Light Reading Podcasts

The Divide: Carol Mattey on BEAD hope and hysteria, and stalled USF reform

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT

This week: Former FCC official Carol Mattey joins the podcast to discuss the outcome of states' revised BEAD plans and what's next, as well as why she's not optimistic the Universal Service Fund will be reformed anytime soon.

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Cable shows signs of improvement, but is it out of the woods?

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT

New Street Research's Vikash Harlalka joins the podcast to discuss cable's latest round of financial results, including the improvements and the significant challenges the industry will continue to face in 2026.

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The Divide: IEEE's David Witkowski on broadband progress and the AI impact

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 13:00:00 GMT

This week: IEEE Senior Member David Witkowski joins the podcast to catch up on topics impacting the connectivity landscape – from the BEAD program to the evolution of FWA and satellite broadband to the growth of AI.

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From Risk to Opportunity: How Network Operators Can Leverage Resilient Positioning, Navigation & Timing

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 17:00:00 GMT

With GPS supporting so much of the U.S’s critical infrastructure, it is a known single point of risk. NextNav’s Mariam Sorond joins Light Reading to discuss how operators whose own networks are vulnerable to GPS attacks, can help solve the national security challenge with GPS, secure their networks with a resilient terrestrial timing back-up and open up opportunities by offering 3D PNT capabilities. Sponsored by NextNav.

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Is cable approaching a tipping point on PON?

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 13:00:00 GMT

Cable ops are going with FTTP in most greenfield buildouts, but a new report from cable industry vet Jay Rolls suggests that some operators are pivoting to fiber in legacy HFC areas, too.

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The Divide: Shirley Bloomfield on rural broadband progress, BEAD's 'bargain' and USF

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 13:00:00 GMT

As she prepares to retire as CEO of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, Shirley Bloomfield joins us to discuss progress on connecting the rural US, how BEAD changes will impact those communities, and the need to preserve USF.

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AT&T's copper shutdown project takes 'wireless-first' approach

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 13:00:00 GMT

Amid more FCC approvals for its copper shutdown plan, AT&T is initially targeting customer service migrations with wireless connections ahead of future fiber builds, says AT&T's Susan Johnson.

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FWA packs on more marketing muscle

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 13:00:00 GMT

Wave7 Research's Jeff Moore joins the podcast to discuss how mobile network operators and MNO-owned brands such as TracFone, Straight Talk and Mint Mobile are beefing up promotions and marketing of FWA services.

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The Divide: What's up with BEAD non-deployment funds?

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 13:00:00 GMT

This week: Missouri State Rep. Louis Riggs and Benton's Drew Garner join the podcast to discuss the state of the BEAD program and their push to get the NTIA to 'follow the law' and release full funding to the states.

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Ookla's Mike Dano on spectrum sagas and WBD dramas

Tue, 23 Dec 2025 17:00:00 GMT

Mike Dano, Light Reading's former mobile guy who's now at Ookla, joins the podcast to catch up on all of the intrigue involving mobile and spectrum and some thoughts about the ongoing battle for Warner Bros. Discovery.

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Managed Wi-Fi: cutting costs and boosting revenue

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 17:02:30 GMT

Nokia's Dirk Verhaegen discusses how operators can transform Wi-Fi from a cost center to a revenue driver with cloud-managed networks and AI insights. This episode is sponsored by Nokia.

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What's the state of play for CBRS?

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 13:00:00 GMT

David Wright of Spectrum for the Future and Jason Wallin with the OnGo Alliance discuss how CBRS might be impacted as the FCC and NTIA look high and low for spectrum. They also explain whether the band is under siege or only mildly threatened.

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AI and the future of high-end block storage

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 13:00:00 GMT

Hitachi Vantara's Octavian Tanase, Chief Product Officer joins Light Reading's Phil Harvey to discuss how AI is reshaping enterprise infrastructure design and driving the next generation of high-end block storage.

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The Divide: How Western Massachusetts towns banded together for better broadband

Tue, 02 Dec 2025 13:00:00 GMT

This week: Jess Auer (Institute for Local Self-Reliance) and David Kulp (Ashfield, Massachusetts) on ILSR's new report exploring how 19 Western Massachusetts towns collaborated to connect their communities to municipal broadband.

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The Divide: How Digicel is recovering from Hurricane Melissa

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 13:00:00 GMT

This week: Digicel's Liam Donnelly joins the podcast to discuss how the operator is restoring network services in regions ravaged by Hurricane Melissa. We also cover broader digital divide issues affecting the Caribbean and more.

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The rise of 25G and 50G PON

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 13:00:00 GMT

Nokia's Geert Heyninck discusses how 25G/50G PON are shaping the next wave of connectivity and how operators can harness them to drive new growth.

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The Divide: How NYC is breaking broadband barriers with 'Neighborhood Tech Help'

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 17:00:00 GMT

This week: Dave Seliger (NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development) and Dr. Brandy McNeil (New York Public Library) discuss New York's Neighborhood Tech Help program and the role it plays in solving the digital divide.

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Signal Strength: What's next for DOCSIS and Verizon's fiber strategy?

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 13:00:00 GMT

Dell'Oro Group's Jeff Heynen joins the first 'Signal Strength' podcast to discuss the big takeaways from TechExpo 2025, Verizon's new fiber partnership, CommScope's 'RemainCo' and a check into cable earnings season.

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The Divide: Paolo Balboa on NYC's road to achieving digital equity

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 12:00:00 GMT

This week: Paolo Balboa, NYC's chief digital equity officer, joins the podcast to discuss the main barriers to broadband throughout New York, what's been accomplished so far with the city's Digital Equity Roadmap and more.

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The Divide: Gigi Sohn on the bad state of BEAD and promise of public broadband

Thu, 16 Oct 2025 12:00:00 GMT

This week: Gigi Sohn, executive director, American Association for Public Broadband, on why the revised BEAD program is unlikely to live up to its initial promise and how public broadband networks can deliver for communities.

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Why operators and enterprises are turning to LoRaWAN

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 16:00:00 GMT

LoRa Alliance CEO Alper Yegin joins Light Reading's Phil Harvey to discuss LoRaWAN’s ten-year journey and its role in powering massive IoT. They also examine why leading operators are investing in LoRaWAN alongside 5G, and where the technology shines.

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Tech and policy set to collide at SCTE TechExpo 2025

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 12:00:00 GMT

SCTE's Maria Popo and Janelle Morse join the podcast to talk themes and topics that will dominate TechExpo 2025 in Washington, DC. Atlanta will host TechExpo 2026, then the show will be in Denver for the foreseeable future.

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New book chronicles the dawn of streaming and cable's dive into digital

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 16:00:00 GMT

Craig Leddy, a long-time industry journalist and Light Reading contributor, joins the podcast to discuss his new book: 'Fast Forward: The Birth of Video Streaming, Media's Wild Child'.

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COO Rocco Laurenzano on the 'GFiber way'

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Amid GFiber's ongoing network expansions, the company's COO, Rocco Laurenzano, digs into the company's approach to prioritizing projects and allocating resources. 'The real killer of productivity are half-done projects,' he says.

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The Divide: Blair Levin on what's next for bargain BEAD

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 12:00:00 GMT

New Street Research policy analyst Blair Levin joins the podcast to discuss the outcome of BEAD's 'benefit of the bargain' bidding and how federal policy changes may exacerbate the digital divide despite increasing access.

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CSPs bank on wavelength services to monetize AI traffic

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 12:00:00 GMT

In this podcast, Heavy Reading's Sterling Perrin explains why many communications service providers (CSPs) believe AI will increase connectivity demand at a greater rate in their long-haul networks and why they expect wavelength services to be the dominant transport service for AI connectivity.

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What's the Story? AT&T's $23B EchoStar spectrum splurge

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast to discuss AT&T's decision to scoop up a swath of EchoStar's low- and mid-band spectrum for $23 billion, what this means for the broader telecom industry and what to expect next.

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AI alone can't fix a messy OSS

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 12:00:00 GMT

In this episode:

Why Ciena acquired Blue Planet (01:37)
How Blue Planet's strategy has evolved from addressing service provider requirements for network management (04:17)
How Blue Planet is applying agentic AI technologies to OSS (14:53)

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Celebrity MVNOs are interesting, but do they help telco sales?

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 12:00:00 GMT

In this episode:

Some background on Zappi and how it provides brands like PepsiCo, McDonald's and Heineken with consumer data and insights to help fuel their advertising (01:00)
A review of the celebrity MVNO sector and some other product areas endorsed or owned by celebrities (3:30)
Celebrity-focused ads are distinctive, but they don't necessarily provide a near-term sales bump (7:45)
How and why the effectiveness of celebrity advertising varies by age group (21:40)
Brand recall also differs among age groups (27:30)
How Trump Mobile and its golden T1 phone might resonate in the market (30:00)
Other ways celebrity MVNOs may try to stand out in the market (35:40)

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Prysmian in the US: Moving fast and not bending things

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 16:00:00 GMT

Prysmian's Matt Brice joins the podcast to discuss how the race to build out AI infrastructure is challenging fiber manufacturers.

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5G standalone deployments are scaling – now comes the hard part

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 12:00:00 GMT

In this podcast, Heavy Reading's Gabriel Brown shares highlights from Heavy Reading research that examines why 5G SA deployments are ramping up and what the biggest drivers are for expansion of the technology.

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The Divide: Digging into the biggest broadband barriers in the Bronx

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 12:00:00 GMT

This week: Eli Dvorkin and Rachel Neches, from the Center for an Urban Future, join the podcast to discuss their report exploring the extent and causes of the ongoing digital divide in the Bronx, New York, and how to solve it.

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New book chronicles cable broadband's 'unexpected' journey

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Rouzbeh 'Father of the Cable Modem' Yassini and industry analyst Stewart Schley join the podcast to discuss the story of cable broadband – from its early struggles to the rise of DOCSIS – as recounted in their new book, 'The Accidental Network: How a Small Company Sparked a Global Broadband Transformation.'

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What's the Story? Intel to spin off network biz

Tue, 05 Aug 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Light Reading's Iain Morris joins the podcast to unpack Intel's decision to spin off its network and edge assets business (dubbed NEX), what the implications are for equipment makers like Ericsson and what to expect next.

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Where does the bundle go from here?

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Bango's Giles Tongue joins the podcast to discuss the evolution of the bundle as subscription combinations extend well beyond streaming services to include fitness services, food boxes, music, gaming, social media and AI offerings.

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Giving data centers their due (diligence) on space, power and cooling

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 16:00:00 GMT

Misty Duckworth and Randy Kinsey join the podcast to explain how BSP's technical due diligence business is rapidly shifting to the data center market and how the rise of AI is driving demand for space, power and cooling in existing and new data center facilities.

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ACA Connects CEO on Trump's big Bill, new BEAD rules and the 'NextGenTV' debate

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 12:00:00 GMT

ACA Connects President and CEO Grant Spellmeyer joins the podcast to discuss the regulatory hot-buttons for independent cable operators, including Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, BEAD revisions, the ATSC 3.0 debate and the deletion of net neutrality proceedings at the FCC.

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'Ask AT&T' gives network management a GenAI facelift

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 12:00:00 GMT

In this podcast, AT&T executives explain how the service provider built an internal generative AI (GenAI) tool to more efficiently manage its network and customer experience.

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The Divide: How a rural Kentucky farm got a broadband boost with Spectrum

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:00:00 GMT

This week: Spectrum's Jeff Gehrig joins the podcast with Jennifer Tucker of Tucker Farms in Kentucky, to discuss the connectivity challenges facing the rural region and how the farm is now benefiting from Spectrum's fiber build.

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How AT&T's FirstNet triages network assets during natural disasters

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 12:00:00 GMT

In this podcast AT&T's Chris Stratmann explains how the FirstNet Response Operations Group (ROG) triages network infrastructure needs for local public safety agencies when natural disasters strike.

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What's the Story? Quantum computing meets telecom

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Light Reading's Tereza Krásová joins the podcast to discuss developments in quantum computing, what they mean for telecom and how major players in the telecom industry are beginning to prepare for this computing evolution.

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LG's big US home appliance factory is switching to private 5G

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 12:00:00 GMT

In this podcast, LG executives explain how LG's Tennessee-based home appliance factory is applying private 5G and automation across the board – using smart applications, AI, computer vision, digital twins and robotics for a more efficient manufacturing process.

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The Divide: How Telstra quadrupled broadband capacity on Norfolk Island

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 12:00:00 GMT

This week: Telstra International's Sarah Mills discusses the connectivity challenges for Australia's Norfolk Island and how Telstra quadrupled broadband capacity for the remote region with a mix of geostationary (GEO) and medium-Earth orbit (MEO) satellites.

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More bandwidth, fewer problems: Wi-Fi 7 performance is looking up

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Ekahau's Matt Starling is back on the Light Reading Extra podcast to discuss the network performance benefits of Wi-Fi 7, plus Cisco's launch of new Wi-Fi 7 access points during Cisco Live.

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Broadband usage rates jumped in Q1. Will it last?

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 12:00:00 GMT

OpenVault CEO Mark Trudeau joins the podcast to discuss the big takeaways of the company's quarterly 'Broadband Insights' report. He also provides an update on how cable operators are squeezing more capacity out of HFC.

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The Divide: How inaccurate broadband mapping is still impeding access

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 12:00:00 GMT

This week: BroadbandNow's Tyler Cooper discusses research showing the FCC is still undercounting the number of people in the US without broadband access, and how incorrect mapping is hindering efforts to close the digital divide.

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The Divide: How Mission Telecom and C4P are rolling out low-cost 5G hotspots

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 12:00:00 GMT

This week: Mission Telecom's Mark Colwell and Computers 4 People's Dylan Zajac discuss their non-profit efforts to connect communities in need to broadband, including through their recently launched Shield 5G Home Hotspot.

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AI technologies are only as good as their managers

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 12:00:00 GMT

ESG's Jim Frey joins the podcast to discuss why developing the right tools to provide oversight and coordination across agentic and GenAI technologies will be key to network planning and performance.

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What's the Story? FCC's EchoStar investigation

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss the FCC's planned investigation into EchoStar's nationwide 5G network buildout, why it matters (and why it seems 'gross') and what to watch for next.

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Waiting for BEAD, tracking the MDU broadband renaissance

Fri, 06 Jun 2025 16:00:00 GMT

Dell'Oro's Jeff Heynen joins the podcast to discuss how the uncertainty swirling around BEAD cast a shadow at Fiber Connect 2025 and how vendors are gearing up for an MDU revival.

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The Divide: FBA's Marissa Mitrovich on the growth of fiber and future of BEAD

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 12:00:00 GMT

This week: Marissa Mitrovich, VP of public policy at the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA), on the growth of FTTH access across the US, the state of the BEAD program and what's on tap for the 2025 Fiber Connect conference.

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Coherent Routing Comes of Age: Discussing Heavy Reading’s New Survey Results

Fri, 30 May 2025 12:00:00 GMT

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

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What's the Story? Charter, Cox to combine

Wed, 28 May 2025 12:00:00 GMT

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.

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Telecom East: Samsung gets caught in Trump tariff crossfire

Thu, 22 May 2025 12:00:00 GMT

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.

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Extreme Networks CTO on the trouble with 'AI washing'

Wed, 21 May 2025 12:00:00 GMT

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.

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The Divide: Trump terminates Digital Equity Act – now what?

Tue, 20 May 2025 12:00:00 GMT

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.

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What's the Story? Gogo and the saga of 'rip and replace'

Wed, 14 May 2025 12:00:00 GMT

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.

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The Divide: How DigitalC is closing Cleveland's connectivity gaps

Tue, 06 May 2025 12:00:00 GMT

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.

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What's the Story? Telecom and the Trump Tax

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT

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.

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Southeast Asia's huge data center buildout

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 02:00:00 GMT

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.

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The Divide: Why states want the feds to 'get out of the way' of BEAD

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT

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.

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Comcast Business gets agnostic with 'dedicated' Internet expansion

Tue, 22 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Christian Nascimento explains how Comcast Business has expanded the capabilities of a 'dedicated' Internet service armed with symmetrical speeds and service level agreements across both HFC and FTTP.

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Verizon VP on bringing IoT insights to the NBA

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Verizon's Shamik Basu explains how the service provider is working with customers to manage their Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure, and why the operator is partnering with Skylo and Singtel to expand IoT connectivity.

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The Divide: How federal funds and horses brought broadband to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 16:00:00 GMT

This week: How the Delta Montrose Electric Association used federal funds and fiber-deploying horses to bring broadband to rural regions of Montrose County, Colorado, including Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

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Run3TV nails up app framework for 'NextGen TV'

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Michael Collette, the new CEO of Run3TV, discusses how the company's app framework is setting the stage for a wave of apps and services to run on ATSC 3.0, the new IP-based broadcast platform that's been branded as 'NextGen TV.'

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Multi-gigabit broadband with 10-25-50-100G fiber

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT

In this podcast Nokia's Geert Heyninck dives into the future of fiber broadband, exploring the latest trends, the rise of multi-gigabit speeds, technological advancements, and real-world use cases shaping the industry. Whether you’re an operator, enterprise, or tech enthusiast, stay ahead of the curve with discussions on the next-generation broadband. #sponsored

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Why low-power TV stations have high hopes for 5G Broadcast

Fri, 11 Apr 2025 16:00:00 GMT

'SuperFrank' Copsidas discusses why low-power TV stations are keen on 5G Broadcast and explains why he's confident that 5G Broadcast tech is poised to be featured in a wide array of smartphones.

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Analyzing the size and scope of Trump's tariffs

Fri, 11 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT

PwC's Dallas Dolen digs into the financial impact the tech, media and telecom sectors could see in the wake of President Trump's sweeping tariffs and weighs in on what companies might do to mitigate their effects.

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What's the Story? What cable customers really want

Tue, 08 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT

During the Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies conference, cable execs discussed using AI and ML to improve customer experience, how their mobile service offerings are performing and why some are deploying DOCSIS 3.1 over 4.0.

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Nokia’s James Watt discusses technologies addressing hyperscalers and data centers networks at OFC50

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Nokia’s Vice President and General Manager for the Optical Networks Division, James Watt, discusses key challenges for hyperscalers and data center operators, and how the combined optical networking expertise and capabilities of Nokia and Infinera will create differentiated value in the era of AI. #sponsored

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Telecom East: The decline in telco capex

Thu, 03 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Hosts Robert Clark and Ross O'Brien look at China's parallel digital universe and Jio's global O-RAN ambitions, and they speak with Dell'Oro's Stefan Pongratz about the massive drop-off in the RAN market.

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John Deere's private 5G network is 'Never Idle'

Wed, 02 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT

In this podcast, John Deere's Jason Wallin explains the company's strategy for deploying private 5G at its Davenport Works connected factory and why the company deployed two digital twins at the facility.

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The Divide: How subsea cable cuts put spotlight on Internet resilience

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT

This week: Ryan Polk and Steve Song from the Internet Society join the podcast to discuss the rise in subsea cable cuts and the role of resilient Internet infrastructure in preventing and recovering from outages.

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Nokia VP on taking private wireless networks out to sea

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

In this podcast, Nokia's Stephan Litjens explains how the private network landscape is changing, and how Nokia partners with service providers to address the private network needs of enterprise customers.

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Verizon Frontline President on why data makes all the difference in a natural disaster

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

In this Light Reading Extra podcast, Verizon Frontline's Maggie Hallbach explains how the service provider is supporting the delivery of data insights and providing smaller temporary mobile assets to assist first responders during natural disasters.

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SES brings AI, ML to space

Tue, 25 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

In this Light Reading Extra podcast, SES' Nadine Allen explains how the satellite operator is applying AI, ML and SDN to improve application and network performance, and how the company is providing connectivity to underserved areas.

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Verizon CTO on energy-efficient AI and building telco APIs

Thu, 20 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Verizon CTO Yago Tenorio joins the podcast to discuss how the service provider is bringing AI capabilities closer to customers, and why it's working with AT&T and T-Mobile on developing telco APIs.

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Speed isn't a top concern for wireless subscribers – Opensignal

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Opensignal's Sylwia Kechiche joins the podcast to explain what customers really want from their wireless service providers, and why fixed wireless access (FWA) is a growing 5G use case.

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The Divide: How affordable broadband benefits the economy

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 14:09:18 GMT

This episode features Dr. Paroma Sanyal, principal at the Brattle Group, a consultancy working on a range of issues including telecom, finance and consumer protection. We discuss a study released by the Brattle Group last month exploring the economic benefits of broadband and the massive economic savings offered by the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which ran out of funding in 2024. For healthcare alone, the Brattle Group found that, by enabling access to telehealth, the ACP would have saved an estimated $28.9 billion to $29.5 billion in annual healthcare costs, or "quadruple the annual funding" ($7.3 billion) to run the ACP.

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Telecom East: The bandwidth business in the age of hyperscalers and AI

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 06:00:00 GMT

Hosts Robert Clark and Ross O'Brien cover SK Telecom's AI revenues, Goldman Sachs tapping into Asia's data center boom and some 5G standalone stats. They're joined by Telstra CEO Roary Stasko to discuss the role of the global cable operator in the age of hyperscalers and how to deal with subsea cable threats.

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Heat is a huge villain in mother nature versus the network

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 16:00:00 GMT

How cable company Optimum prepares for inclement weather, and why extreme heat can create the most network management headaches.

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Machine spurning: Light Reading's editors recap MWC Barcelona 2025

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Light Reading's editors discuss what they've seen and experienced at MWC Barcelona as the telco industry continues its years-long push to tame artificial intelligence and machine learning while ushering in a world where networks connect a little more smoothly via APIs and more broadly via satellite clusters.

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Boingo CEO Mike Finely on venue networks and AI's potential

Wed, 05 Mar 2025 22:10:32 GMT

Boingo CEO Mike Finley joins Senior Editor Kelsey Ziser in a brief chat at MWC Barcelona to discuss the company's advancements in providing connectivity to large venues and stadiums. He highlights how Boingo can use AI to improve network monitoring and how venues can provide advanced services with robust networks underpinning their operations.

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FirstNet's dedication starts with a dedicated mobile core

Wed, 05 Mar 2025 15:56:26 GMT

At MWC Barcelona, AT&T's Scott Agnew, president of FirstNet, discusses the public safety network's capabilities and technology direction as competitors attempt to make inroads in the market.

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The Divide: ACA Connects' Brian Hurley on policy priorities for BEAD and beyond

Tue, 04 Mar 2025 13:00:00 GMT

Brian Hurley joins the podcast ahead of the ACA Connects Summit (March 4-6) to preview this year's conference, the trade group's overarching message of 'let's build' and what policy changes ACA is pushing in pursuit of that goal.

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EXA CEO: It's not just AI driving data center demand

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 13:00:00 GMT

In this episode of the Light Reading Podcast, EXA Infrastructure CEO Jim Fagan examined what's driving new data center launches and demand for data center interconnect services. While AI plays a role in this shift, demand for cloud services is also increasing.

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What's the Story? Ericsson CTO sees brighter days ahead for FWA, private 5G networks

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 13:00:00 GMT

Ericsson CTO Erik Ekudden is optimistic about growth in the fixed wireless access, AI and private networks market. But, competition is fierce and enterprises still need convincing to ramp up deployments of private 5G networks.

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Blair Levin on what's next for BEAD, spectrum policy and the new FCC

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 13:00:00 GMT

Policy expert and former FCC official Blair Levin joins the podcast to discuss changes on the horizon for BEAD, spectrum policy, US broadband strategy, USF reform and much more amid the new Trump administration and a new FCC.

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What carriers think about AI

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 13:00:00 GMT

Peter Jarich, head of GSMA Intelligence, joins the podcast to discuss the organization's new study focused on carriers AI strategies, what carriers are spending on AI and what kind of returns they hope to get from AI strategies.

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What's the Story? Comcast, Charter look beyond speeds and feeds to redefine broadband

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 13:00:00 GMT

Facing subscriber losses and rising competition, Comcast and Charter are adopting low-latency tech and convergence strategies to stand out in broadband. They're also exploring a video refresh.

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Verizon doubles 5G radio deployment for Super Bowl LIX

Wed, 05 Feb 2025 13:00:00 GMT

Light Reading met with Verizon on-site at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans to get a closer look at the network infrastructure the operator has installed to ensure fans can post selfies to social media and send updates to friends and family.

