Light Reading Podcasts

Robert Blumofe, EVP and CTO at Akamai, said his company's recent acquisition of Linode, combined with Akamai's content delivery and security capabilities, "creates a full spectrum of compute capabilities that modern applications really depend on." That full spectrum includes an array of services "from edge computing, to core cloud computing and everything in between, because it's not a one size fits all," he said.Akamai's mission is to move computing to where the data is, not the other way around, said Blumofe. "Data sometimes lives at the edge, and sometimes it lives in the core. Depends on what you're doing and whether it's really stored data that is data at rest or whether it's data in motion," he explained. "Data in motion? Go to the edge. Data at rest? That's great in the core, you know, in the cloud."That computing flexibility lines up with the needs of enterprises these days, Blumofe said. The pandemic changed the enterprise computing architecture and how enterprises can both distribute and protect data. Years ago, he said, the enterprise computing model was akin to a castle with moats and walls. You were either inside the castle, protected, or you were outside.Now, there are no castles and "all access is remote access," Blumofe explained. "So the way I access an application from home, versus the way I access an application from the office building is exactly the same."In February, Akamai agreed to buy Linode for about $900 million, adding about 250 employees to its 9,000-strong workforce. In September 2021, Akamai spent $600 million on Tel Aviv, Israel-based Guardicore, a cybersecurity company that specializes in zero-trust, distributed security products for the enterprise.Related stories and links:Akamai To Acquire Linode (press release)Why 5G is uniquely ill-equipped to support the metaverseFastly customers have learned to stop worrying and love the cloudAkamai acquires Asavie for mobile and IoT securityLight Reading Podcast news, analysis and opinionSign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Globalstar's Vice President of IoT, David Haight, discusses Globalstar's ambitions for IoT growth and more productive partnerships with telecom service providers around the world. Haight talks about why partnerships with carriers makes sense – there is a lot of overlap in the customers each industry is chasing – and the timing for new two-way IoT modules that can allow for customers to get more data and feedback about their assets in the field, especially in areas with poor cellular coverage or damaged terrestrial infrastructure.This interview was recorded at the Satellite 2022 in Washington on March 22.Sign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In January, the island state Tonga's Internet connection went dark for five weeks. The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai undersea volcano cut Tonga's only international cable, its main domestic inter-island link.Brian Lavallée, senior director of submarine network solutions for Ciena, joins the podcast to explain why this particular severing of an undersea cable had such an impact on Tonga's network, how satellite connectivity provided a temporary backup for the island state and advancements being made in submarine network services."If you can have both – meaning you have a business case to either get satellite or submarine – you always go with submarine because the sheer magnitude of capacity you can run through a submarine cable is astonishing," said Lavallée. "You'll never get that capacity over a satellite network for the foreseeable future."Here are just a few things covered in this podcast episode:How Tonga's undersea cable was disconnected (1:45)Age and length of Tonga's submarine cable (05:24)New submarine cable technology compared with Tonga's cable (06:23)Fiber capacity of new and existing submarine cables (07:40)How damaged undersea cables are repaired (09:06)How satellite technology compares to undersea access (12:24)The business case for backup submarine cables (15:33)Examples of cable "faults" or disrupted service (17:39)Knocking on the door of the Shannon limit (21:10)Lifespan of submarine cables (24:29)Sign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before it was torn down and transformed into yet another Starbucks, an Alcatel-Lucent lab in midtown Raleigh, North Carolina, was where Nokia's David Eckard and his team worked on the initial iterations of broadband, PON and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) technologies. Eckard's team was relegated to the loading dock while peers in the main building focused on DSL. But as is the case in the telecom and tech industries, quite a few great ideas have grown out of garages.Eckard, Nokia's VP of strategy and technology for North America, sat down with Light Reading after he and his colleagues – Leopold Diouf, VP and general manager of broadband device unit, and Suresh Chandrasekaran, fixed NW customer engineer – provided a tour of the equipment maker's "new" broadband lab in Raleigh (located near Crabtree Valley Mall for those familiar with the Raleigh area). Eckard joined Nokia after more than a decade with Alcatel-Lucent, which was acquired by Nokia in 2016.In the podcast Eckard discusses Nokia's approach to 25G PON, beacon devices for mesh Wi-Fi home networks, fixed wireless access (FWA) technologies and more. Nokia has over 150 FWA customer trials with more than two dozen operators deploying 5G FWA platform around the world, he says.Here are highlights covered in this podcast episode:Short history on Alcatel-Lucent lab and FTTH developments (1:54)Overview of software and product development of Nokia's lab (04:23)Nokia's transition to deploying virtualization and software-defined access networks (06:16)Customer demos at the lab to test PON and access networks (07:40)Challenge in working with customers on both legacy and new equipment (09:47)The future of PON technology (11:07)Use cases for FWA (13:54)Nokia's plans for use of the US infrastructure fund (18:35)Sign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cheri Beranek, CEO of Clearfield – a provider of optical fiber management and connectivity platforms for ISPs – returns to the show to discuss the state of the fiber industry and the supply chain's impact on broadband deployments. We also discuss why Clearfield supports heterogeneous networks, forthcoming federal funding and the company's efforts in workforce training.Sign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Igino Cafiero, CEO of Bear Flag Robotics, which John Deere acquired in 2021, joins the podcast to discuss how the companies have come together to develop and deploy autonomous tractor technologies.Bear Flag Robotics got its start operating autonomous tractors as-a-service to farmers by installing their cameras, sensors and on-board computers on John Deere tractors. "That connectivity part is super crucial to understand not only what’s going on real-time on that tractor, but offline afterwards as well, getting the data and agronomic information that tractor has gleaned from the operation to the farmer to make better decisions about how to farm in the future," said Cafiero.Here are just a few things covered in this podcast episode:Background on startup Bear Flag Robotics (0:58)Sensors and data gathered on autonomous tractors (02:00)Data analytics for future farming operations (03:25)Tractors’ level of autonomy (04:58)Connected farm: Applying technological advancements from autonomous tractors to other farming operations (07:58)Other connected equipment on farms (10:22)Connectivity needs and constraints on connected farms (12:33)How connected farming can inform decisions around environmental sustainability (15:27)Cellular connectivity to autonomous farming devices (18:54)Sign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This sponsored episode of the Executive Spotlight Q&A features Keith Habberfield, executive VP of sales and marketing at Precision Optical Transceivers (OT). In this interview, he talks about Precision OT as a company and how it continues to consistently develop new technologies in integrated photonics, electronics and software.Sign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Juliet Fink Yates, digital inclusion manager at the Office of Innovation and Technology for the city of Philadelphia, joins the show to discuss what's causing the digital divide in Philadelphia and which programs are making the biggest differences. We also discuss the city's new Digital Equity Plan and what Philly needs from public and private partners to achieve its goals.Sign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast to explain what the "splinternet" is, the upsides and downsides to a splinternet, the geopolitical implications and what it means for the broader industry.Related stories:Preparing for the splinternetSign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ICYMI – OFC 2022As OFC 2022 wraps up, Heavy Reading's Sterling Perrin weighs in on IP-over-DWDM and why it's really working this time. We also discuss market components upstart EFFECT Photonics and its noteworthy deal with Viasat. This interview was recorded on March 9 in San Diego at OFC 2022.Sign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.