring and network observability. Cittadino also describes the five key components of artificial intelligence (AI) and shares why Zayo has its sights set on more software acquisitions in the future.You can download an unedited transcript of the podcast here. If you want to skip around and listen, here are a few more things covered in this interview:Background on Zayo Group's acquisition of QOS Networks (00:27)Zayo's approach to AI in the network (01:43)QOS Networks' AIOps service and what it means for IT operations (03:45)Shift from network monitoring to network observability (06:31)Zayo's shift from fiber provider to addressing more of the software layer (07:43)Zayo's edge and multi-cloud strategies (10:38)SD-WAN versus MPLS in addressing network visibility (18:05)Defining AI and its five key components (21:12)Sign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Light Reading's Iain Morris explains why German service providers could be in hot water. Germany's reliance on Russian energy sources, plus the use of networking technology from Huawei, could present some serious problems now and in the long term for German service providers.You can download an unedited transcript of the podcast here. If you want to skip around and listen, here are some highlights in this interview:Why Germany's relationships with Russia and China could present problems for German service providers (00:46)How Deutsche Telekom's customers could be impacted by energy shortages, and the consequences of tricky trade relations (03:06)Long-term impacts of German telcos' collaboration with Huawei (07:48)Privacy concerns for mobile customers traveling through Germany (09:28)Sign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Light Reading editors Kelsey Ziser, Jeff Baumgartner and Phil Harvey gather around for an informal (let's be honest, downright silly) discussion of what's happened during the work week ended September 9, 2022. For the full show notes, please visit www.lightreading.com.Sign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner discusses the rise of independent suppliers of operating systems for Smart TVs, and what their entry into the market could mean for incumbent suppliers. In addition, we take a look at Comcast and Charter's mobile strategies.Sign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle Perry, chief compliance officer at TruConnect – a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) – joins the podcast to talk about how the company is keeping customers connected through the federal government's Lifeline program and now the Affordable Connectivity Programs (ACP). We also discuss her recent appointment to the board of directors at the National Lifeline Association, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

By 2027, analysts at Omdia expect the telco IT market to exceed $40 billion, up from $31 billion in 2021. James Crawshaw, practice leader for Omdia, joins the podcast to explain how the OSS/BSS market thrived during the pandemic, and why service providers are investing in improving automation and customer experience for their OSS/BSS platforms."It's not historically been a particularly high growth market, this OSS and BSS space is fairly mature," said Crawshaw. However, he explained that despite the pandemic forcing many to work from home, IT teams "had no trouble" implementing IT projects remotely."The other positive thing for the market has been that operators have really wanted to up their game in terms of making the customer experience more digital and more streamlined," he added.The result of this market momentum still hasn't resulted in "hypergrowth," said Crawshaw. But, many OSS/BSS suppliers are now "looking at 8% growth in their business. And for many years, it was trundling along at 2%."You can download an unedited transcript of the podcast here. If you want to skip around and listen, here are a few more things covered in this interview:Growth in telecom IT market for OSS/BSS (01:26)Fastest growth segments within the OSS/BSS market (05:43)Moving OSS/BSS applications to the public cloud (09:43)Recommendations for service providers (11:53)Impact of 5G on IT (14:19)Why tier 2 and 3 operators are underserved by the bigger OSS/BSS vendors (18:23)Whether hyperscalers will subsume the OSS/BSS market (19:59)Sign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode features Basil Alwan, CEO of Tarana. We discuss what sets Tarana apart as a provider of what it calls "next-generation" fixed wireless access, or ngFWA, and how it's deploying its technology to help WISPs close the digital divide. We also get into broadband policy and why he wants legislators to reconsider unlicensed spectrum as a tool and see FWA as more than just a "stopgap" to fiber. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.