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The Divide: How the end of Affordable Connectivity Program is hurting low-income Americans

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 13:00:00 GMT

Danielle Perry, board member at the National Lifeline Association (NaLA), joins the podcast to discuss the results of NaLA's consumer survey showing the significant consequences felt by low-income Americans since the ACP ended.

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How and why telcos are spinning gold out of copper

Tue, 28 Jan 2025 13:00:00 GMT

Copper network retirement and transition initiatives are 'definitely picking up,' says TXO's Dave Evans. TXO, which aids such projects, believes this represents a $7 billion opportunity to telcos based on current copper prices.

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The Divide: NDIA's Angela Siefer on the importance of digital equity funding

Wed, 22 Jan 2025 13:00:00 GMT

This week: Angela Siefer, executive director, National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), joins the podcast to discuss the group's plans to use federal grant funding to support digital navigator programs and more.

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What's the Story? Unclear ROI for D2D satellite messaging

Tue, 21 Jan 2025 13:00:00 GMT

Many direct-to-device messaging services remain in the development stage, and the market for D2D messaging is small. That makes the ROI for these services hazy.

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Evolution Digital breaks out a new broadband ARPU booster

Fri, 17 Jan 2025 13:00:00 GMT

Evolution Digital CEO Chris Egan on why his company's investment in Ubiety could clear a new way for Evolution's broadband partners to differentiate and generate more value from their services.

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Xumo's Marcien Jenckes talks TV shipments, 'deep interest' in operator-distributed TVs

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 13:00:00 GMT

At CES, Light Reading chatted with Xumo President Marcien Jenckes about the performance of Xumo's smart TV business, plans for retail and market expansion, and the company's 'deep interest' in exploring the operator distribution model for Xumo TVs.

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CES 2025: The shifting smart TV sector, MobileX's sales tilt and robot risings

Tue, 14 Jan 2025 13:00:00 GMT

On the Light Reading Extra podcast, Phil Harvey and Jeff Baumgartner discuss Jeff's CES travels, some smart TV updates, MobileX's apparel play and the rise of the robots.

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CES 2025: AI everywhere, 'NextG' and the specter of more tariffs

Tue, 07 Jan 2025 13:00:49 GMT

Brian Comiskey, senior director and futurist at the Consumer Technology Association, discusses the top tech themes expected at CES 2025 and offers some thoughts about how a new wave of tariffs might impact the CE industry.

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How Downdetector tracks network outages during natural disasters

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 17:00:30 GMT

Ookla CSO Chip Strange joins the podcast to provide a postmortem analysis of the impact of hurricanes Helene and Milton on the East Coast networks. Strange explains how Ookla's Downdetector site keeps the market informed of both telecommunications and power outages, and how the site analyzes different types of service disruptions.

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SoftBank's plans for AI-RAN expansion

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 13:00:59 GMT

In Telecom East this week, Light Reading contributing editor Robert Clark and Ross O'Brien, analyst-in-chief at Delta Analysis, discuss Huawei’s Android exit, China’s ambitious 10G program and the slowing growth of mobile worldwide. Then, they talk to Ryuji Wakikawa, vice president and head of the Research Institute of Advanced Technology at SoftBank Corp, about the Japanese telco’s pioneering AI-RAN plans.

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ACA Connects CEO braces for big regulatory 'reset,' says Venu JV is dead

Fri, 13 Dec 2024 17:00:08 GMT

ACA Connects CEO Grant Spellmeyer discusses how he and his base of independent broadband operators are preparing for an expected wave of regulatory shifts that will arrive early next year with the new administration.

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What's the Story? AT&T bids farewell to copper network

Fri, 13 Dec 2024 13:00:03 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast to explain why AT&T plans to shut down its copper network by 2029.

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The Divide: Gigi Sohn on growing, funding and defending public broadband networks

Tue, 10 Dec 2024 13:00:18 GMT

This week: Gigi Sohn, executive director, American Association for Public Broadband, joins the podcast to discuss the rise of public broadband networks, ongoing hurdles to the model, recent public broadband successes – and more.

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LR Extra: Gengis Khan and the elephant in the room

Fri, 06 Dec 2024 17:00:01 GMT

In this edition of the Light Reading Extra podcast, the editors discuss subsea fiber trials, Gengis Khan and artificial Christmas trees.

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Colt CEO on AI, acquisitions and industry firsts for subsea fiber

Thu, 05 Dec 2024 13:00:59 GMT

Keri Gilder, CEO of Colt, joins the Light Reading podcast to explain the significance of Colt and Ciena completing the first 1.2 Tbit/s wavelength transmission across the Atlantic Ocean.

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6G may be forked, Vocus focuses on fiber expansion

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 15:55:27 GMT

Light Reading contributing editor Robert Clark and Ross O'Brien, analyst-in-chief at Delta Analysis, discuss SoftBank's big AI-RAN play, Samsung's rare stock buyback, and China's appeal for a unified 6G. Also, Michael Ackland, Vocus Group's GM for Federal Government & Strategic Projects, discusses Darwin's potential as a connectivity hub and why so much Asian Internet traffic is routed to the US through Australia.

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What's the Story? Calix, Amazon and the big bad wolf of broadband

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 13:00:16 GMT

In this episode, Light Reading's Mike Dano explains why Calix's CEO called Amazon 'the enemy' of broadband providers and a 'wolf in sheep's clothing.'

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How Cleeng is keeping streaming subscription churn in check

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 17:00:05 GMT

The subscription streaming model allows customers to come and go as they please. Managing churn is a major challenge for providers of the services, particularly as more sports are being streamed, says Cleeng CEO Gilles Domartini.

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Wi-Fi 6E migration doesn't have to be a pain in the AP

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 13:00:26 GMT

Ekahau's Matt Starling joins the podcast to break down some of the main benefits of using 6GHz spectrum in Wi-Fi 6. He explains why upgrading to Wi-Fi 6 often isn't as simple as taking down existing Wi-Fi access points (APs) and how Ekahau works with organizations to upgrade their Wi-Fi networks.

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No one buys AI

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 13:00:03 GMT

Omdia's Roz Roseboro provided a look at the value that AI is bringing to a number of telecom IT software categories such as monetization, orchestration and assurance.

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What's the Story? Germany isn't worried about Huawei

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 17:00:48 GMT

Light Reading's Iain Morris joined the podcast to discuss why Germany is taking a different stance from the rest of the EU on how it handles Huawei equipment in its networks.

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SKT's AI plans, Huawei's smartphone success and the rise of digital nationalism

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 13:00:41 GMT

In this episode of the Telecom East podcast, Light Reading contributing editor Robert Clark and Ross O'Brien, analyst-in-chief at Delta Analysis, discuss the rise of AI as a telco value-add in Asia and the potential chilling impact of digital nationalism on Internet economies.

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Space WAN: MetTel taps Starlink for space-based network

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 13:00:23 GMT

MetTel CTO Ed Fox joins the podcast to discuss why the service provider decided to partner with Starlink as a reseller and how MetTel can provide satellite connectivity as a managed service to customers.

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What's the Story? The trouble with telco APIs

Thu, 07 Nov 2024 17:00:59 GMT

In this podcast, the Light Reading editors discuss why some telcos are convinced that network APIs will unlock new revenue streams.

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Telecom East: How AI is changing bandwidth needs in Asia

Thu, 07 Nov 2024 13:00:13 GMT

Light Reading contributing editor Robert Clark and Ross O'Brien, analyst-in-chief at Delta Analysis, welcome Bill Barney, a former Asian telco CEO and current chairman of Asian Century Equity, to discuss the outlook for telecom in Asia during a time of geopolitical uncertainty and AI.

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Will AI on smartphones fade the way of the Metaverse?

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 13:00:58 GMT

Runar Bjorhovde, analyst for Canalys, joined the podcast to explain why smartphone vendors are banking on AI.

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The Divide: How Cabot, Arkansas, got a broadband boost from municipal fiber

Tue, 05 Nov 2024 13:00:27 GMT

This week: Cabot Mayor Ken Kincade, Connect2First's Candace Looper, DZS' Geoff Burke and Irby Utilities' Josh Collver on their partnership to launch the first city-owned fiber network in the state of Arkansas.

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LR Extra: Halloween hijinks and gadget ghosts

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 13:00:35 GMT

It's the Halloween edition of the Light Reading extra podcast, where our editors and an esteemed guest walk through the digital cemetery looking for gadget zombies and technologies that still haunt us. Palm Pilots, Secret Senders, weird Wi-Fi phones and Slacker music are some things that creep up in this freewheeling conversation.

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Telecom East: Rebooting mobile's fortunes

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 16:01:37 GMT

In this episode, Light Reading contributing editor Robert Clark and Ross O'Brien, analyst-in-chief at Delta Analysis, discuss what KKR's entry into cable construction might mean for the subsea business. This episode also features an interview with author William Webb, who says the mobile industry needs to focus on cost-effective coverage rather than expensive new capabilities.

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The Divide: NTCA's Shirley Bloomfield on the future of the Universal Service Fund

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 12:00:42 GMT

This week: Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, joins to discuss legal uncertainty around the Universal Service Fund (USF), and why preserving USF programs is crucial for rural providers and families.

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Why is my cell phone so bad when I'm on vacation?

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 12:00:02 GMT

Opensignal's Sylwia Kechiche joined the podcast to dive into Opensignal's findings on the causes of network performance disparity between local and roaming wireless customers.

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What's the Story? DT is #bullish on telco APIs

Thu, 24 Oct 2024 12:00:00 GMT

Light Reading's Tereza Krasova joined the podcast to discuss Omdia's positive forecast for growth in the telecom market, and why DT and BT had opposing views on telco APIs at the Network X event.

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The Divide: How NextLight helped ignite municipal broadband in Colorado

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 16:00:28 GMT

This week: Officials from Longmont, Colorado, and NextLight – the state's first municipal broadband network – on NextLight's ten-year anniversary, its impact on the region and lessons learned along the way.

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LR Extra: Next stop, Jupiter's moon

Fri, 18 Oct 2024 16:00:46 GMT

The Light Reading editors discuss the SpaceX Starship launch, the Europa Clipper, why the pope can't donate his organs, Tesla's Cybercab and more.

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The Divide: How HFCL brought customized connectivity to Baidabettu and Baslambi, India

Tue, 15 Oct 2024 12:00:07 GMT

This week: Bhuvnesh Sachdeva, senior vice president at HFCL, and Devadas Pai, CEO of Nanocell Networks, on the challenges and lessons learned from delivering Wi-Fi to the villages of Baidabettu and Baslambi, India.

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Asisat Oshoala minds the usage gap

Sat, 12 Oct 2024 12:00:48 GMT

Soccer legend Asisat Oshoala and the GSMA's CMO, Lara Dewar, join the podcast to promote women's tech literacy and to urge governments and citizens to close the mobile usage gap.

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LR Extra: CBRS proposal met with sour grapes

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 16:00:14 GMT

The Light Reading editors recap AT&T's CBRS proposal, which if approved, some in the industry say would have a "catastrophic" effect on spectrum distribution. We also discuss why the cheese tax is getting out of control, Mike Dano's recipe for frozen sour grapes and more.

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What's the Story? It's hard out there for a pay-TV provider

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 12:00:53 GMT

Charter is working on its latest pay-TV strategy to hold onto and hopefully expand its subscriber count.

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Ciena's CTO: Wrapping up a decades-long dance with DWDM

Thu, 10 Oct 2024 16:00:52 GMT

One of the optical networking industry's most approachable tech evangelists and all-around nice guys is retiring soon. Ciena's SVP and CTO Stephen Alexander joins the Light Reading podcast for a look back and a look ahead.

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TechExpo 2024: It's a wrap!

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 16:00:32 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner, Omdia's Jaimie Lenderman, Heavy Reading's Alan Breznick and Dell'Oro Group's Jeff Heynen discuss unified DOCSIS 4.0, the challenges ahead for DOCSIS 5.0 and the potential for 5G on HFC.

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The need for fast, reliable fiber network deployment

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 14:00:38 GMT

Nir Hollander, Amdocs' GM of Mobile Networks, joins the podcast to talk about the state of fiber deployments worldwide and how Amodcs views fiber network design and AI's role in fiber deployments.

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The Divide: How ACP's lapse is impacting state broadband plans

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 12:00:14 GMT

This week: Jake Varn, associate manager with Pew's Broadband Access Initiative, discusses the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and the impact it's having on states' plans to close the digital divide.

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CableLabs CEO on what's next for DOCSIS

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 16:00:10 GMT

At SCTE TechExpo in Atlanta, CableLabs CEO Phil McKinney talked about the next chapter for DOCSIS, how CableLabs is connecting with fiber and wireless, and the emerging role of AI and machine learning.

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LR Extra: It's mold, it has the juice

Fri, 04 Oct 2024 16:00:43 GMT

Light Reading editors recap the Dish and DirecTV merger, ongoing outages from Hurricane Helene and why French climbing ropes are best. We also explain what 'mold juice' is and why we wouldn't be caught dead wearing Meta's AR glasses.

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GenAI sparks a data center shakeup

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 12:00:28 GMT

In this episode, Corning's Brian Rhoney and Bob Whitman explained how fiber infrastructure and computing requirements in and across data centers need to change to support GenAI versus traditional cloud computing.

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The Divide: How Veea is delivering wireless connectivity in remote Indonesia

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 12:00:38 GMT

This week: Ewam de Freitas, chief product officer at Veea, on the company's partnership with PT Bum Desa to deliver a wireless network in the city of Argamukti, Indonesia, and how the project is impacting life in the remote region.

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The ugly underbelly of falling telco opex

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 12:00:40 GMT

While telco opex dropped in 2023, the biggest contributor were divestments, which isn't ideal because service providers are selling business segments, explains Omdia's Adam Mackenzie.

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Prof. Feamster puts network performance under the microscope

Wed, 18 Sep 2024 12:00:48 GMT

University of Chicago Professor Nick Feamster and his teams at the Internet Equity Initiative and NetMicroscope are using data analytics to provide insight into regional network performance, application quality and how to improve network automation.

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LR Extra: Tri-fold phones, high-end audio, bear safety and spy earrings

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 17:00:57 GMT

On the Light Reading Extra this week, we cover Huawei's new phone, Apple's iPhone hardware features, what to do if you're confronted by a bear, and the comforting thought of having a producer talking in your ears at all times.

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Telecom East: More 3G sunsets and how AI will change our devices

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 12:00:40 GMT

On the debut episode of Telecom East, Light Reading contributing editor Robert Clark and Ross O'Brien, analyst-in-chief at Delta Analysis, discuss 3G shutdowns, explore the latest numbers from Xiaomi and ZTE and probe the sudden fondness for GPU-as-a-service.

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What's the Story? No lemonade made from a Samsung/Nokia team up

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 12:00:06 GMT

Light Reading's Iain Morris explains why there's speculation about a potential $10 billion takeover by Samsung of Nokia's RAN business and whether such an acquisition is likely to happen.

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Unraveling the 'spaghetti' mess of cybersecurity

Wed, 11 Sep 2024 12:00:19 GMT

Security vendors and enterprise executives might want a more consolidated approach, but the reality is that integrating multiple products is the most well-rounded approach to cybersecurity, says Omdia's Maxine Holt.

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The Divide: How Calix is using education (and a chicken) to help expand broadband

Tue, 10 Sep 2024 12:00:14 GMT

This week: Calix's Claudia Tarbell and Mary St. John on the platform provider's Broadband Academy and Broadband Success Playbook for Tribes, and how these resources are helping people fund, design, build, operate and market broadband networks.

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DataBee CEO on the evolving role of data in cybersecurity

Thu, 05 Sep 2024 12:00:32 GMT

It's critical for enterprises to gather and analyze the right data to prevent and react to cyberthreats, says Nicole Bucala, CEO of DataBee, a company that was incubated at Comcast.

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What's the Story? eSIMs ease wireless woes for travelers

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 18:00:00 GMT

Travel embedded SIMs (eSIMs) are one avenue for travelers to maintain wireless network performance. Now, organizations outside the telecom industry are joining service providers in providing travelers with a range of eSIM service options.

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Ookla on the competitive advantage of 5G standalone

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 12:00:20 GMT

Ookla's Karim Yaici breaks down which regions and service providers are leading the charge in 5G standalone and what this means for enterprises and consumers.

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The Divide: How two rural co-ops are connecting their communities with Conexon

Tue, 27 Aug 2024 12:00:31 GMT

Conexon's Jonathan Chambers joins Washington EMC's Wendy Sellers and Tri-County Electric's Julius Hackett to discuss the rural co-ops' partnerships with Conexon Connect to deploy and deliver fiber broadband to members.

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ACA Connects CEO tackles bulk billing, BEAD, net neutrality and sports streaming

Sat, 24 Aug 2024 12:00:05 GMT

Grant Spellmeyer, president and CEO of ACA Connects, joins the podcast from The Independent Show in Nashville to dig into the top regulatory issues facing an org that represents a large group of independent US operators.

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LR Extra: Waymo honks, facts are good and we can't remember your phone number

Fri, 23 Aug 2024 16:00:40 GMT

Light Reading's editors explore the Waymo honkfest, ponder the fear of contrary opinions, dish on affordable broadband orders and try to remember any phone number that isn't from a flooring commercial.

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The Divide: How Tarana and Choice Broadband are connecting Navajo Nation

Tue, 20 Aug 2024 12:00:24 GMT

This week: Tarana CEO Basil Alwan, and Choice Broadband General Manager Velena Tsosie, discuss their partnership to deliver next-generation fixed wireless access for the Navajo Nation in Tohatchi, New Mexico.

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LR Extra: Pixel peeping, American idioms and satellite service fantasies

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 12:00:02 GMT

Light Reading's editors ponder the Google Pixel 9's new features and once again dine out on their food industry frustrations.

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What's the Story? Starry's rough road to profitability

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 16:00:06 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner discusses how fixed wireless company Starry plans to move from bankruptcy to profitability.

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LR Extra: Olympic dreams and vacation screams

Fri, 09 Aug 2024 16:00:28 GMT

The Light Reading editors share their favorite Olympic events, some facts about Humane's AI pin and Google's autocorrect, and they recall some bad vacations with long car rides and sweaty theme parks.

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The Divide: Benton's John Horrigan on the costs of ACP's end

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 12:00:02 GMT

This week: John Horrigan, senior fellow at Benton, joins to discuss new data showing billions in lost savings for consumers and the economy due to the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

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EchoStar VP: open RAN's 'flexibility is priceless'

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 12:00:32 GMT

EchoStar's Ravinder Jarral explains why the open RAN testing and development initiative, ORCID, was launched and how things are progressing both in the lab and out in the field. ORCID is funded by a $50 million grant from the NTIA.

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The Divide: Blair Levin on what the end of Chevron deference means for broadband

Tue, 16 Jul 2024 12:00:30 GMT

New Street Research analyst Blair Levin joins the podcast to discuss the Supreme Court's recent decision to strike down Chevron deference and what it means for broadband policy and the digital divide.

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Verizon's Novak: Be on the lookout for internal AI security threats

Wed, 10 Jul 2024 12:00:43 GMT

AI largely isn't the looming security threat that the tech and telecom industries imagined, but internal misuse of GenAI tools could pose a problem.

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Digi.City's Collier: Better data use can make our cities smarter

Wed, 03 Jul 2024 12:00:16 GMT

Digi.City's Chelsea Collier points out how cities can become more livable and address spatial and digital inequality by better improving data collection processes.

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The Divide: Gigi Sohn on how the FCC could (still) save the ACP

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 12:00:00 GMT

This week: Gigi Sohn on the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program and a new petition asking the FCC to reconsider its Title II forbearance decision and reopen the door to assessing broadband revenues for the USF.

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What's the Story? Telecom code red

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 12:00:47 GMT

At the DTW24 event in Copenhagen last week, TM Forum CEO Nik Willetts said the telecom industry is experiencing a code red transformational failure.

Light Reading's Tereza Krásová was there, and she explained why that matters and whether the industry feels a sense of urgency about the sector's lack of growth compared to other digital businesses.

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The Divide: How Colorado is preparing to award $826M for BEAD

Tue, 25 Jun 2024 12:00:53 GMT

This week: Brandy Reitter, executive director for Colorado's broadband office, on Internet access and adoption challenges, and next steps for the state's BEAD program now that Colorado's initial proposal received NTIA approval.

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For digital inclusion, broadband access is just the beginning

Fri, 21 Jun 2024 12:00:29 GMT

South Bend, Indiana's Madi Rogers explains how broadband access is just one aspect of reaching the goal of digital inclusion.

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Omdia on the infiltration of AI into telecom services and infrastructure

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 12:00:00 GMT

Omdia Principal Analyst Roz Roseboro explains how AI has historically been used for telecom operations, such as OSS/BSS, but the advent of GenAI and ChatGPT means AI is starting to infiltrate telecom services and infrastructure.

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Making sense of the messy private 5G market

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 12:00:15 GMT

Omdia's Pablo Tomasi joins the podcast to explain why the private 5G market hasn't expanded at the pace service providers expected.

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The Divide: LiveOak Fiber's Steve Smith on deployment milestones and preparing for BEAD

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 12:00:32 GMT

This week: Steve Smith, chief revenue officer for LiveOak Fiber, on the company's deployment milestones in Florida and Georgia, lessons learned along the way and how LiveOak is getting ready for BEAD.

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What's the Story? Tales of woe from the island of misfit AI toys

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 12:00:03 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast with an update on developments in AI gadgets and services, and why the hodgepodge of smart glasses and AI pins have yet to wow consumers or service providers.

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Fixed wireless or fiber? Why not both?

Thu, 06 Jun 2024 16:00:46 GMT

NextLink CSO Claude Aiken discusses the rise of fixed wireless access, the need to automate and simplify broadband provisioning, and how state broadband offices fare when it comes to communication with ISPs.

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Former Voxel COO on moving from the 'Wild West days' to sustainable data centers

Wed, 05 Jun 2024 16:00:27 GMT

The SSIA's Zachary Smith explains hardware interoperability, sustainability and energy use challenges within data centers. He also discusses interest in expanding the use of liquid cooling in data centers and the challenges to deploying that technology.

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The Divide: Why California may pass a new law on digital discrimination

Tue, 04 Jun 2024 12:00:06 GMT

This week: Digital equity advocates Shayna Englin (California Community Foundation) and Kevin Miller (Fresno Coalition for Digital Inclusion) on digital discrimination in California and a new legislative effort to end it.

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MVNO platform looks to add connectivity, not complexity

Fri, 31 May 2024 12:00:39 GMT

Five-year-old OXIO is connecting to telecom networks, so you don't have to. The company's CEO said his platform takes the best parts of telecom networks and layers services on top.

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The Divide: Grading state BEAD plans with ITIF's Jessica Dine

Wed, 29 May 2024 12:00:07 GMT

This week: Jessica Dine, ITIF policy analyst, on her report evaluating and grading state proposals for the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, and how she determined if each state is set to succeed with BEAD.

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The Divide: Navajo County on building middle mile fiber in an 'Internet desert'

Tue, 21 May 2024 12:00:25 GMT

This week: Officials from Navajo County, Arizona, and eX² Technology, on solving the region's digital divide with an open access, middle mile fiber network, and how middle mile capacity will help the county succeed with BEAD.

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Verizon's Andrea Caldini: 'Culture of curiosity' is a pillar for private networks and APIs

Thu, 16 May 2024 16:00:53 GMT

Verizon VP Andrea Caldini returns to the podcast to discuss the service provider's private networks with the NFL and NHL, and how AI can be used to assess network performance.

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5G network timing and synchronization

Wed, 15 May 2024 16:00:18 GMT

Network timing and synchronization has become critical to deliver service performance and resiliency in 5G networks and beyond. In this podcast, Heavy Reading's Sterling Perrin and Ciena's Bashar Abdullah discuss the relevance of the topic for network operators, its challenges and implications, and tools to efficiently deploy it. Sponsored by Ciena.

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Gigs CEO on the business of building a multitude of MVNOs

Wed, 15 May 2024 12:00:12 GMT

The CEO of Gigs, Hermann Frank, says the company provides the components for organizations to launch their own mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). Gigs is an OS for companies, such as banks, to start their own MVNO in a few minutes.

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The Divide: NDIA's Amy Huffman on implementing state digital equity plans

Tue, 14 May 2024 12:00:17 GMT

This week: Amy Huffman, policy director, National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), joins to discuss the government's $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act and NDIA's new best practices manual for implementing digital equity plans.

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Viavi on the pressure of pacing optical testing with AI demands

Mon, 13 May 2024 12:00:06 GMT

Matt Adams, PLM, Fiber Optics Production and Lab Test for Viavi, joins the podcast to discuss the challenges testing equipment vendors face in the data center.

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What's the Story? Samsung's network business struggles

Fri, 10 May 2024 12:00:17 GMT

Light Reading's Iain Morris explains why the financial dip in Samsung's network segment is reflective of economic woes facing the broader industry.

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Ookla's 'North Star' is a better Internet for all

Thu, 09 May 2024 12:00:20 GMT

Ookla's Brennen Smith explains that the organization's 'North Star' or main objective is to support quality of experience of network performance for Internet users. We also discuss standards for network performance.

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ThinkAnalytics gets a fix on FAST

Wed, 08 May 2024 12:00:00 GMT

ThinkAnalytics CEO Marc Aldrich discusses how the company is using metadata and generative AI to help its content partners rapidly schedule and optimize their free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels.

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AI boom breathes new life into optics for the data center

Tue, 07 May 2024 16:00:39 GMT

Heavy Reading's Sterling Perrin joined the podcast to discuss the optical networking industry's opportunity to cash in on the AI boom in the data center.

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The Divide: How Surf Internet is growing its fiber footprint in the Great Lakes region

Tue, 07 May 2024 12:00:14 GMT

This week: Gene Crusie, CEO of Surf Internet, an ISP in Indiana, Michigan and Illinois, on using a blend of private and public funds to reach unserved and underserved areas, how Surf plans to participate in BEAD and more.

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Princeton's Jennifer Rexford: Programmability in 5G access networks is a high stakes game

Fri, 03 May 2024 16:00:01 GMT

Professor Jennifer Rexford joins the podcast to discuss why network programmability is critical to the performance of 5G access networks.

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What's the Story? Iliad eyes acquisition of Ukraine's Datagroup-Volia

Thu, 02 May 2024 12:00:03 GMT

Light Reading's Tereza Krásová joins the podcast to discuss why operator group Iliad wants to purchase Ukrainian fixed provider Datagroup-Volia.

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The Divide: Joey Wender on US Treasury's $10B down payment on closing the digital divide

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 12:00:54 GMT

This week: Joey Wender, director of the capital projects fund at the US Treasury Department, on the status of $10 billion in federal broadband deployment funds.

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DC Blox sheds light on dark fiber, landing station buildouts

Mon, 29 Apr 2024 12:00:04 GMT

DC Blox is just the latest example of a data center provider expanding to do much more as hyperscaler growth provides a catalyst for new dark fiber routes and connectivity services.

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For Verizon, 5G coverage at Jazz Fest is the CATS MEOW

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 16:00:48 GMT

Verizon joins the podcast to explain how the service provider is deploying both permanent and temporary network assets to provide New Orleans Jazz Fest concertgoers with 4G and 5G connectivity.

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Cable modem's 'father' sees his invention reach adulthood

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 12:00:42 GMT

Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard, considered by many as the 'father of the cable modem,' was recently inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame. He joins the podcast to discuss the past, present and future of broadband.

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Quantum Loophole's data center dominion

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 16:00:06 GMT

A fiber-connected development of almost 3.5 square miles in Maryland's largest county aims to introduce a new way to plan for and accommodate hyperscaler growth and whatever the computing needs of AI will demand next.

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Great Plains CIO: Acquisitions ease operations transformation

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 12:00:48 GMT

Great Plains Communications CIO Katie Curtis explains how recent acquisitions have contributed to upgrading the telco's OSS/BSS.

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The Divide: Why BEAD funds should go to local service providers

Tue, 23 Apr 2024 12:00:18 GMT

This week: Kerry Haughan, SVP, commercial strategy at Calix, on why Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) funds should go to local providers, and overcoming the hurdles making it hard for smaller providers to participate.

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Verizon taps into 5G, the edge and the cloud to cut live TV sports

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 12:00:15 GMT

At NAB, Verizon Business showed off the future of live TV production by using its public 5G network, in tandem with its edge compute capabilities and AWS's cloud, to cut and edit a live NHL game.

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Data center CTO weighs in on AI demands, liquid cooling and telecom transparency

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 12:00:56 GMT

John Sasser, CTO, Sabey Data Centers, discusses the power, cooling and capacity requirements of AI and cloud computing clients. Sabey is expanding to new locations and reworking its existing buildings to deploy new infrastructure.

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Precision OT EVP on saving customers from optical 'landmines'

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 12:00:18 GMT

Keith Habberfield, EVP for Precision Optical Technologies (OT), joins the podcast with a behind-the-scenes look at the effort required to participate alongside 46 other companies in the OIF demo at the recent OFC Conference in San Diego.

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The Divide: Hughes SVP on low-density broadband and keeping satellite competitive

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 12:00:45 GMT

This week: Mark Wymer, SVP at Hughes, on how the company's Jupiter-3 satellite has enabled faster service options, and how Hughes views satellite broadband's future as more federally funded fiber rolls out in rural areas.

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What's the Story? Vecima makes a $20M play for Casa's cable business

Thu, 11 Apr 2024 12:00:48 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast to discuss Casa System's Chapter 11 filing and the company's plans to sell off its 5G and cable assets.

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Ciena VP on the trouble with traditional OSS

Wed, 10 Apr 2024 12:00:56 GMT

Ciena's Kailem Anderson explains the challenges telcos face in managing legacy OSS/BSS, and why Ciena used AI and a Kubernetes architecture in its new Blue Planet OSS platform.

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5G Transport priorities – insights from Heavy Reading's Operators Survey

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 16:00:00 GMT

Heavy Reading's Sterling Perrin and Ciena's Francisco Sant'Anna discuss the current priorities of network operators on 5G transport and the state of the market, based on the results from the recent 5G Network Strategies Operator Survey. Sponsored by Ciena.

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The Divide: Conexon's Jonathan Chambers on rural fiber, BEAD and the future of ACP

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 12:00:46 GMT

This week: Jonathan Chambers, partner at Conexon, joins to discuss Conexon's progress in deploying rural fiber, plus his concerns about the $42 billion BEAD program, how to save the ACP and more.

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How AI is changing fiber design

Mon, 08 Apr 2024 12:00:32 GMT

OFC 2024: According to Corning's Sharon Bois, fiber providers have an opportunity to bring a lot of innovation to service provider networks and data centers as bandwidth demands skyrocket.

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Artificial intelligence driving network capacity and what this means for data center connectivity

Mon, 08 Apr 2024 11:00:50 GMT

This episode of the Executive Spotlight Q&A, recorded onsite at OFC 2024, features Rob Shore, Senior Vice President of Global Marketing at Infinera. He discusses key industry trends driving bandwidth growth, provides perspective on challenges facing network operators, and shares how indium phosphide-based photonic integrated circuit solutions are helping network operators overcome these challenges. Sponsored by Infinera.

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What's the Story? T-Mobile and SpaceX play the long game on direct-to-cell service

Thu, 04 Apr 2024 12:00:26 GMT

Light Reading editors discuss why it could take a while before service providers start seeing meaningful revenue from direct-to-cell satellite services, if ever.

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The Divide: Why NaLA says the fight for ACP funds isn't over

Tue, 02 Apr 2024 12:00:41 GMT

Committee chairs with the National Lifeline Association (NaLA), Danielle Perry and Kristi Brown, on the need for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and why they're not giving up on getting funding from Congress.

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AI tide could raise boats in optical industry

Wed, 27 Mar 2024 12:00:23 GMT

From OFC: Omdia's Ian Redpath joins the podcast to discuss how the optical industry is stepping up to the challenge of providing the necessary connectivity inside and outside the data center to power AI workloads.

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The Divide: Maine's five key strategies for achieving digital equity

Tue, 26 Mar 2024 12:00:58 GMT

This week: We hear from the Maine Connectivity Authority's Maggie Drummond-Bahl on the state's NTIA-approved digital equity plan and its 'five key strategies' for closing the digital divide.

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Midco's Pao Lo on DOCSIS 3.1 'stretch,' D4.0 and mobile's potential

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 12:00:48 GMT

Midco is using low-splits and high-splits to help extend the life of its HFC network, but sees targeted opportunities for DOCSIS 4.0. Midco is also evaluating adding mobile to the bundle, says VP of network engineering Pao Lo.

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The Divide: Utopia Fiber CEO on the fight for municipal, open access broadband

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 12:00:36 GMT

This week: Roger Timmerman, CEO of Utopia Fiber, on Utopia's progress bringing broadband competition to Utah and beyond, plus his response to an ad campaign attacking Utopia and other municipal networks – and more.

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Cable flirts with 'fiber-first,' pursues more spectrum sharing

Mon, 18 Mar 2024 12:00:21 GMT

Jeff Baumgartner, Sue Marek and Mike Dano discuss highlights from the Cable Next-Gen event in Denver, spanning the road ahead for DOCSIS, fiber, wireless, low-latency broadband, and the evolution of video and pay-TV.

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What's the Story? Aramco Digital wants to democratize access to AI chips

Thu, 14 Mar 2024 12:00:57 GMT

In this podcast, Light Reading's Iain Morris explains why Aramco Digital CEO Tareq Amin wants to provide 'AI-infrastructure-as-a-service' to customers and democratize access to AI chips, in part by teaming up with startup Groq.

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Colt COO Buddy Bayer on why AI, security are top concerns for IT

Wed, 13 Mar 2024 12:00:24 GMT

Colt COO Buddy Bayer joins the podcast to discuss why AI, security, automation, sustainability and quantum computing are front of mind for IT teams and how Colt works with its enterprise customers to address their goals for these technologies.

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The Divide: How Vermont is tackling three main barriers to broadband adoption

Tue, 12 Mar 2024 12:00:16 GMT

This week: Britaney Watson, digital equity officer at the Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB), on the biggest broadband barriers for Vermonters, takeaways from the state's proposed Digital Equity Plan and more.

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Light Reading Extra: MWC reeks of AI and API desperation

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 13:00:17 GMT

With tapas and cervezas in the rear view, Light Reading's Mike Dano, Phil Harvey, Tereza Krásová and Iain Morris recap the conversations around AI, open radio access network (RAN) technology, sustainability and other topics that dominated this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC).

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Ericsson on industrializing Open RAN (sponsored)

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 12:30:00 GMT

From Mobile World Congress 2024 – Open RAN plays an important role in achieving the vision of future networks, and Ericsson is leading the industrialization of the three pillars of Open RAN: cloudification, open fronthaul and open management.

This podcast is sponsored by Ericsson.

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Gridmetrics taps into the power of the broadband network

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 13:00:28 GMT

Gridmetrics' Scott Caruso explains how the CableLabs subsidiary is using hundreds of thousands of node-based sensors to create a unique, hyperlocal view of the status of the power grid and how that data is being put to use.

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The Divide: North Dakota's broadband director on building the state's BEAD program

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 13:00:46 GMT

This week: North Dakota's broadband program director, Brian Newby, joins the show to discuss closing the state's remaining digital divide, and how his office is working to build a 'pro-carrier' BEAD program.

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What's the Story? The ripple effect of the Orange and Másmóvil merger

Thu, 29 Feb 2024 13:00:36 GMT

Light Reading's Tereza Krasova explains what the $20 billion Orange/Másmóvil merger could mean for other service provider mergers in the EU.

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Comcast's MachineQ expands playbook for enterprise IoT

Wed, 28 Feb 2024 14:00:09 GMT

Here are some topics we cover during the podcast:

Witkowski offers an updated overview of MachineQ and its approach to the enterprise IoT sector (1:33)
Examples of how MachineQ is tailoring its platform for various verticals, including hospitality (4:20)
How MachineQ is gaining traction outside the US (6:15)
How MachineQ collaborates with Comcast Business to market and sell enterprise IoT services (7:30)
How MachineQ's platform has evolved to go beyond LoRaWAN to cover a wider range of enterprise IoT applications and services (11:50)
Why smart cities are not a key area of focus at MachineQ (15:00)
How MachineQ is starting to apply AI and machine learning to enterprise IoT (17:45)
MachineQ's priorities for 2024 (27:00)

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What's the Story? Gone is the multi-vendor dream of open RAN… for now

Fri, 23 Feb 2024 13:00:29 GMT

Light Reading's Phil Harvey, Iain Morris and Mike Dano join the podcast to discuss the original goal of open RAN compared to recent moves by service providers to go all-in on one vendor.

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Omdia on why telcos are increasingly fixated on reducing opex

Thu, 15 Feb 2024 13:00:53 GMT

Omdia's Adam Mackenzie joins the podcast to dig into the causes of rising opex and explain how service providers can manage it.

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What's the Story? NTIA's Alan Davidson calls for 'army of auditors' to regulate AI

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 13:00:02 GMT

Light Reading's Phil Harvey joins the podcast from on-site at the 20th annual State of the Net conference in Washington, DC, where NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson said the US government needs to utilize an 'army of auditors' to better regulate and manage AI.

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What's the Story? Much ado about YouTube TV's meteoric rise

Tue, 13 Feb 2024 13:00:23 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast to discuss YouTube TV becoming a primary player in the pay TV market, hitting the 8 million subscriber mark. Meanwhile, traditional pay TV players are treading water as more subscribers cut the cord.

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The Divide: How United Fiber and Calix are connecting communities in rural Missouri

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 13:00:12 GMT

In this episode, we hear from United Fiber's Darren Farnan and Calix's Matt Collins about United Fiber's work to close Northwest Missouri's digital divide and how the companies have partnered to deliver additional community benefits.

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Gigi Sohn on the fight for public broadband

Thu, 01 Feb 2024 15:05:19 GMT

Gigi Sohn, executive director of the American Association for Public Broadband (AAPB), spoke to Light Reading about municipal broadband networks in the US, including why and where they're popping up the most, where the biggest success stories are, and how her organization is working to defend against efforts by incumbent providers and "dark money" groups to derail community networks. Interview conducted by Light Reading contributor Diana Blass.

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Ritter's CTO on the future of fiber, HFC, video and (maybe) mobile

Mon, 29 Jan 2024 14:40:39 GMT

Victor Esposito, Ritter Communications' new CTO, says the company's fiber expansion is a top priority, even as the operator spruces up its HFC network and mulls the future role of video.

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The Divide: How local governments are leading on digital inclusion

Wed, 24 Jan 2024 13:00:21 GMT

We're joined by Paolo Balboa, senior program manager, National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), Jessica Hatch, broadband coordinator of Door County, Wisconsin and Ashley Pollard, digital inclusion manager for the city of Philadelphia, to discuss the crucial work local governments are doing to close connectivity gaps.

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What's the Story? Wireless price hikes don't deter customers

Tue, 23 Jan 2024 13:00:52 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss why wireless prices are going up as US carriers increase fees.

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Ibrahim Gedeon is not the retiring type

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 15:00:48 GMT

Ibrahim Gedeon, former CTO of Telus, talks about technology strategy, compelling AI use cases, the evolution of telecom companies and much more in his exit interview with Light Reading.

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Nuvyyo sizes up ATSC 3.0 for new Tablo device, explores potential cable tie-ups

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 13:00:55 GMT

Grant Hall, CEO of Scripps-owned Nuvyyo, expands on the new, subscription-free Tablo video device for cord-cutters, how ATSC 3.0 fits into the future and how Tablo might make a connection with cable operators.

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Why the ONF shut down

Thu, 18 Jan 2024 17:05:24 GMT

Roy Chua, founder and principal of AvidThink joins the podcast to discuss the end of the ONF as we know it, but how three of its projects will continue under the purview of the Linux Foundation.

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Philo revs up its FAST strategy as subs exceed 1M

Thu, 18 Jan 2024 13:00:19 GMT

Philo CEO Andrew McCollum discusses the streaming service's FAST strategy, how Philo has kept its pricing stable and how media consolidation might help to add news and sports channels without breaking the bank.

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Peter Adderton on MobileX's path to disruption

Mon, 15 Jan 2024 13:00:17 GMT

From CES 2024: Peter Adderton, CEO of MobileX, says his new prepaid offering will disrupt the market thanks in part to money-saving AI tools. He also thinks Dish-owned Boost unit should 'get out of retail' and cable should provide wholesale access.

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Keep Calm and Adopt Cloud

Thu, 11 Jan 2024 15:48:16 GMT

This episode features Guy Hilton, Vice President, Strategy and Go-To-Market, AmdocsCloud. We discuss the concept of "industry cloud" and its potential to fast-track cloud adoption and modernization.

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What's the Story? BT awaits ruling on missed Huawei removal deadline

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 13:00:11 GMT

Light Reading's Iain Morris joins the podcast to discuss whether BT will get dinged for missing the UK government's deadline to fully remove Huawei from its core network.

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The Divide: How Toptana is bringing broadband to the Quinault Indian Nation

Tue, 09 Jan 2024 13:00:59 GMT

Tyson Johnston, chair of Toptana, joins the show to discuss the digital divide in and around the Quinault Indian Nation, in Washington, and how a new subsea cable landing station will help enable last-mile connectivity.

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AI, flying cars on tap for CES 2024

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 17:00:44 GMT

Brian Comiskey, director of thematic programs for the Consumer Technology Association, offers a preview of CES 2024, which is expected to draw about 130,000 attendees.

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WWT Immersive XR Experiences

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 13:00:03 GMT

Light Reading has recognized World Wide Technology (WWT) for innovating edge computing solutions at WWT Raceway called RaceAR leveraging Edge in a Box solution. #Sponsored

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Behind the scenes with Verizon 5G at Super Bowl LVIII stadium

Thu, 04 Jan 2024 13:00:05 GMT

Light Reading met up with Verizon's Vivencio Luna, Associate Director of Network Performance, on site at Allegiant Stadium for a behind-the-scenes tour of the network infrastructure Verizon has deployed ahead of Super Bowl LVIII.

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Hold the champagne: SES CSO says MEO satellite launch is no cake walk

Wed, 03 Jan 2024 13:00:47 GMT

John-Paul (JP) Hemingway, chief strategy officer for SES, joins the podcast to explain how the satellite company prepares for and executes a satellite launch.

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What's the Story? The reverberating revenue ramifications of the AT&T and Ericsson open RAN deal

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 13:00:08 GMT

Light Reading's Phil Harvey, Iain Morris and Mike Dano discuss the economic impact the AT&T and Ericsson open RAN deal could have on both large and small vendors in the telecom industry.

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The Divide: How Highline and Ciena are tackling difficult deployments

Tue, 19 Dec 2023 13:00:03 GMT

This episode features Matt Hayes, CTO at Highline – a regional ISP owned by ITC Capital, serving Michigan, Nebraska, Texas, Kansas, Colorado and Georgia – and Kevin Sheehan, CTO of the Americas at Ciena, a partner of Highline's. We discuss where and how Highline is helping to close the digital divide for unserved and underserved regions with public and private funds, what role Ciena is playing in spurring those deployments and much more.

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Sweepr CTO: 'Engagement' and 'containment' critical metrics for digital customer care

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 13:00:18 GMT

Sweepr CTO Jim Hannon discusses the evolutionary path of digital customer care and how contextual AI is helping to improve and harden the experience to entice customers to use (and reuse) those digital platforms.

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Ericsson casts shadow over Open RAN North America

Tue, 12 Dec 2023 19:06:36 GMT

Light Reading's Phil Harvey explained that while talk of AT&T and Ericsson's partnership dominated conversation at the Open RAN North America event, the news was surprising in light of Ericsson's lack of open RAN certifications.

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What's the Story? Broadcom, MaxLinear give DOCSIS 3.1 a facelift

Tue, 12 Dec 2023 14:02:12 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner discusses new developments by chipmakers Broadcom and MaxLinear and how their new DOCSIS 3.1 chips might impact the cable industry.

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What's the Story? Optus further tarnishes reputation with network crash

Sat, 09 Dec 2023 13:00:10 GMT

Light Reading's Robert Clark joins the podcast to explain how Optus' network crash happened, and the impact it had on customers and their trust in the service provider.

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The Divide: Federated CEO Iyad Tarazi on connecting students with private wireless

Thu, 07 Dec 2023 13:00:35 GMT

This week: Iyad Tarazi, CEO of Federated Wireless, on the company's efforts to close the digital divide with private wireless, including its recent deployment in Tukwila, Washington, connecting 1,200 students.

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Helium Mobile takes DeWi nationwide with $20 mobile plan

Wed, 06 Dec 2023 13:00:13 GMT

Helium Mobile's Boris Renski joins the podcast to explain how the decentralized wireless company plans to scale nationwide with a new unlimited data plan for $20 per month.

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Funding, telco buy-in still needed to propel open RAN

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 13:00:35 GMT

Mari Silbey, Senior Director at US Ignite, joins the podcast to explain how government funding, such as NTIA grants, will support service provider engagement in open RAN deployments.

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vRAN is a 'mandatory step' for operators deploying open RAN

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 13:00:53 GMT

Gilles Garcia, senior director and business lead for the Data Center and Communications Group at AMD, joins the podcast to explain why virtual radio access networks (vRAN) could be an important step for service providers to take on the way to deploying open RAN

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Open RAN success is a 'choose your own adventure' for telcos

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 15:08:27 GMT

Patrick Lopez, founder and CEO of Core Analysis, joins the podcast to discuss the state of the open radio access network (RAN) market in North America.

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The Divide: Tarana's Carl Guardino on FWA's role in BEAD and beyond

Tue, 28 Nov 2023 13:00:14 GMT

Carl Guardino, VP at Tarana, joins the podcast to discuss where Tarana's G1 platform is helping close the digital divide, where the BEAD program still leaves room for fixed wireless over fiber and much more.

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What's the Story? The pricey privacy problem with Humane and T-Mobile's Ai Pin

Tue, 21 Nov 2023 13:00:41 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins us to discuss a new wearable alternative to smartphones. Humane unveiled its Ai Pin, a nearly two-inch wide smart pin powered by T-Mobile's network and OpenAI's ChatGPT.

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The Divide: FBA's Deborah Kish on filling out the fiber workforce

Tue, 14 Nov 2023 13:00:30 GMT

The Fiber Broadband Association's Deborah Kish joins the podcast to discuss the state of the fiber workforce. Kish shares progress made on the FBA's OpTIC Path program and why veterans make up a large portion of that program and fiber jobs overall.

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Infinera CEO on CHIPs, AI and 'spinning the wheel of innovation'

Thu, 09 Nov 2023 13:00:12 GMT

Infinera CEO David Heard joins the podcast to discuss how the government's $53 billion investment in semiconductor research and manufacturing could significantly impact the optical networking industry in the US.

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The Divide: Ting CEO Elliot Noss on mid-market fiber and the 'last war' of broadband pricing

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 13:00:08 GMT

Elliot Noss, CEO of Ting, joins the podcast to discuss how the company is reaching underserved urban markets in partnership with communities like Memphis and Colorado Springs, why Ting is using the Affordable Connectivity Program to deliver free gigabit services and more.

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DOCSIS 4.0 interops gear up for next phase

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 12:00:27 GMT

CableLabs CEO Phil McKinney joins the podcast from his private bus, parked on the show floor of last week's Cable-Tec Expo in Denver. McKinney says CableLabs and its Kyrio subsidiary are preparing for a third DOCSIS 4.0 interop that will center on proactive network maintenance.

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The Divide: Free Press' Josh Stager on the FCC's move to restore Title II oversight

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 12:00:58 GMT

Josh Stager, policy director at Free Press, joins the podcast to discuss the FCC's move to restore Title II rules for broadband providers, and to debunk some of the industry's arguments opposing the proceeding.

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OpenVault spots rise of broadband's 'extreme power users'

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 12:00:41 GMT

OpenVault CEO Mark Trudeau discusses the emergence of 'extreme power users' who consume more than 5TB of data per month and how operators can manage this small but growing group of customers.

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What's the Story? FCC grants E-Rate funds for Wi-Fi on school buses

Tue, 24 Oct 2023 12:00:19 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss the FCC's recent ruling to provide E-Rate money for Wi-Fi on school buses.

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Cable-Tec Expo: DOCSIS 4.0, PON, open RAN and the urge to converge

Mon, 23 Oct 2023 13:38:38 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner and Mike Dano join Omdia's Jaimie Lenderman to wrap up their big takeaways from this week's high-energy SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in the Mile High City.

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Verizon Frontline's 5G vehicles weather winter storms

Tue, 17 Oct 2023 12:00:03 GMT

Chris Click, Senior Manager of Wireless Network Assurance for Verizon, and Matt Brungardt, Crisis Response Manager for Verizon Frontline, join the podcast to share how Verizon Frontline prepares for seasonal winter storms.

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Cable Tec-Expo 2023: Onward, DOCSIS 4.0!

Mon, 16 Oct 2023 16:37:04 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner, Omdia's Jaimie Lenderman and Heavy Reading's Alan Breznick preview the hot topics and key themes as SCTE Cable-Tec Expo gets underway in Denver.

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Light Reading Extra: Smartphones v. dumb phones

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 14:18:09 GMT

Light Reading editors Phil Harvey, Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano, and Nicole Ferraro discuss a new market of digital detox enthusiasts (and at least one company) striving to give up smartphones for something lighter.

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What's the Story? Vantiva wants to revive CommScope's Home Networks unit

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 12:23:46 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner explains how Vantiva's acquisition of CommScope's troubled Home Networks unit could impact the companies' bottom lines.

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The Divide: Why the Affordable Connectivity Program is key to closing the digital divide

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 12:00:20 GMT

This week: We hear from five digital equity leaders on their work to enroll people in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), the importance of the ACP to their communities, and why it's urgent for Congress to reallocate funding for the program if the US is serious about closing the digital divide.

Guests in order of first appearance include: Candace Browdy, exec. director, Connect Lake County; Elizabeth Ramirez, first digital navigator, Connect Lake County; Natalie Betancur, deputy director, Center for Digital Equity; Tiffany White, digital navigator, Center for Digital Equity; and Maddie L, former digital equity coordinator for Little Rock, Arkansas. Special thanks to Network:On for assisting with this episode; check out their Connect the 20% campaign here.

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MWC Las Vegas – Why 6G deserves more of the spotlight

Mon, 02 Oct 2023 15:06:15 GMT

Phil Harvey joins the podcast to discuss which private 5G network use cases are rising to the forefront and why there should have been more of a focus on 6G at this year's MWC Las Vegas event.

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MWC Las Vegas – More spectrum, less regulation and AI for all

Wed, 27 Sep 2023 12:00:57 GMT

Light Reading's Phil Harvey dishes on MWC Las Vegas and the challenges telcos face in deploying generative AI tools.

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What's the Story? Not all telcos are on board with neutral host networks… yet

Tue, 26 Sep 2023 12:00:22 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss which vendors and service providers are teaming up to support neutral host private wireless deployments.

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Arelion's Mattias Fridström: Network disaggregation ain't easy, it's necessary

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 12:00:48 GMT

Arelion's Mattias Fridström joins the podcast to discuss why disaggregation in service provider networks is necessary and 'good in our industry,' but also 'keeps everyone on their toes and keeps the operators buying the latest and greatest gear.'

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The Divide: Where and why Zayo is building middle mile infrastructure

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 12:05:52 GMT

This episode features Bill Long, chief product officer at Zayo. We discuss where and why Zayo is building middle mile infrastructure, the status of their projects, how the company is collaborating with local ISPs in the lead up to BEAD funding – and more.

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What's the Story? These tech MVPs eat R&D for breakfast

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 12:00:34 GMT

Light Reading's Phil Harvey, Tereza Krasova and Kelsey Ziser join the podcast to discuss tech trends they identified among finalists in the 2023 Leading Lights Awards, from industry MVPs, advances in disaggregated networks, momentum in R&D and more.

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What's the Story? 'Brainless robots' are smarter than you think

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 12:00:44 GMT

Light Reading's Iain Morris and Nicole Ferraro discuss tech trends they identified while selecting finalists for the 2023 Leading Lights Awards, from AI and ML for network analytics, to new tech addressing the digital divide – and more.

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VMware's Sanjay Uppal – Automate to avoid edge mismanagement

Thu, 14 Sep 2023 12:00:43 GMT

LAS VEGAS – VMware Explore – Sanjay Uppal, SVP and GM of service provider & edge business for VMware, joins the podcast to discuss how the company's customers are deploying secure access service edge (SASE) and software-defined wide area networks (SD-WAN).

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What's the Story? Banking on AI to boost network efficiency

Wed, 13 Sep 2023 12:00:22 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano and Jeff Baumgartner join the podcast to discuss tech trends they discovered while selecting finalists for the 2023 Leading Lights Awards.

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Don't just assume the edge network will be available - VMware

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 12:00:25 GMT

LAS VEGAS – VMware Explore – Abe Ankumah, VP GM of SASE for VMware, joined the podcast to discuss how the company's new Edge Cloud Orchestrator is assisting enterprises in managing cloud workloads at the edge.

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The Divide: Closing the broadband gap in Appalachia

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 12:00:25 GMT

This episode features Donna Gambrell, president and CEO of Appalachian Community Capital (ACC), and Brian Vo, chief investment officer at Connect Humanity. We discuss the state of the digital divide throughout Appalachia, one of the least-connected regions in the US.

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What's the Story? T-Mobile, MNOs throw shade on cable MVNOs

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 21:02:58 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano joined the podcast to discuss why cable MVNOs are performing better than expected and what this means for wireless provider competitors such as T-Mobile.

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ETSI's Scott Cadzow debunks misconceptions of AI

Thu, 10 Aug 2023 12:00:44 GMT

Scott Cadzow, the chair of ETSI's ISG SAI and ETSI Fellow 2023, joins the podcast to address some common misconceptions about AI.

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What's the Story? SA regulator cracks down on Big Tech

Sat, 05 Aug 2023 12:00:06 GMT

Connecting Africa's Paula Gilbert joins the podcast to discuss why global online platform giants Google, Apple, Booking.com and Uber Eats as well as local online retailers and classifieds are in trouble with the South Africa's Competition Commission.

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Ookla's Sylwia Kechiche on prioritizing 5G performance and reliability

Fri, 04 Aug 2023 12:00:28 GMT

Sylwia Kechiche, principal analyst of enterprise for Ookla, joins the podcast to discuss why the industry should focus more on 5G performance and reliability.

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What's the Story? UK operators to trade 3G for more efficient networks

Wed, 02 Aug 2023 13:40:21 GMT

Light Reading's Tereza Krásová joins the podcast to discuss plans UK operators have to turn off their 2G and 3G networks.

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AWS chief technologist on the responsible approach to gen AI

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 12:00:25 GMT

Ishwar Parulkar, chief technologist for telecom and edge cloud at AWS, discusses generative AI applications for the telecom industry and how to approach this in a responsible, secure manner.

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What's the Story? Boston to trial 5G broadcast technology

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 12:00:23 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner joined the podcast to chat about a Boston-area TV station trialing 5G broadcast technology.

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Bango banks on the rise of the 'superbundle'

Fri, 21 Jul 2023 12:00:44 GMT

Bango's VP of marketing, Giles Tongue, discusses how the company is helping telcos like Verizon and Optus build centralized hubs that customers can tap into to manage a wide range of Internet-delivered subscription services.

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Bombs away for Zayo's subsea cable project

Thu, 20 Jul 2023 12:00:38 GMT

James Ovel, VP of operations for Europe at Zayo Group, joined the podcast to discuss some unique challenges the service provider faced while planning for its Zeus submarine cable project.

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What's the Story? AT&T, Verizon, Dish and others hunt for common network APIs

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 12:00:29 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss how AT&T, Verizon, Dish Network, the GSMA and others are approaching the development of network APIs.

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What's the Story? Kyivstar won't quit on connecting Ukraine

Thu, 13 Jul 2023 12:00:27 GMT

Light Reading's Tereza Krasova joined the podcast to discuss how Ukranian services provider Kyivstar is addressing infrastructure and energy challenges to providing network connectivity to the region.

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Verizon VP Andrea Caldini on managing private 5G for venues

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 12:00:42 GMT

Andrea Caldini, VP of product engineering and development at Verizon, joined the podcast to discuss where the service provider is focusing its attention on private 5G.

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What's the Story? DT gives side eye to EU over Huawei ban

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 12:00:13 GMT

Light Reading's Iain Morris joins the podcast to discuss mounting pressure on European mobile network operators to avoid Huawei and ZTE when looking for equipment and tech suppliers for their 5G networks.

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The Divide: ConnectLA's Veneeth Iyengar on Louisiana's BEAD and digital equity plans

Tue, 27 Jun 2023 12:00:44 GMT

This episode features Veneeth Iyengar, executive director for Louisiana's broadband office (ConnectLA), on solving Louisiana's digital divide and what to know about the state's initial proposal for BEAD, or the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program.

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Comcast gives the low-down on low-latency DOCSIS

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 12:00:23 GMT

Jason Livingood joins the podcast to discuss Comcast's low-latency DOCSIS trials, how LLD works, why the time is right for LLD and how LLD plays nice with network neutrality principles.

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What's the Story? Comcast's niche 10-Gig fiber service

Wed, 21 Jun 2023 12:00:02 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast to discuss Comcast's launch of symmetrical 10-Gig speeds for its "Gigabit Pro" service.

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Apple's Vision Pro not for the mass market but a dream for developers

Sat, 17 Jun 2023 12:00:02 GMT

Gerard Kunkel and Chris Pizzurro, two cable industry vets, discuss their new initiatives plus the trials and tribulations of VR, AR, the metaverse and the fragmented video industry.

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Ciena pursues carbon neutral status by 2024

Thu, 15 Jun 2023 12:00:45 GMT

OTTAWA – Ciena Vectors Event – Beth Hunter, director of ESG communications and social impact, and Helen Xenos, senior director of optical portfolio marketing for Ciena, joined the podcast to discuss Ciena's carbon neutral and emission reduction goals for 2024.

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Ciena's Steve Alexander and Rebecca Smith on the surge to 1.6 terabits

Wed, 14 Jun 2023 12:00:08 GMT

OTTAWA – Ciena Vectors Event – Ciena CTO Steve Alexander and CMO Rebecca Smith joined the podcast to discuss why the company leapfrogged the industry to develop the WaveLogic 6 modem, a 1.6 Tbit/s coherent optical technology.

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The Divide: Ernesto Falcon on expanding affordable broadband in California

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 12:05:24 GMT

This episode features Ernesto Falcon, senior legislative counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), who recently announced his candidacy for California's Senate District 7. We discuss the role of the digital divide in his campaign and candidacy.

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What's the Story? Mobile gender gap hovers around 20%

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 12:00:31 GMT

Connecting Africa's Paula Gilbert joins the podcast to discuss the GSMA's Mobile Gender Gap Report. She shares the status of the mobile gender gap in low- and middle-income countries, where the gap is widest, and what the barriers to access and ownership are for women.

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The Notebook Dump: Orange you glad the week is over?

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 17:00:15 GMT

Light Reading editors Jeff Baumgartner, Nicole Ferraro, Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser discuss the week New York turned orange, the future of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), takeaways from Ciena's Vectors event and Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, and the implications of CableLabs kicking off its DOCSIS 4.0 modem certification program.

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The Divide: IEEE's David Witkowski on LEO's scalability challenges

Wed, 07 Jun 2023 12:00:46 GMT

This episode features IEEE Senior Member David Witkowski, who serves as co-chair of the Deployment Working Group at IEEE Future Networks. We discuss the evolution of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity and what the current state of the industry says about the role LEOs can play in closing connectivity gaps.

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Nokia Bell Labs' Peter Vetter: 6G, the network with the sixth sense

Sat, 03 Jun 2023 12:00:30 GMT

Peter Vetter, president of Bell Labs Core Research at Nokia, joins the podcast to discuss challenges to deploying and reaping the benefits of 6G.

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What's the Story? TXO takes on tenuous supply chain and equipment incumbents

Fri, 02 Jun 2023 17:00:32 GMT

Light Reading's Tereza Krásová joins the podcast to discuss TXO System's role in the "circular economy."

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American Tower and IBM take sustainability from the cloud to the edge

Fri, 02 Jun 2023 12:00:49 GMT

Patrice McAree, VP of innovation for American Tower, joins the podcast to discuss partnering with IBM to address artificial intelligence and sustainability goals. Briana Frank, VP of product & design for IBM Cloud, also joins to share IBM's new AI and cloud technologies.

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Omdia's Fernando Montenegro on the democratization of generative AI in cybersecurity

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 12:00:14 GMT

Fernando Montenegro, senior principal analyst with Omdia, joins the podcast to discuss recent security trends such as the increased use of AI for cybersecurity. Plus, he explains how the popularity of generative AI such as ChatGPT has led to the "democratization of the information that's locked inside those large language models into a broader population."

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The Divide: USTelecom's Jonathan Spalter on striving for universal connectivity

Wed, 31 May 2023 12:00:56 GMT

This episode features Jonathan Spalter, president and CEO of USTelecom. We discuss the Biden administration's goal of universal broadband connectivity and how the telecommunications industry is working to meet it witha mix of public and private funding, including the forthcoming $42.5 billion Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

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What's the Story? The Leading Lights Awards

Sat, 27 May 2023 12:00:35 GMT

Light Reading's Leading Lights Awards program is entering its 19th year, and the awards are now open for entries. In this podcast, Editors Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser discuss new categories and their advice for submitting a solid entry.

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The Notebook Dump: Banks, broadband, Big 5G

Fri, 26 May 2023 17:00:06 GMT

Light Reading editors Mike Dano, Nicole Ferraro, Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser discuss big topics from last week's Big 5G Event in Austin, including generative AI.

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Harmonic's Richard Rommes: How to Maximize Cable's PON Prospects

Wed, 24 May 2023 12:00:13 GMT

Richard Rommes, Harmonic's VP of Access Networks Solutions and Strategy, discusses the future of EPON and XGS-PON and how Harmonic's "Open ONU" solution can help cable operators mix and match DOCSIS and PON technologies in their HFC networks. #sponsored

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The Divide: Gigi Sohn on the FCC, dark money in politics and why public broadband matters

Tue, 23 May 2023 12:00:25 GMT

Gigi Sohn, President Biden's former nominee for FCC Commissioner, joins the podcast to discuss her nomination process, and what it says about dark money in politics and the industry at large. We also discuss what her most urgent goals would have been as FCC Commissioner, the state of the FCC's broadband map as it relates to the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, her concerns about the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) running dry, how she hopes to reframe the public broadband debate and much more.

*This conversation was recorded before President Biden nominated Anna Gomez to serve as FCC Commissioner on May 22.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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ISPs, including cable ops, want to plug into Gigapower

Mon, 22 May 2023 12:00:35 GMT

Bill Hogg, the CEO of Gigapower, joins the Light Reading Podcast to expand on the company's open access model. He discusses plans to build to 1.5 million locations by 2025, exploration beyond that initial target and how Gigapower is sizing up opportunities to participate in the $42.45 Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Notebook Dump: 5G monetization, MVNOs and scooter racing

Fri, 19 May 2023 17:00:31 GMT

AUSTIN – Big 5G Event – Light Reading editors Phil Harvey, Kelsey Ziser, Iain Morris and Mike Dano gathered on the show floor to discuss their top takeaways from the Big 5G Event, including the state of 5G monetization, open RAN, MVNOs and more. Hear all about it in The Notebook Dump for the week ending May 19.

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Navigating the Fiber Landscape: A Strategic View on Infrastructure Monetization

Wed, 17 May 2023 18:30:13 GMT

In this podcast episode Paul Barowsky, the Chief Growth Officer at Comviva joins Light Reading contributing editor Sue Marek as they discuss the role of BSS technology in enabling fiber companies to monetize their networks and create sustainable businesses.

Paul emphasizes the importance of automation and simplification of the operators' ability to monetize their networks through BSS solutions. He also talks about the benefits of implementing BSS solutions, including creating pricing and bundling strategies, leveraging AI and machine learning campaigns to promote bundles in real time, and creating creative pricing and bundling models that differentiate the offer.

This podcast is sponsored by Comviva

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Accelerate the path to digital transformation and revenue growth through modern BSS

Wed, 17 May 2023 18:19:18 GMT

In this episode, Ken Wieland, a contributing editor for Light Reading based in London, speaks with Sachin Saraf, Chief Operating Officer for Digitech business at Comviva, about how modern business support systems can accelerate digital transformation for operators and help them grow profitable revenue.

They discuss the current mood of the industry, trends seen in discussions with customers, and the challenges of meeting increased demand for bandwidth while maintaining current revenue models. Sachin explains how 5G is strategic for many customers, how it will help define new use cases, and the investment required for it. They also cover the cost and revenue curves that will dominate the industry in the coming years.

This podcast is sponsored by Comviva.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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IBM's Ray Harishankar on security for quantum computing

Wed, 17 May 2023 12:00:51 GMT

Ray Harishankar, IBM fellow for IBM Quantum Safe, joined the podcast at IBM's Think event in Orlando, Florida, to discuss the company's efforts to improve quantum computing security. Harishankar explained progress on standards development for quantum cryptography and IBM's role in GSMA's Post-Quantum Telco Network Taskforce.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Heavy Reading's Gabriel Brown on 5G momentum from the RAN to the cloud

Tue, 16 May 2023 16:02:00 GMT

Gabriel Brown, senior principal analyst of mobile networks for Heavy Reading, joins the podcast to discuss trends around 5G Advanced, the radio access network, standalone 5G and more topics that will be explored at Light Reading's BIG 5G Event in Austin, Texas, this week.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Divide: DZS' Geoff Burke on what the new federal broadband programs get right

Tue, 16 May 2023 12:00:40 GMT

This episode features Geoff Burke, senior vice president of government affairs and product marketing at DZS, a supplier of access networking and cloud software solutions. We discuss the federal government's forthcoming $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program and what DZS is hearing from state broadband leaders on how they're planning to award their share of those funds.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Omdia's Jaimie Lenderman on fiber's foundation for 5G

Mon, 15 May 2023 14:00:59 GMT

Jaimie Lenderman, principal analyst and research manager at Omdia, joins the podcast to discuss the physical convergence of fixed and 5G networks, how fiber deployments are backing 5G networks and more topics that will be explored at Light Reading's BIG 5G Event in Austin, Texas, this week.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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What's the Story? Airlines drag feet on fixing C-band spectrum interference

Wed, 10 May 2023 12:00:55 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss what the airline industry and service providers are doing to address 5G transmissions in the C-band spectrum that affect aircraft altimeters.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Divide: Mayor of Chattanooga on gigabit broadband, quantum networks and digital equity

Tue, 09 May 2023 12:00:59 GMT

Welcome to the 100th episode of The Divide! This episode features Tim Kelly, Mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

We discuss Chattanooga's broadband evolution over the years, how gigabit-speed broadband has transformed the local economy – particularly in the wake of the pandemic and remote work. Hear about where Chattanooga still faces problems in getting residents connected, and how the city hopes to leverage federal funding to address digital equity issues.

We are also joined by Dr. Duncan Earl, president and CTO of Qubitekk, to discuss a recently announced partnership with Chattanooga's EPB to launch a quantum network in the city and what that means for Chattanooga's digital future.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Notebook Dump: Stuck in a trunk with satellite connectivity

Fri, 05 May 2023 17:00:51 GMT

In this podcast, Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano, the ghost of Nicole Ferraro, Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser discuss Arelion's take on SMS security, Altice USA's growth and pay-TV struggles, Qualcomm's drop in stock and satellite connectivity. Hear about all this and more in The Notebook Dump for the week ending May 5.

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Arelion on thwarting SMS fraud

Thu, 04 May 2023 12:00:13 GMT

Fabio Bottan, senior messaging specialist for Arelion (formerly Telia Carrier), joins the podcast to discuss SMS text security. Bottan explains how fraudsters leveraged the public's interest in COVID-19 pandemic-related information to deliver security threats via SMS.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Divide: BroadbandNow's Tyler Cooper on what research reveals about US broadband barriers

Wed, 03 May 2023 12:00:08 GMT

Tyler Cooper, editor-in-chief of the consumer advocacy group BroadbandNow, joins the podcast to discuss the group's research into the digital divide in the US, including where things have and have not improved, what they've learned about Internet affordability, and the group's warnings on potential hurdles with the federal government's Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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What's the Story? The tumultuous eSIM market

Tue, 02 May 2023 12:00:38 GMT

Light Reading's Tereza Krasova joins the podcast to discuss adoption of eSIMs (embedded subscriber identity modules), challenges in the eSIM market and why service providers have been hesitant to make consumers aware of the technology.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Notebook Dump: Earnings season fueled by Red Bull

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 17:00:00 GMT

In this podcast, Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano, Nicole Ferraro, Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser discuss Middle Mile grant funding, Juniper's efforts to diminish a backlog of orders, cable earnings updates and Commscope's ransomware debacle.

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The Divide: Nate Denny on the 'billion-dollar mission' to close North Carolina's broadband gaps

Thu, 27 Apr 2023 12:00:10 GMT

This episode features Nate Denny, deputy secretary for broadband and digital equity with the North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT). The department first kicked off a broadband grant program as a $10 million pilot in 2018. Today, NCDIT has a "billion-dollar mission ... likely to be a $2 billion mission in the near future" to close the digital divide through federal funding, says Denny.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Infinera's Rob Shore: Driving Coherent Optical Evolution

Wed, 26 Apr 2023 18:07:14 GMT

On Light Reading's Executive Spotlight Q&A podcast, Editor Phil Harvey is joined by Infinera Senior Vice President of Marketing Robert Shore to discuss innovation in pluggable coherent optics, Infinera's technology demonstrations at OFC, what is driving the market, Infinera's entry into the subsystems business, and much more.

This podcast is sponsored by Infinera.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Dr. Richard Green, CableLabs' first CEO, reflects on the dawn of DOCSIS

Wed, 26 Apr 2023 12:00:48 GMT

September 12, 1995, was a historic day for cable technology. It was then, during a CableLabs board meeting in New York, that a group of leaders heard from industry pioneer John Malone about the coming, critical importance of developing interoperable equipment for the delivery of high-speed data services over the cable network – a concept that later became DOCSIS.

Among the 21 people in attendance that day was Dr. Richard Green, the first CEO of CableLabs. That meeting led to the development of DOCSIS, a "bedrock platform for manufacturers to build modems" and to do so at scale, Green recalls in this episode of the Light Reading Podcast.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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What's the Story? Africa's mobile money market grows nearly 20%

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 12:00:17 GMT

Connecting Africa's Paula Gilbert joins the podcast to discuss growth in the mobile money market in Africa. Mobile money apps have provided millions of unbanked and underserved individuals with access to digital financial services, according to Max Cuvellier, head of mobile for development at GSMA. However, some taxation policies and gender gaps remain challenges to growth in the mobile money market.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Xumo exec on smart TV deals – there's more to come

Mon, 24 Apr 2023 12:00:23 GMT

Xumo, the national streaming joint venture of Comcast and Charter Communications, is gearing up to launch its first standalone device, the Xumo Stream Box, later this year.

The Stream Box rollout is "a big priority for us this year," Colin Petrie-Norris, Xumo's chief revenue and platform officer, said on the Light Reading Podcast at this week's NAB Show in Las Vegas.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Notebook Dump: BaneCat and broadband budget busters

Fri, 21 Apr 2023 17:00:00 GMT

In this episode of The Notebook Dump for the week ending April 21, Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano, Nicole Ferraro, Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser discuss the war on white papers, Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program challenges, updates from the NAB show, Lumen's 400G expansion and ChatGPT.

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ETSI on AI, standards and business opportunities for autonomous networks

Thu, 20 Apr 2023 12:00:06 GMT

ETSI's Luigi Licciardi joins the podcast to discuss the group's efforts to develop standards for autonomous networks. Licciardi, who spent many years at Telecom Italia, explains key features of autonomous networks, such as AI, and how service providers and enterprises can benefit from improved service assurance, self-monitoring and self-assurance capabilities.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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What's the Story? Three/Vodafone merger could rattle UK market

Wed, 19 Apr 2023 12:00:53 GMT

Iain Morris joins the podcast to discuss a potential merger between Three UK and Vodafone. We discuss what the merger could mean for the broader market, what regulators and analysts think of the deal and how it could impact consumers.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Divide: TIA CEO David Stehlin on how to succeed with BEAD

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 12:00:28 GMT

This episode features David Stehlin, CEO of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA). TIA will host a BEAD Success Summit in Arlington, Virginia, this week – gathering industry and government stakeholders – focused on resolving and clarifying certain rules related to the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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What's the Story? T-Mobile's uphill battle with FWA

Fri, 14 Apr 2023 12:00:29 GMT

Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast to discuss T-Mobile's fixed wireless access (FWA) strategy and why the company is focusing mainly on rural markets.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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UChicago's Nick Feamster: Internet equity begins with quality data

Wed, 12 Apr 2023 12:05:35 GMT

University of Chicago Professor Nick Feamster returns to the podcast to discuss data collection and analysis challenges to addressing the digital divide. Feamster provides an update on his team's work on the Internet Equity Initiative and explains how podcast listeners can participate in contributing to data collection.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Divide: How the rural US could solve its middle mile problem

Wed, 12 Apr 2023 12:00:19 GMT

On this episode we hear from Sachin Gupta, director of government business and economic development at Centranet, a fiber broadband provider and wholly owned subsidiary of Central Rural Electric Cooperative in Stillwater, Oklahoma. We discuss the lack of adequate middle mile fiber networks in the rural US, and why he's advocating for a model that would see telco and electric cooperatives partner to solve that challenge.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Cable training evolves to cover 'connectivity' amid rise of fiber and wireless tech

Mon, 10 Apr 2023 12:00:35 GMT

In addition to enhancing and upgrading existing hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) networks, cable operators are now tied to a much broader "connectivity" business that also includes fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) and wireless/mobile technologies.

So it only follows that NCTI, a company that's been providing training education programs for frontline employees, including field techs, and engineers for more than 50 years, should evolve as well. Stacey Slaughter, CEO of Colorado-based NCTI, joins the Light Reading Podcast.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Notebook Dump: T-Mobile attempts to make baseball less boring

Fri, 07 Apr 2023 17:00:30 GMT

In this podcast, Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano, Nicole Ferraro, Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser discuss a new bill that could stall BEAD funding, and how Aira Technologies is attempting to improve energy efficiency in the RAN. In addition, we discuss Charter's latest public statements about broadband data caps, and T-Mobile's partnership with Major League Baseball (MLB) in The Notebook Dump for the week ending April 7.

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New innovation report extends beyond cable's echo chamber

Fri, 07 Apr 2023 12:15:18 GMT

The Cable Center and its new operational brand, the Syndeo Institute, recently released its second annual Intrapreneurship & Innovation Report.

This edition features contributions and insights from almost two dozen execs and innovators spanning several industry segments, including network operators, entertainment/media and technology. Examples of individual contributors include: Teresa Elder, CEO, WideOpenWest; Frannie Matthews, president and CEO, Colorado Technology Association; Mark Greatrex, president, Cox Communications; Yvette Kanouff, partner, JC2 Ventures; Christopher Winfrey, CEO, Charter Communications; Patricia Jo Boyers, president and CEO of Boycom; and Mike Fries, CEO and vice chairman, Liberty Global.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Aira CEO on a smarter, more energy efficient RAN

Fri, 07 Apr 2023 12:00:04 GMT

Anand Chandrasekher, CEO of Aira Technologies, joined the podcast to discuss how his company is working to add machine learning and improve energy efficiency in the radio access network (RAN). Chandrasekher also explained how Aira's technologies balance throughput demands while improving energy efficiency.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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What's the Story? M&A eyes on DigitalBridge, SES and Intelsat

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 12:00:16 GMT

Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss DigitalBridge's acquisitions in the digital infrastructure space and why a larger private equity firm might scoop up DigitalBridge. In addition, we discuss mergers and acquisitions within the satellite space such as the potential merger of SES and Intelsat.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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AtlasEdge CEO on application and data demands at the edge

Wed, 05 Apr 2023 12:30:13 GMT

AtlasEdge CEO Giuliano Di Vitantonio joins the podcast to discuss the edge data center company's approach to edge computing in Europe. Di Vitantonio explains that augmented reality, IoT and 5G are among the technologies pushing more compute processing to the edge of the network.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Divide: How Loveland, Colorado, is solving its broadband gaps with Pulse

Wed, 05 Apr 2023 12:00:31 GMT

This episode features Brieana Reed-Harmel, director of broadband for the City of Loveland, Colorado, which runs a municipal broadband network called Pulse.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Notebook Dump: Fiber manufacturing in America

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 17:05:00 GMT

In this podcast, Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano, Nicole Ferraro, Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser discuss court proceedings around the Universal Service Fund (USF) and Graphiant's new $62 million in funding. The editors also examine Roku's layoffs, new fiber manufacturing projects in the US and why wireless providers are pushing more device inventory online in The Notebook Dump for the week ending March 31.

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Omdia's Jaimie Lenderman on how cable is speeding ahead on network upgrades

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 12:00:03 GMT

Speaking before a packed house at last week's Cable Next-Gen Technologies and Strategies event in Denver, Omdia analyst Jaimie Lenderman presented fresh data on how cable operators are pushing ahead with access network upgrades.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Comcast's Elad Nafshi on network scale, DAA, 10G, PON and what's next for FDX

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 12:00:03 GMT

Following his keynote address at last week's Cable Next-Gen Technologies and Strategies event in Denver, Elad Nafshi, Comcast's EVP and chief network officer, stayed for a fireside chat to dig a bit deeper into the company's plan to evolve and upgrade its widely deployed hybrid-fiber coax (HFC) network.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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What's the Story? Frontier bundles in YouTube TV

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 17:00:34 GMT

Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast to discuss Frontier Communications' YouTube TV bundle and billing integration and what the competitive implications are of that decision.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Divide: How ACA Connects sees BEAD funds rolling out nationwide

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 12:00:52 GMT

Brian Hurley, chief regulatory counsel for ACA Connects, joins the podcast to discuss the trade group's BEAD funding framework: a report offering a national analysis of how far funding from the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program will go, and a state-by-state breakdown of how that money can be used to deploy fiber broadband. We discuss takeaways from that report, and what it reveals for certain states. We also talk about policy priorities for ACA Connects in the lead up to BEAD funds being allocated this summer.

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Ciena's Steve Alexander: A terabit in the hand

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 12:00:11 GMT

Ciena CTO Steve Alexander recently joined the podcast to discuss the company's announcement of WaveLogic 6, a 1.6 Tbit/s coherent optical technology that will power long-haul, metro and data center connections starting around the middle of next year.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Corning's new twist on hyperscaler cabling

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 12:00:56 GMT

At OFC earlier this month, Mike Bell, Corning's SVP and GM for optical communications, joined the podcast to discuss the company's newest data center solution that shortens installation times for cables and connectors.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Notebook Dump: T-Mobile to scrap 5G reliability ads

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 17:38:36 GMT

Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano, Nicole Ferraro and Phil Harvey discuss cable versus fiber, consumer broadband labels and potential roadblocks to BEAD program rollouts. The editors also discuss why T-Mobile will need to re-think its 5G advertising strategy and whether TikTok is now cooler than ever in The Notebook Dump for the week ending March 24.

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SES' JP Hemingway on satellites' role in the digital divide, D2D and disasters

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 12:00:28 GMT

SES' chief strategy officer spoke with Light Reading at Satellite 2023 about D2D, how SES is helping bridge the digital divide using MEO and GEO, how modern satellite capabilities compare to fiber and more.

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Viasat's John Janka on the future of satellite and need for LEO-GEO harmony

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 12:00:17 GMT

John Janka, chief officer of global government affairs and regulatory at Viasat, spoke with Light Reading at Satellite 2023 last week about the changing communications landscape and how satellite players and policies must evolve. We also discussed the operator's upcoming launch of its Viasat-3 satellite, which Janka said "should be four-times better performing than the best satellite in orbit today."

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The Divide: How Cisco and El Paso, Texas, are bringing digital services to at-risk communities

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 12:00:50 GMT

This episode features Nicole Ferrini, climate and sustainability officer for the city of El Paso, Texas, and Gary DePreta, vice president for state, local government and education at Cisco. We discuss a partnership between Cisco and the city of El Paso to launch a portal called El Paso Helps, which connects unhoused individuals and other at-risk community members to essential services, including shelter and housing, addiction and mental health support, and beyond.

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EchoStar's Paul Gaske on how HughesNet is adding capacity and lowering latency

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 12:00:40 GMT

At last week's Satellite 2023 show, Light Reading caught up with Paul Gaske, chief operating officer at EchoStar, parent company to Hughes, to get an update on the company's forthcoming launch of its new satellite Jupiter-3 and how it will improve broadband connectivity. Gaske also discussed direct-to-device communications and the implications for the future of the industry, key regulatory issues for satellite players and more.

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The Notebook Dump: Amazon's $10B satellite project, Casa Systems' CEO exit

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 17:52:13 GMT

Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano, Nicole Ferraro and Kelsey Ziser discuss Amazon's plan to spend $10 billion on a satellite constellation, an update on Light Reading's Cable Next-Gen event and why Casa Systems' CEO is stepping down today.

We also discuss Ciena's plan to launch 1.6 Tbit/s optical services, the possible sale of Infinera and Airspan's offloading of its fixed-wireless access (FWA) business for $60 million in The Notebook Dump for the week ending March 17.

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Cable Next-Gen 2023 recap: Operators choose their own adventure

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 15:30:40 GMT

DENVER – CABLE NEXT-GEN 2023 – As cable operators begin to zero in on the evolution of the access network, it's become clear that the future is not one size fits all. Some operators are enhancing their DOCSIS 3.1 networks, planting the seeds for DOCSIS 4.0, using fixed wireless access (FWA) to extend the reach of wireline networks or even overlaying their existing hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) plant with fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) technologies.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Dell'Oro's Sameh Boujelbene: AI is changing data center hardware

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 12:00:40 GMT

Just like every other part of the communications landscape, data center networking is changing fast. Sameh Boujelbene, vice president at Dell’Oro Group, projects that we'll see most data center switch sales coming at 400 Gbit/s and higher speeds in the next few years and AI is a huge catalyst for that capacity push.

In this episode, we discuss how AI workloads will influence hardware design and data center topologies in the future.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Cable Center CEO on the launch of the 'Syndeo Institute'

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 16:10:27 GMT

DENVER – CABLE NEXT GEN 2023 – Light Reading caught up with Diane Christman, the president and CEO of The Cable Center, here this week to discuss the launch of the Syndeo Institute, a new "operational brand" that's being billed as a "modern hub for discovery, education and collaboration" spanning the connectivity, media, entertainment and technology industries.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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GCI starts doing the high splits while preparing for convergence

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 14:15:39 GMT

DENVER – CABLE NEXT GEN 2023 – GCI's Erik Kuhlmann said the company has begun upgrading its DOCSIS 3.1 cable network to a high-split architecture with equipment from vendors including ATX and CommScope. Kuhlmann, the senior director of engineering and architecture for the Alaskan telecom operator, said the move is designed to help the company provide faster speeds to stay abreast of its rivals and slake customer demand.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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What's the Story? African tech startups score $3.3B in funding

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 18:20:00 GMT

African tech startups brought in $3.3 billion in funding for the first time in 2022.

Connecting Africa's Paula Gilbert joins the podcast to explain why the fintech sector is bringing in the most funding, which countries are leading the way for most funding and what these trends mean for the continent as a whole.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Omdia's Julie Kunstler: PON growth isn't slowing down anytime soon

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 18:05:57 GMT

We caught up with Julie Kunstler, chief analyst for Omdia's broadband access intelligence service, one of this week's #CableNextGen speakers at OFC earlier this month. During our podcast, Kunstler gave us a preview of Omdia's PON forecast and some perspective from meeting with technology vendors who are making strides in energy efficiency and bandwidth increases allow the way down to the chip level.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Divide: Doug Maglothin on Diamond State Networks' plans for Arkansas and beyond

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 12:00:43 GMT

This episode features Doug Maglothin, who was recently appointed CEO of Diamond State Networks (DSN), a group of 13 electric co-ops in Arkansas working to unite fiber networks and provide wholesale broadband statewide.

We discuss Diamond State Networks in detail, including its progress in Arkansas so far, the role state and federal funding are playing in its buildout, how Diamond State is working to expand its model beyond the state of Arkansas and more.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Notebook Dump: Gigi Sohn exits FCC race, Verizon's leadership shakedown

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 18:38:08 GMT

Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano, Nicole Ferraro, Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser discuss data center and optical network updates from OFC, Gigi Sohn's withdrawal of her nomination for FCC commissioner and Nokia's plans for a 4G/LTE network on the moon.

In addition, we discuss Charter and Comcast's stance on fixed wireless access, whether there are upgrades beyond DOCSIS 4.0, top executive turnover at Verizon, and 5G strategies in 2023 for AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon... all in the Notebook Dump for the week ending March 10.

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DZS CEO Charlie Vogt: Backlogs and 'Buy American'

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 18:00:08 GMT

OFC23 – San Diego – DZS CEO Charlie Vogt said his company is one of the few that can help service providers of all sizes upgrade their fiber access networks while saving them operating costs in their middle-mile transport networks.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Cable's dance with DAA, PON, wireless, DOCSIS 4.0… and more

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 14:24:56 GMT

Entering its 16th year and having obtained its driver's license, Light Reading's Cable Next Gen Technologies & Strategies event will be held March 14 and 15 in downtown Denver. After going all-digital due to the pandemic, this will be the first time the event will be live and in person since 2019.

A lot has happened in the cable tech world since then. Many operators back-burnered their hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) upgrades in 2020 to deal with the near-term surge in network traffic. Three years later, that's all on the front burner again as operators push ahead with upstream enhancements to their DOCSIS 3.1 networks and start to plant the seeds for DOCSIS 4.0.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Verizon SVP on safer, more sustainable connected vehicles

Thu, 09 Mar 2023 16:23:25 GMT

MWC23 – While electric vehicles are reducing reliance on gas, EVs plus the transition to more renewable energy sources put "tremendous pressure on the grid," said TJ Fox, SVP of industrial IoT and automotive for Verizon.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Cignal AI's Scott Wilkinson: 100ZR pluggable at the network's edge

Wed, 08 Mar 2023 19:15:00 GMT

OFC23 – San Diego – As the conference kicked off we sat down with Scott Wilkinson, lead analyst for optical components at Cignal AI. Wilkinson explained why Cignal AI's forecast for 100ZR module shipments was doubled for 2025 and how pluggable optics are being used in a wider range of applications.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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SES CPO: Deploying private 5G networks via MEO satellites

Wed, 08 Mar 2023 17:03:10 GMT

MWC23 – The medium-Earth orbit (MEO) satellite space just got a little busier with SES' launch of its O3b mPower satellites.

John-Paul Hemingway, chief strategy and product officer for SES, said the initial launch of two satellites last December went as planned and the satellites are "all performing well." SES plans on two more launches in Q2 of this year for a total of six satellites in the constellation.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Omdia's Ian Redpath: Optical networking momentum at OFC23

Wed, 08 Mar 2023 15:20:40 GMT

OFC23 – San Diego – As OFC kicks off this week, Omdia's research director for transport networks and components, Ian Redpath, gives us an overview of the slew of coherent pluggable optics announced in the past few weeks. The approaches vary, but vendors are stepping up with new offerings as network operators look to pluggables – once purely the domain of data center applications – for metro networking applications.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Divide: Connected Nation's Brent Legg on the need to build more carrier-neutral IXPs

Wed, 08 Mar 2023 13:00:01 GMT

Brent Legg, executive vice president of government affairs at Connected Nation (CN), joins the podcast to discuss the organization's partnership with entrepreneur and investor Hunter Newby to build and operate 125 new carrier-neutral Internet exchange points (IXPs), and its application for an NTIA Middle Mile grant to fund five of those projects.

Learn more at connectednation.org/ixp.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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AT&T VP: Gearing up software-defined, edge-connected vehicles

Tue, 07 Mar 2023 17:33:45 GMT

MWC23 – As the connected vehicle market relies more on edge computing resources, cars can benefit from lower latency connections, avoid traffic congestion and access roadside assistance faster.

These are just a few of the capabilities AT&T is working on for connected vehicles, explains Cameron Coursey, VP of AT&T connected solutions, in the podcast.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Boingo CEO: Monetizing private 5G networks in stadiums

Tue, 07 Mar 2023 15:03:15 GMT

MWC23 – One new area where private 5G networks are gaining traction is within stadiums to support the fan experience.

Boingo Wireless CEO Mike Finley provides an update on the company's private wireless deployments, such as its partnership with the San Diego Padres last fall.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Fortinet converges SASE security policies for mobile workforce

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 13:00:09 GMT

MWC23 – As many enterprise employees continue to split their time between the home office and on-premises locations, service providers are tasked with delivering managed SD-WAN and SASE services that secure enterprise applications anywhere.

Anne-Gaelle Santos, business development manager for Fortinet, explained that Fortinet works closely with service provider customers to develop managed SASE and SD-WAN services to secure the mobile workforce.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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ACA Connects Summit recap: Cablecos fret about funding for BEAD and ACP

Fri, 03 Mar 2023 18:18:16 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Before execs and reps of small and midsized cable ops headed to Capitol Hill to raise concerns with government officials here on Thursday, many offered a preview of sorts of those discussions the day before at the ACA Connects Summit.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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MWC recap: Google, Microsoft and Oracle diverge on network functions

Fri, 03 Mar 2023 18:00:25 GMT

MWC23 – As MWC wraps up, Iain Morris, Mike Dano and Kelsey Ziser ruminate on T-Mobile's 5G voice service plans, how hyperscalers are trying to differentiate themselves and investment plans for future 5G and 6G deployments.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Divide: US Treasury's Joey Wender on awarding the first $5B in capital funds for broadband

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 18:30:00 GMT

Joey Wender, director of the capital projects fund at the US Treasury Department, joined the podcast at the ACA Connects Summit this week in Washington, DC, to talk about his department's progress awarding roughly $5 billion in broadband funding for states.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Divide: Blair Levin on why the US is at risk of increasing the digital divide

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 18:19:55 GMT

New Street Research analyst and former FCC official Blair Levin joined the podcast live at the ACA Connects Summit this week to talk about the state of broadband in the US, and the urgency around re-funding the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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ETSI CTO: Moving the needle on 5G standalone and open RAN

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 16:05:00 GMT

MWC23 – ETSI CTO Adrian Scrase appreciates that the telecom industry is planning ahead for 6G but said there's still much work to be done in supporting 5G deployments and moving the needle on 5G standalone networks.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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How, and why, T-Mobile partnered with AWS for private wireless

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 16:00:00 GMT

MWC23 – T-Mobile in the US recently announced a teaming with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to sell its private wireless networking offerings through AWS' new "Integrated Private Wireless" program.

T-Mobile's Mishka Dehghan, SVP of the operator's strategy, product and solutions engineering, told Light Reading that the partnership is an expansion of T-Mobile's previously announced Advanced Network Solutions (ANS) business division.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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BT's Howard Watson addresses net neutrality and 5G during MWC

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 15:55:00 GMT

MWC23 – BT's chief security and networks officer, Howard Watson, spoke to Light Reading about ongoing conversations around net neutrality and fair contribution, as well as 5G.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Orange confident about open RAN's role in network transformation

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 15:50:00 GMT

Orange's executive vice president for technology and innovation, Michaël Trabbia, said the telco remains confident about open radio access network (RAN) technology, which it sees as part of the company's broader network cloud transformation.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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What's the Story? Net Insight's overlay fix for 5G transport

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 15:38:59 GMT

MWC23 – Video transport company Net Insight has launched an overlay network service to solve the timing and synchronization problem plaguing 5G transport, according to Heavy Reading.

Senior Principal Analyst Sterling Perrin explained that Net Insight is using virtual private network (VPN) tunnels to address the timing and synchronization issue – a solution the broadcast industry is bringing to telecom.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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The Divide: WBA's Tiago Rodrigues on Wi-Fi spectrum and the goal of OpenRoaming

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 16:04:12 GMT

In this episode, we hear from Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), a nonprofit organization working to improve Wi-Fi technologies and services worldwide.

We discuss the importance of Wi-Fi access and harmonizing standards, as well as the relevance of emerging technologies like WBA's OpenRoaming to closing the digital divide, and why WBA is pushing governments to open more Wi-Fi spectrum or risk widening the global connectivity gap.

The unedited audio transcript is available in the media player of this episode page.

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Omdia's Pablo Tomasi: Private 5G networks slow to match hype at MWC

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 15:08:30 GMT

Service providers jump at any chance to tout the revenue potential of private 5G networks, but there's a ways to go before they permeate most enterprise verticals.

Omdia Principal Analyst Pablo Tomasi said that while private 5G networks are being deployed for mining applications and ports, verticals such as manufacturing are slower to get on board.

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The Notebook Dump: FCC on ending digital discrimination, MWC kicks off

Fri, 24 Feb 2023 18:00:00 GMT

Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano, Nicole Ferraro and Kelsey Ziser discuss the FCC's efforts to end digital discrimination, data center sustainability, Altice USA's efforts to get back on track and how to survive Mobile World Congress in the Notebook Dump for the week ending February 24.

If you want to skip around and listen, here are a few more things covered in this interview:

FCC is required by infrastructure law to include broadband labels, prohibit digital discrimination and more. (00:43)
Analyzing the impact of data center sustainability efforts is no small task. (05:31)
Altice USA CEO implements new fiber and mobile strategies. (07:32)
Mike has stickers of 80s action stars in his notebook. (11:10)
The Light Reading editors prepare to descend on Barcelona, Spain, for Mobile World Congress… along with 80,000 other attendees. (12:20)
Nicole wants everyone on their best behavior during Broadway shows. (17:13)

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What's the Story? Roku, TiVo trade punches over smart TVs

Fri, 24 Feb 2023 13:00:46 GMT

Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast to discuss Roku and Xperi/TiVo's recent earnings results and where they stand in the smart TV market. We also discuss some rivalries emerging among the smart TV players.

Here are a few topics we covered:

TiVo to enter European smart TV market (00:51)
TiVo's evolution from DVR to smart TVs (04:26)
Roku's decision to design and build its own smart TVs could put it in competition with its TV OEM (original equipment manufacturing) partners (07:41)

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Exploring the AT&T-BlackRock deal, open access and cable upgrades

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 15:00:21 GMT

AT&T's new "Gigapower" fiber joint venture with BlackRock Alternatives initially will focus on 1 million to 1.5 million locations outside AT&T's wireline footprint. Meanwhile, Charter Communications and Comcast are embarking on major hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) upgrades. And fixed wireless access (FWA) remains a tool of interest in the broadband investment community.

Those were some of the topics covered on this Light Reading Podcast with Jack Burton and Jay Rolls, two cable and broadband vets at Broadband Success Partners, a telecom consulting firm primarily focused on providing tech due diligence to investors exploring opportunities in broadband. It's an active segment, as the firm worked on 32 deals last year and recently held 35 meetings at the recent Metro Connect show in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

As for that AT&T-BlackRock deal, it was treated like a "completely new entity," said Burton, a principal at Broadband Success Partners who is late of Cablevision Systems and Altice USA. "We had to look at that as if it was a startup."

On the cable side, operators are exploring multiple upgrade paths, including a move to DOCSIS 4.0 or a more incremental move featuring "high-split" upgrades paired with a spectrum expansion to 1.2GHz that Rolls, a former Charter CTO, likes to refer to as "DOCSIS 3.5."

"I think there's a lot of life left in [DOCSIS 3.1]," he said.

If you'd like to skip around and listen, here are a few topics that were discussed:

A brief overview of what Broadband Success Partners is and does (1:02)
The role Broadband Success Partners played in the recently announced "Gigapower" fiber joint venture between AT&T and BlackRock Alternatives and how the open access network model will apply (4:53)
Why the open access model is gathering more interest in the US and a review of the variations in the open access model that are emerging (6:33)
Some detail on how a new type of open access project in Colorado took shape (8:20)
Thoughts on how cable operators are pursuing HFC upgrades and why this round of upgrades is different than past versions of DOCSIS (12:24)
Some theories on why Charter is taking a multi-faceted, multi-phased approach to its HFC upgrade rather than going with a uniform approach across all markets (16:36)
Why Comcast's path to DOCSIS 4.0 using Full Duplex DOCSIS appears to be gaining a bit more interest in the cable world (19:30)
Speculation on why Comcast went with FDX and if that decision traces back to its use of millions of Digital Terminal Adapters to fuel its all-digital video transition (22:37)
How fixed wireless access technology is fitting into the broadband equation for investors who are interested in sizing up broadband opportunities (25:07)

— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading

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Ting's take on BEAD and fiber investments for economic development

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 13:00:34 GMT

Amol S. Naik, SVP of public policy and community engagement for Ting Internet at Tucows, joins the podcast to discuss how fiber infrastructure is shaping economic development in Ting's service areas. Naik also provides an update on Ting's role as the anchor tenant for an open access broadband network in Colorado Springs and shares his forecast for how the rollout of BEAD funding will go.

Here are a few topics we covered:

Background on Ting and the areas the Internet service provider serves (00:42)
Economic impact of fiber broadband deployments (2:59)
Broadband is becoming a key amenity in communities nationwide in the US (4:44)
Update on Ting's involvement as the anchor tenant in an open access broadband network in Colorado Springs (6:47)
Impact of fiber investments on smart cities and carbon emissions (8:38)
Opportunities and challenges states face in applying for BEAD funding (11:07)

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The Divide: How broadband barriers are impacting civil society orgs

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 13:00:27 GMT

On this episode: Connect Humanity's Christopher Worman and Makaia's Catalina Escobar join the podcast to discuss how global broadband barriers are making it harder for civil society organizations to reach impacted communities.

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The Notebook Dump: Gigi Sohn stuck in FCC purgatory, NC banks $23M on broadband

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 18:00:00 GMT

Phil Harvey, Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano, Nicole Ferraro and Kelsey Ziser discuss Gigi Sohn's third round at a FCC chairman hearing, North Carolina's broadband initiatives, Comcast's new Xfinity 10G campaign and new opportunities in private wireless in the Notebook Dump for the week ending February 17.

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What's the Story? Qualcomm's speedy 5G chips

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 13:00:48 GMT

Qualcomm launched a new 5G chip for smartphones, which Light Reading's Mike Dano says will likely be commercially available this fall. We discuss why this chip is faster, what it means for service provider customers and when it will be included in new smart phones.

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EPB earmarks $70M for 25-Gig services and fiber upgrades

Thu, 16 Feb 2023 13:00:51 GMT

Over the past year, electric power distributor EPB has deployed 25-Gig services in Chattanooga, Tennessee as part of a $70 million fiber upgrade plan.

EPB VP Katie Espeseth joins the podcast to explain what the 25-Gig services and fiber deployments mean for economic development in the region. She also touches on potential opportunities for Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding, and why EPB is leading a testbed for quantum computing applications.

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Extreme CEO: Leading with software to win retail, stadium deals

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 13:00:47 GMT

From FedEx to the NFL, Extreme Networks is working with a range of customers on cloud adoption and monetizing data analytics. CEO Ed Meyercord joins the podcast to explain why Extreme is focused on becoming more software-centric, how the company works with customers to better utilize their data and why digital twins can speed up network transformations.

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The Divide: Calix CEO Michael Weening on enabling the broadband disruptors

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 13:00:46 GMT

This episode features Michael Weening, CEO of Calix. We discuss the company's perspective on the digital divide and Calix's role as "enablers of the disruptors" in the broadband market.

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Verizon invests to keep first responders connected at the Super Bowl

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 19:00:55 GMT

Verizon Frontline's Maggie Hallbach said her team has spent two years and more than $100 million to ensure public safety agencies are connected during Super Bowl 57 and beyond.

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5G COWS: AT&T's sprawling Super Bowl network prep

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 18:00:07 GMT

Inside State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, AT&T has boosted the network's capacity by deploying more than 2,000 wireless network antennas, supported by more than 12 miles of fiber and power cables, according to Dave Carroll, a network planning AVP at AT&T.

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The Divide: How BDT is increasing enrollments in the FCC's ACP

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 13:00:35 GMT

This episode features Trooper Sanders, CEO of Benefits Data Trust (BDT), on the importance of the FCC's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and how BDT is helping more people access the monthly broadband subsidy.

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IBM's Andrew Coward on managing MEC and multi-cloud madness

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 13:00:09 GMT

Former CEO of Lumina Networks Andrew Coward joins the podcast to discuss his new role as general manager of software defined networking at IBM and how the company is addressing enterprise needs for multi-cloud management.

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POWDER: Open for 5G and whatever's next

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 13:00:10 GMT

In Salt Lake City, a city-sized 5G network is humming along with hundreds of devices connected to dozens of endpoints, measuring every imaginable thing you can in a modern cellular network. The latest developments in the POWDER testbed have made the resource all the more valuable.

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The Notebook Dump: Juniper's software shift, Sohn saga, Oregon Trail treachery

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 18:00:19 GMT

Phil Harvey, Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano, Nicole Ferraro and Kelsey Ziser discuss Juniper's software-centric strategy and 400G expansions, the continued pay-TV subscription decline and Netflix's crackdown on password sharing.

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What's the Story? Telcos trudging slowly ahead with automation

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 13:00:35 GMT

Iain Morris joins the podcast to discuss how automated telcos really are and what's actually contributing to job cuts in the telecom industry over the past few years.

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The Divide: Study examines service providers' plans and priorities for bridging broadband gaps

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 13:00:45 GMT

This episode features Alan Breznick, senior analyst with Heavy Reading. He joins the show to discuss the results of a recent survey about the global broadband industry's plans for closing the digital divide, including which technologies providers are prioritizing for their buildouts, what they're looking for from vendors, the role of government subsidies – and more.

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The Notebook Dump: BEAD battles, 5G wins and woes, robot dog uprising

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 18:00:00 GMT

Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano, Nicole Ferraro and Kelsey Ziser discuss Q4 earnings results for cable operators such as Comcast, which lost broadband subscribers but gained mobile subs.

Nicole provides an update on $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program funding debates, and Mike shares why AT&T is doing better than Verizon in the 5G game.

We close out with AT&T's launch of robotic dogs for emergency services and "Phil Harvey" makes a surprise appearance in an unexpected form in The Notebook Dump for the week ending January 27.

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What's the Story? Mediacom mum on mobile service details

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 13:00:56 GMT

Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast with updates on Mediacom's mobile service and discusses how the cable industry at large is doing in the mobile space. We also discuss his predictions for how Comcast and Charter may fare in their Q4 earnings reports.

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Blockgraph CEO on how data is fueling the future of targeted TV advertising

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 17:00:45 GMT

Blockgraph CEO Jason Manningham joins the podcast to discuss how the company is keeping data safe and secure amid the rising tide of targeted TV advertising.

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The Divide: Ciena's Steve Alexander on closing the connectivity and digital education gap

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 13:00:52 GMT

This episode features Steve Alexander, CTO at Ciena. He joins the show to discuss the historic levels of funding we're seeing in broadband networks, and what else it will take to close the digital divide. We also discuss how Ciena is preparing for federal funding opportunities, what all of this planned connectivity will mean for service providers and society – and more.

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What's the Story? Apple scraps AR glasses… for now

Mon, 23 Jan 2023 13:00:42 GMT

Mike Dano joins the podcast to explain why Apple paused development on its augmented reality (AR) glasses and shifted focus to mixed reality headsets for now. We discuss the challenges of developing AR glasses and the implications for service providers who will need to provide the network connectivity to support them.

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The Notebook Dump: DeWi pushes forward, ACP needs funds, Netflix with ads is 'meh'

Fri, 20 Jan 2023 18:34:01 GMT

Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano, Nicole Ferraro, Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser discuss the state of decentralized wireless deployments, and why some industry groups are worried about the future of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Jeff also provides a preview of Netflix's potential Q4 earnings results, and Kelsey shares some 800G upgrades by Infinera, in The Notebook Dump for the week ending January 20.

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Wave7 Research's Jeff Moore on the keys to cable's mobile success

Wed, 18 Jan 2023 13:00:38 GMT

Jeff Moore, principal of Wave7 Research, keeps close tabs on all things mobile, including cable's activities in the market. He attributes cable's success so far in part to scale, simplicity, affordability and a solid local retail presence.

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The Divide: How Kwikbit is bringing broadband to mobile homes

Wed, 18 Jan 2023 13:00:35 GMT

This episode features Joe Costello, CEO of Kwikbit Internet, a wireless ISP delivering broadband service to mobile home park communities in several states across the US, including Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

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The Notebook Dump: DirecTV layoffs, T-Mobile wants Mint Mobile, FCC map challenges

Fri, 13 Jan 2023 18:00:00 GMT

Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano, Nicole Ferraro, Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser discuss DirecTV's layoffs, more problems emerging for the pay TV market and why Nicole Ferraro gets a kick out of watching football. In addition, we cover a few cloud and data center updates, T-Mobile's plans to acquire Mint Mobile and an update on the FCC's Broadband Map in the Notebook Dump for the week ending January 13.

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Advertising on the big screen is a big deal in the streaming era

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 13:00:34 GMT

Pay-TV may be in decline, but the TV screen remains a valuable piece of real estate for advertisers as more and more premium content gets pulled into various ad-supported streaming apps and direct-to-consumer (DTC) services. It's a trend not lost on FreeWheel, the ad-tech specialist that Comcast acquired in 2014.

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What's the Story? CES Recapped – Robot dogs, 5G phones and a sheep named Annie

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 13:00:24 GMT

Jeff Baumgartner and Mike Dano are back from last week's CES event in Las Vegas with a recap on new technologies and trends from the show.

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Airties CEO makes the case for managed, monitored Wi-Fi

Wed, 11 Jan 2023 13:00:45 GMT

Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 add capacity and improve the data speeds delivered on home networks, but the broader experience – down to the application level – is poised to take on more prominence, according to Airties CEO and CTO Metin Taskin

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Quickplay explores the intersection between sports and streaming

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 13:00:42 GMT

There's no doubt that streaming and live sports have become a tandem, and it's a combo that will only continue to grow more prominent.

On the technology end, companies such as Quickplay are keying on that trend. Quickplay, which connected with Canada's Rogers Communications on a regamped version of Sportsnet's SN Now app, believes the flexibility of cloud-powered streaming services will open up a wide range of new models and packaging potential for regional sports networks, sports leagues and teams.

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More than 100K expected to attend CES 2023

Wed, 04 Jan 2023 13:00:36 GMT

CES returns to Las Vegas this week, and organizers expect that on-site attendance will cross the six-figure mark as the annual event continues to inch back to pre-pandemic levels.

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Palo Alto Networks SVP: Injecting zero trust into IoT device security

Wed, 28 Dec 2022 13:00:50 GMT

Cybersecurity threats are a huge concern for any organization, but the results of threats to healthcare facilities can result in patient data being compromised and halting vital hospital operations.

Cyberattacks on healthcare organizations increased 200% from 2020 to 2021, according to a 2021 NTT threat report.

At Palo Alto Networks' Ignite 22 event last week, Anand Oswal, SVP of products, network security for Palo Alto, explained why a zero trust approach to securing medical IoT devices can provide more visibility into the network and reduce the attack surface.

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PLDT grapples with fallout of missing millions

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 13:00:01 GMT

One telco that could use a Christmas miracle this season is Philippine service provider PLDT. The company's stock dropped dramatically - around 19% on Monday - after news that there's $866 million in unaccounted capital spending.

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The Divide: How Wave 7 is connecting Enfield, North Carolina, with community broadband

Thu, 22 Dec 2022 13:00:54 GMT

This episode features LaShawn Williamson, founder and CEO at Wave 7 Communications, and Brian Vo, chief investment officer at Connect Humanity, a nonprofit working with communities to advance digital equity.

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Unit 42 tackles threat intelligence on a global scale

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 13:00:48 GMT

Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 team is tasked with investigating threat data is critical to preventing future cybersecurity attacks.

Wendi Whitmore, SVP of cyber consulting and threat intelligence, Palo Alto Networks said the Unit 42 team analyzes over 1,000 threat investigations each year.

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Synacor might split out its Cloud ID and Zimbra businesses, CEO says

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 13:00:47 GMT

Synacor, once a public company, went private last year after getting acquired by private equity firm Centre Lane Partners – a deal that came together roughly eight months after Synacor and Qumu scrubbed their proposed merger.

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Edgewater Wireless CEO on how 'spectrum slicing' can beef up Wi-Fi

Mon, 19 Dec 2022 13:00:06 GMT

Wi-Fi continues to make progress with respect to speed, capacity and lower latencies with Wi-Fi 6E today and, soon, Wi-Fi 7.

One company that's looking beyond the baseline standards to get even more out of Wi-Fi is Edgewater Wireless, a startup that has developed a patented technique called "spectrum slicing" to further improve the efficiency and performance of Wi-Fi.

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The Notebook Dump: We're freezing up in here

Fri, 16 Dec 2022 18:00:00 GMT

Light Reading editors Jeff Baumgartner, Nicole Ferraro, Mike Dano, Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser all connected for one last episode of The Notebook Dump for 2022. Just about everyone's video froze at some point, but the audio and the jokes are as crystal clear (and cringy) as ever while we recap a weird week in telecom news.

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The Divide: Internet Society's Dan York on the state of LEO satellite broadband

Wed, 14 Dec 2022 13:00:04 GMT

This episode features Dan York, director of online content at the Internet Society. He joins the show to discuss the details of a new report called Perspectives on LEO Satellites.

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AT&T banks on public policy to propel open RAN deployments

Tue, 13 Dec 2022 13:00:52 GMT

At last week's Open RAN North America event in New York, AT&T's Chris Boyer sat down with Light Reading to explain how the service provider is working with the government, academia and other organizations to support progress in open RAN deployments.

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The Notebook Dump: 5G transport, open RAN and NYC subways

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 18:30:23 GMT

Mike Dano, Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser attended Light Reading's 5G Transport & Networking Strategies event, held in conjunction with the Open RAN North America trade show in New York City this week. They discussed the hot topics in 5G transport, including backhaul and fronthaul.

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Heavy Reading's Gabriel Brown: 5G's long road ahead

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 13:00:56 GMT

At Light Reading's 5G Transport & Networking Strategies event, analyst Gabriel Brown discusses the reality of the 5G market – standalone 5G is still on the horizon and making all those systems work together is the industry's next big challenge.

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Heavy Reading's Sterling Perrin: Lowering latency in 5G networks

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 13:00:27 GMT

At Light Reading's one-day optical networking event, analyst Sterling Perrin recaps the highlights and discusses how transport networks are evolving to accommodate 5G latency demands.

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The Divide: NDIA's Amy Huffman on how to build a state digital equity plan

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 13:00:02 GMT

On this episode we hear from Amy Huffman, policy director at the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA): a nonprofit organization working to close the digital divide in the US.

She joins the show to discuss the federal government's $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act (DEA) – passed as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) – and NDIA's new toolkit to help states develop their digital equity plans.

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The Notebook Dump: 6G and broadband and bears – oh my!

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 18:00:00 GMT

Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano, Nicole Ferraro, Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser discuss SES and Boeing's medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite launch planned for later this month, Dish Wireless plans to rule 6G and the FCC releases its national broadband map. In addition, the editors chat about an unplanned potential decommissioning of 20 million cable set-top boxes, and why bears should avoid illicit substances in the Notebook Dump for the week ending December 2.

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The Divide: How Bluepeak is bringing broadband competition to overlooked cities

Wed, 30 Nov 2022 13:00:20 GMT

This episode features Jeff Seidenfaden, chief commercial and customer experience officer at fiber broadband provider Bluepeak; and Mike Podoll, a resident of Altus, Oklahoma, and a subscriber to Bluepeak since the ISP started connecting customers there in late August.

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Boeing brings 5G and terrestrial tech to MEO satellites

Wed, 30 Nov 2022 13:00:15 GMT

While 5G is a relatively nascent technology, it's already playing an important role in the satellite space race. Ryan Reid, president of Boeing Commercial Satellite Systems, International, recently joined the Light Reading podcast to explain how terrestrial telecom technologies are being utilized in the new O3b mPower satellites, which Boeing is manufacturing in partnership with satellite operator SES.

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SES CTO on launching software-defined satellites

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 13:00:26 GMT

Satellite operator SES has a busy year-end planned with the scheduled launch of two MEO satellites in mid-December. CTO Ruy Pinto met up with Light Reading on site at Boeing Satellite in El Segundo, Calif. earlier this month with an update on the scheduled launch.

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ATX CEO on bridging the labor gap and what's next in cable tech

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 13:00:29 GMT

Whether it's upgrading existing hybrid fiber/coax (HFC), extending service to adjacent areas or bringing fiber and gigabit speeds to rural locations, the pace of network building has picked up among many US cable operators.

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The Notebook Dump: CTIA unimpressed with CBRS, Comcast unleashes HFC, shrinking MEO satellites

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 18:00:43 GMT

Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano and Kelsey Ziser discuss whether anything interesting is going on in the CBRS spectrum band, updates on Comcast's hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) network, and Kelsey's tour of Boeing's satellite facility in the Notebook Dump for the week ending November 18.

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The Divide: Flume's CEO on what happened with NYC's Internet Master Plan

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 13:00:29 GMT

This episode features Prashanth Vijay, co-founder and CEO of Flume Internet. He returns to the podcast to discuss Flume's progress leveraging dark fiber to help close the digital divide in New York City over the past year, as well as the company's recently announced expansion to Los Angeles, California, and Hartford, Connecticut.

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What's the Story? All SES wants for Christmas are MEO satellites

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 13:00:44 GMT

Just in time for the Holidays, satellite operator SES plans to launch about a half dozen new MEO satellites in mid-December. A second launch is scheduled for January of next year, together with launch partner SpaceX.

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What's the Story? Edge computing ain't easy

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 13:00:09 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano and Phil Harvey review the Leading Lights Awards categories they judged, ranging from 5G to optical transport.

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What's the Story? Leading Lights entries double down on cloud native

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 13:00:55 GMT

Light Reading's Iain Morris and Kelsey Ziser review the Leading Lights Awards categories they judged and examine emerging trends that appeared in the submissions.

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The Notebook Dump: Broadband prevails, satellites are cool and Twitter's a mess

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 18:00:59 GMT

Light Reading editors Nicole Ferraro, Mike Dano and Phil Harvey gather around the microphones for an informal discussion of what happened during the work week ended November 11, 2022. This week's big issues include the state of statewide broadband ballot initiatives, broadband mapping timelines, satellite-to-phone communications, space commercialization and how the social media landscape is changing after a wave of layoffs in the tech sector.

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The Divide: Sharayah Lane on the need for Indigenous-led broadband solutions

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 13:00:38 GMT

The Internet Society's Sharayah Lane joins the podcast to discuss the digital divide in indigenous communities across North America, where progress has and hasn't been made and broadband policy recommendations from the recent Indigenous Connectivity Summit.

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How RDK is branching out to cover smart TVs and FWA

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 13:00:14 GMT

Now spanning video and broadband devices and a subset of the IoT arena, the Reference Design Kit (RDK) has come a long way since humble beginnings that, as far as we can tell, extend back to circa 2010.

RDK, an open-source software stack managed by a joint venture of Comcast, Charter Communications and Liberty Global, has been deployed to more than 100 million devices worldwide, up from about the 80 million reported in May 2021.

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Software-as-a-Service: The new way telco core networks are delivered and operated

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 12:59:28 GMT

Nokia core networks SVP Fran Heeran answers Light Reading’s questions on how customers and the whole industry perceives Core Networks delivered and operated in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. #sponsored

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US Cable has a strong hand in mobile, Recon Analytics' Roger Entner says

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 13:00:22 GMT

Comcast and Charter Communications just came off a third quarter in which they added a record 729,000 mobile lines, extending their grand total to 9.61 million. As home broadband subscriber growth slows, mobile has clearly become their new success story.

Altice USA's mobile service, coming way of a new MVNO deal with T-Mobile, has had more limited success, but the operator is still adding mobile lines. Meanwhile, Cox Communications and WideOpenWest have just entered the game, and the National Content & Technology Cooperative (NCTC) is crafting MVNO deals that will enable its membership of 700-plus independent cable operators and telcos to enter the mobile mix as well.

Roger Entner, the founder and lead analyst of Recon Analytics and all-around mobile industry expert, believes cable is well-positioned to keep growing the mobile side of its business.

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Telcos must pivot to app quality of experience focus as OTT traffic floods networks – Sandvine

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 12:59:00 GMT

Service providers can move toward sustainable, profitable business models if they optimize and monetize the quality of experience they deliver to consumers and enterprises on behalf of OTT players. #sponsored

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The Notebook Dump: Broadband and magic mushrooms on the ballot

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 17:05:18 GMT

Earnings season is in full force and Light Reading Editors Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Dano, Nicole Ferraro and Kelsey Ziser discuss which companies had a banner Q3 and others that hit some speed bumps in this Notebook Dump for the week ending November 4.

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The Divide: How SiFi Networks tackles digital inequity with open access 'FiberCities'

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 12:00:18 GMT

This episode features Shawn Parker, vice president of government affairs at SiFi Networks: which has been building and operating open access fiber networks for about a decade, with 32 "FiberCities" currently in development across the US.

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What's the Story? Fixed wireless swamps Leading Lights Awards

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 12:00:07 GMT

Light Reading's Alan Breznick reviews the Leading Lights Awards categories he judged and examines surprising trends that appeared in the submissions.

In particular, Alan said there was a significant number of fixed wireless submissions this year.

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Telstra Americas' Noah Drake dives into subsea cable network planning

Wed, 02 Nov 2022 12:00:00 GMT

Telstra Americas' President Noah Drake joins the podcast with an update on the service provider's market focus in the Americas, where Telstra operates subsea cable networks and which regions it has pegged for growth.

You can download a lightly edited transcript of the podcast here.

Here are a few topics we covered:

Contrast between Drake's time at Zayo versus now at Telstra (00:39)
Telstra Americas' customers and focus in the Americas' market (02:34)
New technologies for subsea cable networks (04:11)
Building subsea cable networks that last decades while provisioning for future bandwidth demands (06:19)
Balancing network planning and subsea cable maintenance (09:25)
Telstra Octagon and the service provider's work with the financial services community (12:01)
Telco talent acquisition and the challenge of filling roles with the right people (15:37)

Related stories and links:

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Velocix CEO on pay-TV's streaming shift and how to get more out of the cloud DVR

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 12:00:06 GMT

Jim Brickmeier has seen the pay-TV industry evolve from its early foray into the worlds of video-on-demand (VoD) and digital ad insertion, the advent of the cloud DVR and into today's streaming era.

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The Notebook Dump: Ghosts, ghouls and zombies of telecom

Mon, 31 Oct 2022 17:00:00 GMT

In the Halloween edition of The Notebook Dump, Light Reading editors walk through the digital cemetery looking for gadget zombies and technologies that still haunt us.

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Enabling new 5G network services

Sat, 29 Oct 2022 12:00:25 GMT

Shekar Ayyar, chairman and CEO of Arrcus, sees a lot of upside for telcos wanting to create new network services. His optimism is rooted in the changes he sees in network infrastructure and a new kind of convergence between enterprise and service provider networks.

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What's the Story? Leading Lights finalist trends in streaming video and broadband

Fri, 28 Oct 2022 12:00:42 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner and Nicole Ferraro discuss the 2022 Leading Lights Awards categories they judged, the finalists they selected and trends they noticed in the submissions.

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Evolving telecommunications BSS to enable CSPs for future revenue growth

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 12:00:25 GMT

One of the recent surveys by Comviva Research, across 75 C-level telecom executives globally, suggests that 60% believe their BSS is not ready for future needs. #sponsored

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Interactive TV and living in the FAST lane

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 12:00:52 GMT

Weber, who once headed up video product for AT&T and its U-verse services, shifted gears years ago to take the CEO slot at Zone TV. These days, he's focused on an older TV idea – interactive television – that has found new interest thanks to IP connectivity and optimism about the category from both operators and programmers.

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Omdia: SASE has barely left the starting block

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 12:00:00 GMT

While vendors and service providers have made much ado about secure access service edge (SASE), the technology framework is still in its nascent phase, according to Omdia Analysts Adeline Phua and Fernando Montenegro.

"I think everybody's really excited about SASE because enterprises keep asking about it," said Phua. "It's got so much buzz in the market. And we're thinking that maybe adoption is really hitting that tipping point, only to find out when we talk to service providers and to enterprises that the adoption is really not there yet."

Phua and Montenegro explain why there's still a learning curve about SASE, how service providers can better approach enterprises interested in adopting SASE and their forecasts for the market moving forward.

You can download a lightly edited transcript of the podcast here.

Here are a few topics we covered:

Omdia's definition of SASE (00:32)
Service provider adoption of SASE (02:58)
Why SD-WAN adoption is still light (04:39)
How service providers can better educate enterprises about SASE (07:32)
Types of deployment options for SASE (14:07)
Where enterprises should start on their SASE journey (19:46)

Related stories and links:

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What's the Story? AT&T from the edge to the cloud

Mon, 24 Oct 2022 12:00:00 GMT

Light Reading's Phil Harvey discusses his recent tour of AT&T's central office. Phil also examines AT&T's edge strategy, public cloud partnership with Microsoft and provides an update on AT&T's FirstNet emergency response service.

You can download a lightly edited transcript of the podcast here.

Here are a few topics we covered:

Overview of Phil's tour of AT&T's central office. (01:00)
An inside look at AT&T's 5G and fiber focus. (02:42)
AT&T's approach to the public cloud. (06:32)
Why utilizing the public cloud could be more cost-efficient for service providers. (10:52)
Update on FirstNet emergency response service. (13:05)

Related stories and links:

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Rakuten Mobile's Tareq Amin: Symware celebration

Sun, 23 Oct 2022 12:00:17 GMT

LAS VEGAS – #MWC22 – Tareq Amin, CEO of Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony, discusses how he got Symware from being a reference architecture to a shipping product, with plans to deploy 30,000 units in Rakuten Mobile's network in Japan.

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Pivotal Commware: Speeding up FWA

Sat, 22 Oct 2022 12:00:42 GMT

Pivotal Commware CEO Brian Deutsch discusses his company's new as-a-service offering, Pivotal Turnkey Services. The service, offered to Pivotal's network operator customers, aims to speed up deployments of fixed wireless access (FWA) networks that use mmWave technology.

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The Notebook Dump: 800G milestones, AT&T adds fiber subs, and Netflix bucks streaming struggles

Fri, 21 Oct 2022 17:00:36 GMT

Light Reading editors Jeff Baumgartner, Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser discuss subsea cable updates and Ciena and Alitbox's 800G deployment from Amsterdam to Copenhagen. The editors also discuss Phil's takeaways from his recent tour of AT&T's central office, AT&T's fiber subscriber base surpassing its non-fiber base, and Netflix's banner Q3 results in this recap of the work week ended October 21.

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Reach Mobile CEO on 'Shopifying' mobile, broadband and IoT

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 14:00:00 GMT

Shopify has been using its e-commerce platform to provide an easy path for partners to sell products online for more than 15 years. Reach Mobile believes its platform offers something similar for the worlds of mobile, home broadband, the Internet of Things (IoT) and, more recently, connectivity for enterprises.

"Reach is doing to the telecom networking industry what Shopify did to e-commerce," Reach Mobile founder and CEO Harjot Saluja asserted on the Light Reading Podcast. "We built a digital stack that allows companies, any client, to leverage the network and monetize it in many different ways, but in a very, very simple manner."

An example he points to is WideOpenWest (WOW), a competitive cable/fiber service provider that recently launched a mobile service in partnership with Reach Mobile.

"They [WOW] can just focus on marketing and distribution, and our platform does everything else," Saluja explained, noting that his company is pursuing similar types of mobile service partnerships with other US cable and broadband operators.

Reach Mobile, Saluja said, can apply its model to other service categories, including fixed wireless access, wired broadband and even IoT.

Reach Mobile tends to get lumped into a segment of the market known as the mobile virtual network enabler, or MVNE. Saluja agrees with that general characterization, but believes the point-of-sale baseline associated with the MVNE concept oversimplifies what Reach's platform provides.

"There's another 95% that you're not solving," he said, pointing to elements such as customizable and personalized transaction messages and in-app notifications and SIM tracking. "Traditionally, the MVNEs don't think of it that way. They are basically giving you some APIs [application programming interfaces] so that you don't have to work with the carrier underneath … I think we are an MVNE, because we do the enabling, but that's like 5% of our solution."

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 brief overview of Reach Mobile and why the company believes it is doing for the telecom networking industry what Shopify did for e-commerce (1:00)
A drill-down into Reach's approach to support not just mobile, but also fixed wireless, wired broadband services and even IoT (2:46)
An exploration of Reach's home broadband use case, including how the company can help service providers create "flanker brands" or develop other types of service options, including premium or prepaid options (6:00)
An update on Reach Mobile's deal with WideOpenWest and its ongoing engagement with the cable industry and wireless ISPs about developing similar types of mobile products (14:00)
Reach Mobile views itself as a mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE), but believes that characterization over-simplifies the capabilities of its platform (20:00)
An overview and update on Reach's new connectivity-as-a-service for the enterprise services sector (25:00)

— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading

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The Divide: How Presidio collaborates with the public sector on connectivity

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 12:00:51 GMT

This episode features Cyndi Barrera, the sales vice president of SLED West at digital services and solutions provider Presidio. She and her team work with and advise public sector clients on technology solutions to meet their specific needs. We discuss a project called CFW Neighborhood that Presidio worked on with Cisco and the city of Fort Worth, Texas, to help build out the city's digital infrastructure and bring Wi-Fi to all residents.

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Ciena and Altibox: Amsterdam bound with 800G

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 13:03:53 GMT

Ciena and Altibox discuss their recent 800G deployment over 1,100 KM between Amsterdam and Copenhagen.

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Global Cloud Xchange battles global latency with subsea connectivity

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 12:36:55 GMT

Subsea cable operators face the unique challenge of balancing future capacity demands while deploying and maintaining cable systems meant to last 25 to 30 years. Jim Fagan, chief strategy and revenue officer for Global Cloud Xchange, joins the podcast to discuss new technologies for future-proofing subsea cables, and examines which regions are exhibiting the most growth in bandwidth demands.

You can download a lightly edited transcript of the podcast here.

Here are a few topics we covered:

Background on Jim Fagan and Global Cloud Xchange. (00:25)
GCX's managed services business. (04:01)
Impact of the pandemic on GCX's business. (06:12)
Regions where GCX is experiencing growth and partnership with Equinix. (09:03)
Subsea cable management across international waters. (11:50)
New and emerging subsea cable technologies. (15:01)
Logistical and equipment management challenges to operating and managing subsea cables. (17:55)

Related stories and links:

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Omdia's Roz Roseboro: The complexities of public clouds for telcos

Mon, 17 Oct 2022 13:01:13 GMT

Roz Roseboro, principal analyst for Omdia, joins the podcast to discuss her research on service provider use of the public cloud and whether SPs should try to be more like the hyperscalers.

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The Notebook Dump: DOCSIS ain't cheap, edge computing is 'meh' and Starry bet and lost on RDOF

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 17:08:49 GMT

Light Reading editors Kelsey Ziser, Mike Dano, Jeff Baumgartner, Nicole Ferraro and Phil Harvey discuss DOCSIS 4.0 network upgrade costs, edge computing sites, and RDOF and SD-WAN updates in this recap of the work week ended October 14.

The stories covered include:

If you want to skip around and listen, here are a few more things covered in this interview:

Network upgrade costs for DOCSIS 4.0. (01:09)
FCC's rip-and-replace program, Verizon standalone 5G and Dish Network's plans to sell Boost Mobile brand to Charlie Ergen. Microsoft and AT&T launch public edge computing sites. (05:39)
Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) updates – Starry defaults on all its bids. Starlink over promises on broadband speeds. (08:53)
SD-WAN roundup with updates from Microsoft, Cisco, Orange Business Services and Aryaka. (18:01)
Update on Leading Lights Awards. (22:00)

Have a great weekend!

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FiberLight CEO's vision extends beyond core connectivity

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 12:11:33 GMT

Connectivity is core to FiberLight's business, but the company, under CEO Chris Rabii, is pursuing a path to be much more.

FiberLight is in the midst of a plan to evolve from "a "largely construction-focused company, to one that's trying to be more compelling in the services arena," says Rabii, a former exec with Cablevision Lightpath and Altice Business who joined FiberLight roughly two years ago.

While there are other examples of companies that have successfully made that transition, "there's work we need to do to be good at those things," Rabii said on the Light Reading Podcast.

But infrastructure and connectivity are certainly at FiberLight's core. FiberLight operates about 17,000 route miles of fiber around 78,000 pre-qualified or near-net buildings across 30 US metro areas, with a principal presence in Texas and Northern Virginia. Tied into that infrastructure play, FiberLight's business spans both wholesale and channel relationships, including activity with enterprise customers and so-called hyperscalers.

FiberLight's strategy is being pursued amid other big changes underway, namely a deal to be acquired by Morrison & Co., a New Zealand-based infrastructure fund.

Rabii said more detail will be shared when the transaction closes. "But I think their long-term view on investment in the infrastructure space is a perfect fit for us," he said.

FiberLight isn't directly involved in the residential services business, but its infrastructure and connectivity capabilities will still put it in the game for federal funds that are being funneled into projects to bring broadband into underserved and underserved areas.

"We will have a seat at the table … whether it's the seat right at the table, or the seat behind the guy who's sitting at the table," Rabii said. "There are some specific middle-mile grants and I think we'll be participating directly in those in the States or the markets and territories where we feel we have strength and can put a compelling case together."

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 review of FiberLight's network reach and business focus (1:15)
Why a recent M&A agreement with Morrison and Company, a New Zealand-based infrastructure fund, makes strategic sense for FiberLight and what's on the horizon as the deal moves through the approval process (3:50)
Beyond getting that pending transaction completed, what are FiberLight's priorities for 2023, including growth prospects and how the company intends to differentiate in the market? (6:30)
How Texas has become a hotbed of opportunity as some companies open up new locations or transition their presence to The Lone Star State (10:00)
How the pandemic impacted the direction and focus of the company (13:15)
How FiberLight sees opportunities on the horizon as more funds are funneled into rural broadband projects and initiatives (16:30)

—Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading

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What's the story? South Africa to sunset 2G and 3G

Thu, 13 Oct 2022 13:24:57 GMT

Connecting Africa's Paula Gilbert provides an update on Safaricom's new network in Ethiopia, which will be the country's first private telecoms operator and end the country's decades-long telecoms monopoly.

We also discuss why South Africa's government wants to turn off 2G and 3G by 2024 and 2025, respectively, but operators say it's too soon as about 60% of mobile traffic in South Africa still runs on 3G.

You can download a lightly edited transcript of the podcast here.

Here are a few topics we covered:

Safaricom launches new network in Ethiopia. (01:18)
Role of Ethiopia's government in Safaricom's launch in the region. (04:30)
Government in South Africa wants service providers to sunset 2G and 3G. (05:38)
Potential impact of turning off 2G and 3G on mobile phone users. (09:17)

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The Divide: Where and why local voices are missing from FCC broadband policymaking

Thu, 13 Oct 2022 12:00:10 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Ryan Johnston, senior policy counsel for federal programs at Next Century Cities. Ryan recently authored a report entitled Resounding Silence: The Need For Local Insights In Federal Policymaking. The report takes a look at two FCC dockets – the 2018 small cell proceeding and the 2022 docket on ISPs in multi-tenant environments (MTEs) – to explore the FCC's general rulemaking process and its impact on local communities. We discuss the difficulty municipalities had participating in both of those proceedings and what happened as a result. We also discuss how to improve the process, and why local governments should get a jumpstart on data collection as states prepare to distribute more federal funds.

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Verizon Frontline's response to Hurricane Ian

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 12:56:02 GMT

The destruction of Category 4 Hurricane Ian in Florida is far reaching, with over 491,000 homes and businesses still left without power. Verizon Frontline's team headed down to Florida with networking equipment and services in tow to ensure first responders have connectivity.

Cory Davis, AVP for Verizon Frontline, returns to the podcast with an update on how the service provider is coordinating with emergency services and local municipalities to provide network access and other emergency resources in the wake of the hurricane.

You can download a lightly edited transcript of the podcast here.

Here are a few topics we covered:

Update on the impact of Hurricane Ian on Florida (00:24)
Impact of the hurricane on Verizon's network (02:11)
Verizon Frontline equipment that's been deployed in Florida such as THOR (Tactical Humanitarian Operations Response) vehicle, drones and MEO (medium-Earth orbit) satellite technology (04:46)
What a successful emergency response system looks like for Verizon (07:26)
Planning ahead for future natural disasters (08:39)

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The Divide: LiveOak's Steve Smith on getting fiber-ready in Florida and Georgia

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 12:00:21 GMT

This episode features Steve Smith, chief revenue officer at LiveOak Fiber, a service provider formed in July 2022 with plans to bring fiber broadband to Glynn County, Georgia and Okaloosa County, Florida. We talk about LiveOak's background story and buildout plans, which are funded with $150 million from InfraRed Capital Partners, and we discuss what a new fiber network will mean for the communities on Florida's Emerald Coast and Georgia's Golden Isles.

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The Notebook Dump: Chips and salsa for the win

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 17:00:08 GMT

Light Reading editors Kelsey Ziser, Mike Dano and Phil Harvey sign off from MWC with a 10-minute informal recap of the work week ended September 30.

The rest of the show notes and story links can be found at https://www.lightreading.com/lr-podcast.

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The Divide: How FirstLight is connecting communities with middle-mile fiber

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 12:00:09 GMT

This episode features Maura Mahoney, chief marketing officer, and Patrick Coughlin, chief development officer, with FirstLight Fiber, a digital infrastructure provider servicing enterprise and carrier customers on a 25,000 route mile fiber network. We discuss how the company's middle-mile fiber network is helping bridge the digital divide "from Bangor to Buffalo," how the company factors network stability into its buildout, the process of applying for NTIA infrastructure grants and more.

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What's the story? Helium Mobile's high hopes for MVNO

Tue, 27 Sep 2022 15:00:35 GMT

Mike Dano returns to the podcast to discuss Helium Mobile, which recently signed an MVNO agreement with T-Mobile. Helium Mobile customers will be able to access T-Mobile's existing 5G network and the do-it-yourself, Helium-branded 4G network in exchange for cryptocurrency rewards. Mike explains how the MVNO will work and which new and noteworthy elements Helium Mobile will bring into the US wireless industry.

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The Notebook Dump: Ericsson acquires Vonage, national spectrum strategy, eSIM startup and Elvis impersonators

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 17:02:25 GMT

Light Reading editors Mike "can't be bothered" Dano, Phil "the higher the hair the closer to heaven" Harvey and Kelsey "finger guns" Ziser get together for an informal recap of what's happened during the work week ended September 23, 2022.

The stories covered include:

If you want to skip around and listen, here are a few more things covered in this interview:

SCTE Cable-Tec Expo show recap (00:50)
Kelsey finally gets a new iPhone after hanging onto the XR for four years... but the satellite service on her iPhone 14 isn't available just yet (02:30)
Ericsson hints at an update to the Vonage acquisition (Note: The update from Ericsson is coming out on September 26, not this week as initially stated during the podcast. Stay tuned for more from Light Reading on the acquisition next week). (06:17)
The NTIA spectrum event and why Mike hates the phrase "the race to 5G" (09:21)
Metaverse woes and why Second Life still sucks (12:30)
Startup RiPSIM launches a new eSIM product (14:17)
Things you never needed to know including the fact that New York ranks 8th for best states to go fishing in (not to be confused with phishing) (20:30)
See you at Mobile World Congress Las Vegas, but don't ask Phil or Mike for an Elvis impersonation (23:51)

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The Divide: Ziply VP chats rural fiber builds, permit reforms and micro-trenching

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 12:00:34 GMT

Jessica Epley, vice president of regulatory and external affairs at Ziply Fiber joins the podcast to discuss the company's fiber buildout strategy in the northwest US, how it's preparing for the opportunities and competition presented by Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding, and why permitting reform would help accelerate broadband delivery where it's needed most.

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Executive Spotlight Q&A: Flexible, Cloud Native Networking is Here

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 12:00:46 GMT

Enterprises have fully moved their IT stack into the cloud, and network infrastructure is next. Dave Ward, PacketFabric’s CEO, joins Light Reading to discuss the need for serious positive disruption in telecom, the flexibility of a cloud-native network, and how PacketFabric delivers real-time connectivity anywhere you want to go. #sponsored

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Reminiscing with Bob Gold about cable milestones, Dan Aykroyd and media screwups

Mon, 19 Sep 2022 15:06:26 GMT

If you've been in the cable tech industry for more than five minutes, there's a good chance you know Bob Gold, the super-energetic PR/marketing guy and Cable TV Pioneer who's been representing cable tech companies and startups since the late 1990s. Gold got his agency start representing a video remultiplexing company (sexy, right?) called Imedia.

Since then, off the top of this hack's head, he's flacked for is currently flacking for companies such as Canal Plus, Pioneer (back when it was making cable boxes and interactive guides), Media One, Incanta and ClearBand (we'll get to that those in more detail), Plume, the recently rechristened National Content & Technology Association (NCTC) and Vidgo, a virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD) that competes in the market with the likes of YouTube TV, Hulu, Philo and Sling TV.

Full disclosure – he and the crew at Bob Gold & Associates have pitched a ton of stories to me about many of them over the years. Bob and I don't always see eye-to-eye, but I've written about many of them over the years. And Gold did nominate me for the Cable TV Pioneers class of 2018, so perhaps I wasn't as big of a jerk to him, his staff and his clients over the years as I thought I was. Hey, I tried.

Usually news tied to Gold has to do with a company he represents, but this time it's all about Bob – his agency recently turned 25-years-old. He got that up and running about the time I started writing about the industry and had to Google "DOCSIS" to figure out what the heck I was about to do my first story on.

So, we've got a lot of industry stuff in common, enough that it made sense to get together on the podcast and hop in the "Wayback Machine" to reminisce about the last two decades-plus.

You can download a lightly edited transcript of the podcast here. If you want to skip around and listen, here's a timestamped list of the convo:

How Gold and the crew celebrated the silver anniversary. And, yes, a PR crisis did interfere (1:15)
How Gold, whose background includes marketing and communications exec roles with major cable programmers, turned a disaster into a new career as the head of an agency that focused on the crazy world of tech – and other stuff (5:50)
How a top exec of a company didn't even believe in a fiber-based product that was being pitching to the press (12:30)
How startups like Incanta and ClearBand had great ideas about streaming TV to devices but were just too early with respect to tech or content rights… or both (14:00)
How Gold pitched me on a cable theft story, and I royally screwed up the embargo and the bad guy got away (15:30)
Which client was Gold's greatest completed Hail Mary (18:30)
Why Dan Aykroyd was Gold's favorite celeb to work with, back when video-on-demand was just appearing on the cable scene (20:30)
Why Gold, at one time, viewed Amazon Prime as the most infuriating organization (24:00)
Gold's biggest gain. After the fact, he told me to add Plume to the list (26:44)
Gold's proudest moment – next to being my guest on the podcast, of course (27:30)

— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading

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Omdia on the rocky road to private 5G for manufacturing

Mon, 19 Sep 2022 12:11:00 GMT

Service providers have been banging on about the benefits of private 5G networks for the manufacturing industry, but that vertical has been reluctant to move forward with 5G technologies.

In this podcast interview, Omdia analysts Pablo Tomasi and Anna Ahrens explain why the manufacturing industry, oft-cited as fertile ground for 5G, hasn't been that excited about private 5G network adoption.

"[5G] has a large promise of ultra-reliable, low-latency communications, which is actually a basic requirement of industrial communication," said Ahrens. "But what no one counted on or what no one expected is that it is not ready to go technology, it is a technology which still needs to be evolved."

In addition, Ahrens and Tomasi dive into their joint research report, Demystifying Private 5G in Manufacturing: How to Seize a New Opportunity, and explain what can be done about the mismatch of expectations for 5G between the telcos and manufacturing sector.

You can download a lightly edited transcript of the podcast here. If you want to skip around and listen, here are a few more things covered in this interview:

Why the manufacturing industry is hesitant about adopting 5G (02:45)
The reality of ROI for 5G (04:01)
Why the manufacturing sector is resistant to disruptive technologies (06:07)
Why the manufacturing industry is slow to adopt new technologies provided by telcos (08:11)
What service providers believe is the advantage of 5G for the manufacturing industry (10:44)
Near term opportunities for service providers in the manufacturing sector (14:24)
Impetus behind Ahrens and Tomasi deciding to team up on their joint report (17:19)
How telcos can better develop 5G services that enterprises need (19:16)

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The Notebook Dump: Broadband proliferation, chicanery and hotel soap

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 17:12:41 GMT

Light Reading editors Kelsey Ziser, Nicole Ferraro and Jedi Padawan Mike Dano join sentient vanilla latte Phil Harvey for an informal recap of what's happened during the work week ended September 16, 2022.

The show notes and video for this episode are available right here.

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Light Reading's super-official SCTE Cable-Tec Expo 2022 Preview

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 13:40:53 GMT

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

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Brightcove CEO braces for the next big shift in streaming

Thu, 15 Sep 2022 13:34:07 GMT

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

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What's the story? '2022 is the year of T-Mobile'

Thu, 15 Sep 2022 12:00:00 GMT

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.

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QOS Networks CEO brings AIOps to Zayo Group

Wed, 14 Sep 2022 12:00:25 GMT

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)

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What's the story? German telcos face geopolitical troubles

Mon, 12 Sep 2022 12:44:30 GMT

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)

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The Notebook Dump: New iPhones, data center alleys and Comcast's big gigs

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 17:09:36 GMT

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.

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What's the story? The rise of independent OS suppliers for smart TVs

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 12:13:17 GMT

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.

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The Divide: TruConnect's Danielle Perry on the role of MVNOs in keeping people online

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 12:00:35 GMT

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.

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OSS/BSS market avoids pandemic slowdown

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 12:03:19 GMT

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)

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The Divide: Tarana's CEO on why FWA isn't a 'stopgap to fiber'

Fri, 02 Sep 2022 12:00:35 GMT

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.

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Glidr aims to help consumers navigate a sea of streaming options

Thu, 01 Sep 2022 12:46:52 GMT

What are you watching? It's a question that tends to pop up among family, friends and coworkers. The water cooler may be a corporate relic, but thanks to the rise and popularity of free and paid streaming services, the video landscape is certainly rife with water cooler-worthy TV shows, series and movies. Perhaps too many.

A startup called Glidr Inc. wants to help consumers cut through the clutter and zero in on content that their social media circles enjoy and recommend. It's trying to tackle that challenge with a free app that, following several months of testing, recently launched on Android and iOS devices.

The general idea is to help consumers discover content they might be interested in watching and to help them manage the various streaming services they use and pay for. But rather than relying heavily on AI and machine learning techniques to surface and recommend content, Glidr's platform is powered in part by what a user's family and friends are watching and recommending.

"When your friend recommends something or your family member recommends something to watch, you're probably going to watch it," contends Glidr CEO Adam Tom, who recently joined the Light Reading Podcast to discuss the company and broader trend impacting the streaming sector. "There's all these great recommendation engines out there. But when your family or friend says something, that's really a strong recommendation."

Glidr's ranks include vets from the cable industry and video tech industries. Adam Tom is late of Imedia, Terayon and RGB Networks (sold to Imagine Communications in 2015), and more recently was with Samsung, heading up North American engineering for smart TVs as well as engineering for Samsung's connected TV ad business. Also joining the podcast is Christopher Lee, Glidr's product director. Lee is a video engineering vet previously with Gemstar TV Guide and Comcast, where he aided in the development of products for the operator's X1 video platform.

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:

An expansion into the background on the Glidr team and its ties to the cable and video tech industries (00:30)
A discussion about the problems and challenges Glidr is trying to address with its direct-to-consumer app. (3:22)
How Glidr is tapping into a user's circle of family and friends, rather than just AI and machine learning techniques, to deliver movie and TV recommendations. (5:30)
How Glidr intends to help consumers manage and track their streaming subscriptions and provide a secure way to store and manage passwords in a central location (18:00)
How Glidr expects its revenue model to evolve into areas such as marketing services and sponsorships as it scales up its user base (21:00)
An update on Glidr's financial situation, including a recent investment from Goodwater Capital (27:10)
A snapshot of the company's plans and priorities for the rest of 2022 and into 2023 (28:45)

— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading

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DriveNets co-founder on the white box way to lower TCO

Thu, 01 Sep 2022 12:00:06 GMT

With a fresh cash flow of $262 million, DriveNets plans to expand sales to service provider customers and grow its employee base by 30% to 450 employees.

Hillel Kobrinsky, chief strategy officer and co-founder of DriveNets, joined the podcast with an update on how the networking company plans to invest its new Series C round of funding, and how the company's focus on virtualization software is impacting innovation and sales cycles with its service provider customers.

In addition, Kobrinsky explained how virtualizing network infrastructure pairs well with the new work-from-home culture, and reduces total cost of ownership and operational costs for customers.

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:

Update on DriveNets' latest funding round of $262 million (00:32)
DriveNet's plans to expand with support from latest funding (02:17)
Changes to software innovation cycles in coordination with white box deployment (03:43)
Speed of sale cycles among service providers utilizing white boxes and increasing virtualization in their networks (06:02)
Total cost of ownership and operational costs of moving to virtualized network infrastructure (08:09)
Potential challenges of updates within a brownfield environment (10:20)
Shift to more automated networks (14:17)
Projection for expansion at DriveNets over next 18 months (17:46)

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What's the story? T-Mobile, SpaceX plan to forge satellite-cellular connection

Tue, 30 Aug 2022 12:41:11 GMT

T-Mobile and SpaceX have teamed up on a plan to connect mobile phones to SpaceX's new Starlink satellites. According to the two companies, this could eliminate all cellular dead zones around the US. However, the new satellites won't be launched until next year. In the meantime, Verizon and AT&T are working on their own satellite plans.

"Verizon plans to use Amazon's planned Project Kuiper satellites to connect its rural cell towers to the Internet, and AT&T is planning a similar setup with OneWeb's own growing constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites," wrote Light Reading's Mike Dano in a recent Light Reading article.

During this podcast, Dano also provides an update on the iPhone 14 launch. The new iPhone, which should be available next month, is expected to be able to directly connect to satellites.

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:

Update on T-Mobile and SpaceX partnership (00:58)
Impact of the collaboration on the rest of the industry (02:03)
Impact on the competitive landscape for other US mobile carriers (07:28)

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Juniper COO on a sustainable approach to cloud metro management

Mon, 29 Aug 2022 13:54:56 GMT

Manoj Leelanivas, COO of Juniper, joins the podcast with an update on Juniper's Cloud Metro platform. Leelanivas explains how a number of factors are contributing to driving network traffic through the metro network and how Juniper is taking on new approaches to managing cloud infrastructure. He also shares why increasing automation in the management of cloud infrastructure is beneficial to service provider and enterprise customers.

"The AI and cloud-delivered automation actually simplifies this mundane work stream, so people can actually focus on actually more satisfying work, like service creation," he said.

Leelanivas also provides insight into Juniper's sustainability strategy, the importance of reducing e-waste and total cost of ownership (TCO).

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 Leelanivas' roles at Juniper (00:39)
Juniper's Cloud Metro platform and its impact on service providers (01:43)
Sustainability components to Cloud Metro platform (04:39)
Reducing e-waste (09:27)
Addressing e-waste and sustainability on earnings calls (11:49)
Why Juniper is focusing on zero trust security (10:03)

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The Divide: How private wireless can help close connectivity gaps

Wed, 24 Aug 2022 12:00:27 GMT

This episode features David Broecker, chief innovation officer at Purdue Research Foundation (PRF), and Özer Dondurmacıoğlu, vice president of strategic accounts at enterprise networking company Celona. We discuss the digital divide in the state of Indiana where Purdue Research Foundation (part of Purdue University) is based, why PRF worked with Celona to deploy a private 5G network on CBRS spectrum at PRF's Discovery Park District, and how private wireless technology can help organizations and institutions close digital skills and literacy gaps.

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Investor interest in fiber hot as 'open access networks' come into focus

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 12:34:37 GMT

There's no shortage of topics in the world of broadband these days. Fiber network M&A activity and upgrades have not slowed down. Billions of dollars are flowing into rural broadband. Cable operators are considering multiple paths forward on their access network upgrades amid flagging broadband subscriber growth. Meanwhile, fixed wireless access (FWA) seems to be all the rage.

To cover that ground and help analyze those various-but-related-topics, two cable industry vets, David Strauss and Jay Rolls, now execs at Broadband Success Partners, recently joined the Light Reading Podcast. Broadband Success Partners, a company founded in 2017, has completed more than 40 technical due diligence engagements from about 25 clients, including a growing number of them outside the US. Heading into 2023, the company is also exploring how it might bring its expertise to the public sector.

"When you consider the $65 billion of infrastructure funding – broadband funding – that's coming down the pike here, perhaps there's an opportunity. We're just exploring it at this stage," David Strauss, co-founder and principal of Broadband Success Partners and an exec formerly of Lightpath, Comcast, AT&T and Sprint, explained.

Meanwhile, investor interest in fiber "is very strong and not abating," says Rolls, an exec who previously held top engineering slots at Charter Communications and Cox Communications, and now serves as CTO of Broadband Success Partners. "I would even say it might be a little stronger than we saw six months ago."

And Broadband Success Partners is seeing the notion of the "open access network," a model already somewhat popular in Europe, get more traction and interest in the US.

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:

Background on the market focus of Broadband Success Partners and the number of M&A-related due diligence projects completed so far (0:50)
On the opportunities emerging outside the US and, within the US, the potential to engage with the billions of dollars being freed up to bring broadband to unserved and underserved areas (4:15)
An update on the current level of investor interest in fiber, and how the notion of an "open access network" built on fiber is becoming an emerging topic in the US (6:45)
How active Ethernet, not just PON, is making waves in the world of fiber access networks (9:50)
How in-home services, such as managed Wi-Fi, are becoming increasingly important attributes for broadband service providers that are trying to differentiate beyond speeds, feeds and pricing (11:30)
A discussion on the various options available to cable operators as they pursue what's next on the access network – DOCSIS 3.1 enhancements, future DOCSIS 4.0 upgrades or overbuilds based on fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) technology (17:00)
An update on potential pricing for DOCSIS 4.0 network upgrades (22:00)
As cable faces slowing broadband subscriber growth, what's more important: keeping prices and margins steady amid that slowdown, or driving promos that can rekindle subscriber growth? (27:00)
How fixed wireless is factoring into the discussion, particularly in rural areas (31:45)

—Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading

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How the CHIPS and Sciences Act could boost US optical networking

Wed, 17 Aug 2022 13:00:42 GMT

Infinera CEO David Heard is optimistic about what the CHIPS and Sciences Act can do for US optical networking vendors, especially those endeavoring to be less dependent on foreign suppliers.

You can download an unedited transcript of the podcast here.

Here are just a few things covered in this podcast episode:

What the CHIPS and Sciences Act does for companies like Infinera (01:38)
How it benefits the optical networking industry overall (06:33)
Infinera's reorganization and market acceptance (09:47)
The road to 800Gbit/s and the upcoming growth cycle. (13:39)

Check our post about this episode on www.lightreading.com for more.

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Cable industry invests in a smarter power grid

Wed, 17 Aug 2022 12:10:00 GMT

The utility grid is undergoing a massive change, transforming in a similar way to the cable network 30 years ago, according to Dr. Robert Cruickshank, managing member of Power Networks.

"Now with distributed solar, and storage, you know, battery storage in people's homes, we actually have content creation and storage at the edge," said Cruickshank on the podcast.

The "unprecedented change" to the grid isn't without growing pains, explained Cruickshank. Extreme weather conditions, increased electricity usage and a reduction in traditional energy sources such as fossil fuels have all placed a strain on the utility grid.

On the bright side, the US is moving toward a smarter grid, supported by efforts such as the SCTE 267 standard, explained Cruickshank.

"And we actually, in the Society of Cable Telecom Engineers, we created a standard called SCTE 267. And in that standard, we define how you can communicate with devices, and tell them exactly what you were saying," said Cruickshank.

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:

Current state of US power grid (00:33)
Potential issues if utility grid isn't updated (03:23)
What can be done to update the power grid (04:00)
Smart grid transformation (05:02)
SCTE 267 standard and importance of demand response (08:19)
Large scale examples of smart grids (10:03)
How cable operators and broadband providers can support smart grid transformation (11:54)
Cyber security challenges to the smart grid (12:58)
How long the smart grid transformation will take (17:10)
Additional resources (18:09)

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Comcast on the surge of botnets and how businesses can properly defend themselves

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 12:21:06 GMT

With the range, scope and variety of damaging botnet attacks on the rise, businesses large and small need to prioritize cybersecurity and ensure they are taking proactive and iterative measures to protect against potentially devastating attacks.

"Cyber[security], like many things in life, is a journey. It's not a destination," said Ivan Shefrin, executive director for managed security services at Comcast Business, who joined the Light Reading Podcast to discuss the rising threat of botnets. "Even the largest companies in the world are not fully mature. You can always improve continuously and get better."

Shefrin said adopting such an approach is critical for businesses as cybersecurity threats increase. The 2021 Comcast Business DDoS Threat Report found that distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) botnet attacks have risen 14% since 2019, and 41% since 2021.

"We're in an arms race now," Shefrin said. "Machine learning and automation are the leading edge of that arms race … It unfortunately means that botnets are only going to grow in size and scope and complexity – and the difficulty in defending them."

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 brief introduction to the world of botnets and the threat they pose to businesses (1:13)
The number and variety of attacks that can be perpetuated by botnets, and how network providers can play a role in mitigating threats (4:50)
Discoveries made and trends detected by Comcast's latest DDoS Threat Report, including a rise in the number of DDoS botnet attacks and how modernized attacks are difficult to defend against (9:30)
Why DDoS botnet attacks are on the rise (11:20)
How unpatched systems have created targets for cybercriminals, and why keeping those systems patched presents a major challenge for larger companies (16:00)
How botnets have evolved to become fungible assets for cybercriminals (21:15)

— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading

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What's the story? HBO Max and Discovery+ to merge next year

Mon, 15 Aug 2022 12:00:08 GMT

There's a new collaboration on the horizon for the streaming video world. Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced that HBO Max and Discovery+ will be combined next year.

"One of the big things that kind of came out of the call, the recent earnings call, is a plan to launch HBO Max and Discovery+ as a single service and kind of a global brand, initially in the US next summer, and then a bunch of international markets in the following couple of years," said Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner.

Baumgartner said the name of the combined service is yet to be announced. It's going to be a bit of a waiting game to see if the combined video service of HBO Max and Discovery+ will be able to scale, and if it'll bring in a bigger and broader audience.

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You can download an unedited transcript of the podcast here.

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NCTC CEO recaps annual show, offers update on MVNO plan

Fri, 12 Aug 2022 12:39:27 GMT

Lou Borrelli, CEO of the National Content & Technology Cooperative (NCTC), joins the Light Reading Podcast to reflect on the recently concluded The Independent Show in Florida, and reactions to the new name of the organization, which kept the NCTC designation but dropped the "cable" and "television" labels.

Borrelli, who joined the podcast from his boat moored in Martha's Vineyard, also provided a few updates on the organization's major, new initiatives, including a "Connectivity Exchange" and a plan to offer mobile options to the NCTC membership by the fourth quarter of 2022.

This year's show, which returned as an in-person event after 2021's all-digital confab, was marked by "pent up energy, for wanting to reconnect," Borrelli recalled. "The Independent Show is really the last standing old school cable show. It's the only one that combines programming and technology, just like the good ol' days. And it had that feel to it."

And what about that name change? "I think a lot of people felt like it was overdue," Borrelli said. "I haven't had any negative feedback about the name. I think the fact that we kept the acronym the same, to me, was important."

Borrelli said the NCTC is on track to have multiple mobile options available to its membership of 700-plus operators. "The deal that we're contemplating is flexible. From the members' perspective, they can choose how much or how little they want to actually take on for themselves," he said.

You can download a lightly edited transcript of the podcast here. If you want to skip around and listen, here's a sampling of topics discussed during this podcast:

Reflections on The Independent Show returning to an in-person event, and a recap from the event for those who didn't make the trip to Florida (00:57)
Reaction to the recent name change from the National Cable Television Cooperative to the National Content & Technology Cooperative. (09:00)
How and why the NCTC shifted to focus on its collective broadband base rather than its historical focus on collective video subscribers. (11:00)
On the opportunity and challenge to get hundreds of independent operators – big, medium and small – focused on similar projects and goals. (13:41)
How mobile became a priority at the NCTC and updates on the organization's plan to have multiple mobile service options available to members by the fourth quarter of 2022. (18:45)
An anticipated timeline on when NCTC members will be able to take advantage of a new "Connectivity Exchange" that will enable independent operators to participate in national RFPs for last-mile connectivity. (25:30)
Borrelli participated in the podcast from his sailboat. How does he stay connected from the water? (30:30)

—Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading

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Orange VP on automating the API ecosystem

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 12:00:41 GMT

DENVER – MEF Annual Members Event – Orange Business Services VP Franck Morales returns to the podcast to share how the service provider is utilizing MEF's Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) APIs.

In addition to working to further automate transactions with other service providers and enterprise customers via the APIs, Morales said his role as a member of MEF's board provides him with the opportunity to help develop SD-WAN and SASE standards.

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:

Orange's use of the MEF LSO APIs (00:23)
Development of SD-WAN and SASE standards (03:17)
New Integrated Trust Network (ITN) and blockchain groups (04:25)
How use of APIs improves automation of business functions (11:00)
New MEF security standard (16:27)
Standardized definition of SASE (17:20)

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The Divide: How a co-op is solving 'the broadband problem' in rural Georgia

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 12:00:23 GMT

On this episode, we're joined by Jonathan Chambers, a partner with Conexon; and Herschel Arant, senior vice president of energy supply and external services at Central Georgia EMC, a rural electric cooperative serving parts of 14 counties in central Georgia. We discuss their partnership to build out a fiber broadband network to an unserved region of the state and how their collaboration led to the creation of Conexon's ISP arm, Connect. We also get into why electric cooperatives are especially well placed to close the digital divide in the rural US and Chambers' view that they should receive the bulk of federal broadband funding.

Read an unedited episode transcript here.

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Verizon Frontline demos connectivity and emergency response to chemical spill drill

Wed, 10 Aug 2022 12:00:56 GMT

In this podcast, Verizon's Mark Paff described in detail the service provider's role in emergency response scenarios and explained that Verizon's efforts are "all done in close coordination with the local responders that are setting up that incident command center after the event."

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What’s the story? Open RAN, semiconductor markets marred by supply chain, geopolitical dustups

Tue, 09 Aug 2022 12:00:23 GMT

Many industries are feeling the squeeze of supply chain challenges, and the open RAN and semiconductor businesses are no exception.

Despite the flexibility that open RAN promises from an equipment and technology standpoint, supply chain speed bumps plus geopolitical factors are presenting new challenges to that market, Light Reading's Iain Morris explained on the podcast.

"Open RAN for people who aren't that familiar with it is really just a set of interfaces that allow you to mix and match components and software from different companies," said Morris. "But the idea is that because you don't need an end-to-end portfolio, it's a lot easier then for smaller companies and specialists to come into the mix and kind of compete."

Morris recently reported on one of the most prominent players in the open RAN game, Parallel Wireless, which had to lay off employees.

"They've had to let go of a lot of their staff," he said. "It depends on what reports you read how many have gone, but there are some saying it's up to 80%, which sounds pretty disastrous, really, for a company to lose that many."

In addition to discussing open RAN woes, Morris explained why a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan could have a major impact on the semiconductor market.

You can download an unedited transcript of the podcast here.

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Lumen CTO on automating and standardizing network infrastructure

Thu, 04 Aug 2022 12:30:05 GMT

DENVER – MEF Annual Members Event – Lumen's sights are set on developing a customer experience where connectivity service orders are placed through a portal or API for a more digital, automated experience, Andrew Dugan, CTO of Lumen Technologies, told Light Reading.

Accomplishing that goal requires automation of Lumen's infrastructure via the use of APIs, said Dugan. He added that the service provider is currently partnering with an enterprise customer on testing and deploying MEF's Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) APIs.

In addition to explaining how Lumen is utilizing the LSO APIs, Dugan shared updates on developments of MEF's standards for SD-WAN and SASE.

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:

Lumen's experience implementing LSO APIs for automation of business functions (00:34)
Impact of MEF's efforts to standardize SD-WAN and SASE on how operators deploy those services (02:55)
Importance of a SASE definition to clear up confusion in the industry (05:00)
Impact of hybrid workforce trend on SD-WAN and SASE deployments (06:20)
MEF passes W128 security standard for LSO APIs (08:00)
Differences between zero trust and zero trust network access (08:36)
Future developments of APIs (09:52)
Use of blockchain for managing transactions between service providers and enterprise customers (11:17)

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The Divide: WISPs are the digital divide's 'first responders,' says new WISPA CEO

Thu, 04 Aug 2022 12:00:36 GMT

In this episode, we're joined by David Zumwalt, president and CEO of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA), a trade organization that represents the fixed wireless industry. Zumwalt assumed his role roughly two months ago, in June 2022, after former CEO Claude Aiken stepped down from his post at the organization in April. We discuss what he learned about the digital divide from his prior role at an ISP in the US Virgin Islands, and his vision for WISPA as the federal government prepares to hand down tens of billions in grants for states to eradicate their broadband gaps. We also get into the important role that WISPs play in closing the digital divide, and why he likens them to "first responders."

Read a full transcript of this episode here.

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Interpret's Brett Sappington on the streaming evolution and its impact on pay-TV

Wed, 03 Aug 2022 14:41:32 GMT

There's no shortage of change and disruption being meted out by the streaming market.

Netflix, which benefits from a sizable chunk of TV viewing time, is pursuing an ad-supported option to help restoke customer growth. Meanwhile, sports rights are rapidly gravitating to deep-pocketed streaming platforms and the world of Big Tech.

Even the NFL is getting into that act with a new "NFL+" premium streaming service for superfans as the league negotiates a new deal for its coveted Sunday Ticket package, with Apple rumored to be in the lead to land it.

Beneath all of that, the traditional pay-TV bundle continues to struggle as customers flee from fat bundles paired with high prices and continue to see the best shows and TV series get funneled to direct-to-consumer (DTC) services that aren't inherently part of those bundles.

Brett Sappington, a long-time industry analyst who leads the video and entertainment research practice at Interpret, recently joined the Light Reading Podcast to sift through and make sense of some of these trends, how they impact pay-TV and what the pay-TV players can do to stay relevant and perhaps benefit from those trends.

You can download an unedited transcript of the podcast here. If you want to skip around and listen, here's a snapshot of topics discussed during this podcast:

Sappington's reaction to Netflix's Q2 earnings, which saw better-than-expected subscriber losses and initiatives focused on clamping down on account sharing. (1:20)
How Netflix's sizable and growing share of TV viewing time could play a role in the success of the streamer's new ad play. (11:25)
As major programmers and studios continue to strip-mine their best content for direct-to-consumer services and alter the traditional availability windows of new shows and movies, what will that mean for the already-struggling pay-TV bundle? (14:00)
How new streaming deals for live sports, long viewed as the glue holding the pay-TV bundle together, stand to further disrupt the video marketplace. (18:08)
The role the National Football League's new NFL+ premium streaming service for superfans could play in the streaming market. (23:31)
As more entertainment content and live sports shift to streaming and direct-to-consumer offerings, what is the future role of the pay-TV package as consumers create their own bundles? How can pay-TV distributors stay relevant as the market amplifies its focus on streaming and the direct-to-consumer sales model? (28:24)
Is streaming ushering in a "Great Rebundling" that can provide lower prices, or is this merely a shift toward an aggregation model in which consumers are forming "collections" of streaming services devoid of discount benefits? (31:42)

— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading

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MEF's Stan Hubbard on accelerating automation with APIs

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 20:44:12 GMT

DENVER – MEF Annual Members Event – Service providers have long been working toward automated networks. One way service providers are reducing manual processes is by adopting MEF's Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) Sonata APIs. Currently, 22 service providers are in production with the APIs, which automate inter-carrier transactions of connectivity services such as Carrier Ethernet.

Stan Hubbard, principal analyst for MEF, said an additional 90 service providers are now tracked in the LSO Sonata adoption lifecycle – from interest through to implementation. Of those 90 operators, 41 are committed to using the APIs.

"We launched our LSO framework about five or six years ago," said Hubbard. Service providers that utilize the LSO APIs can improve their service delivery, accelerate time to revenue and improve the customer experience, he added.

"Service providers had to deal with lots of manual processes up until now," said Hubbard. " … We're saying, 'Invest in the APIs, standardize APIs one time, and be able to use that with your partners on the buy and sell side. It has huge potential to save time in the long run'."

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 MEF's Annual Members Meeting (00:33)
Update on MEF's new Technology Advisory Board (TAB) (01:28)
Service provider adoption of LSO Sonata APIs to manage and automate transactions of business functions (02:16)
How the use of APIs moves the needle on network automation (04:30)
Initiatives to develop standards for SD-WAN and SASE services (08:45)
Educating enterprise customers on SASE (09:52)
Using blockchain to verify billing and settlement (12:40)

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Dell's CTO on building broadband and private 5G networks

Thu, 28 Jul 2022 13:00:52 GMT

John Roese, the global CTO at Dell Technologies, said the influx of federal funding to help alleviate the digital divide should be used to solve broadband coverage gaps as efficiently as possible. He said that those efforts could be hampered if federal and state agencies let legacy networking requirements limit the number of potential technology suppliers.

For new broadband builds, Roese said, a new 5G standalone network is a great solution and could be provided by a wide range of companies: Dell (of course), Amazon, Microsoft and Google, plus the traditional telecom providers.

"There's no reason to have 4G, 3G, 2G – there's no reason to have a voice service on it," Roese said. "And yet, our general tendency is, every time we talk about broadband, we talk about all generations of broadband, all the legacy, all possible permutations," Roese said.

There are plenty of cases where 3G or 4G or fiber would be required, but some new unserved or underserved areas "might actually look like legacy-free environments," Roese said. "They might start with no technical debt, no legacy hangover, and we have to be just very deliberate about what problem we are solving."

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:

Do enterprises see the need for private 5G? (09:30)
What is the competitive dynamic between cloud providers, telcos and others working to build private 5G networks? (13:50)
How Dell views the edge and why it's a big growth area. (17:14)
Keeping edge workloads separate from edge infrastructure. (23:39)

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Comcast's Broderick Johnson on Internet access and the pursuit of 'digital equity'

Wed, 27 Jul 2022 15:33:51 GMT

The concept of "digital equity" has been a hot topic as the FCC and private entities attempt to resolve the issue of accurate broadband mapping and uncover where resources need to be applied to get people connected in underserved and unserved rural areas. That work also extends into cities, where broadband might be available but factors like affordability or access to devices and digital training can limit the rate of adoption.

Broderick Johnson, who joined Comcast just over a year ago, has a history of focusing on the pursuit of digital equity. In fact, it's right there in his title: EVP for public policy and EVP for digital equity.

"This goes back … really decades," he explained, noting that the digital divide was part of the discussion during his time at the Clinton White House, where he served as deputy assistant to the president for legislative affairs. "Back then, it was more about access," recalled Johnson, who recently was in Denver to meet with community leaders and representatives from state and local government about how they and Comcast can better collaborate on digital adoption.

Over time, he said, the discussion has "morphed into a more complicated set of issues" with respect to where investments are being made and what other barriers exist where deployments are happening. "We do know that there has been, over the course of these decades though, really difficult disparities based on race and economic class, and where people live," Johnson explained.

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Here's a snapshot of topics discussed during this podcast:

How Johnson defines "digital equity" (2:20)
Beyond access and affordability, other barriers are keeping consumer adoption at bay (4:05)
An update on projects at Comcast focused on bridging the digital divide – including Internet Essentials, which was launched more than a decade ago, Project UP, Comcast Rise, and the deployment of more than 1,000 Wi-Fi-connected "Lift Zones" in venues such as community centers and libraries (6:30)
The roles that community-trusted Digital Navigator volunteers can play in boosting Internet adoption with respect to getting access to devices and obtaining digital skills and training, and how that can translate to projects such as the FCC's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) (10:30)

— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading

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What's the story? Cox undeterred by false starts into mobile biz

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 14:04:52 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss Cox Communications' new mobile service. He explains why it was a long time coming, why T-Mobile tried to slow Cox's deployment with a lawsuit, which service provider Cox ultimately chose to partner with on the mobile service, and more.

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What's the story? How to enter the Leading Lights Awards

Thu, 21 Jul 2022 21:10:02 GMT

Phil Harvey joins the podcast to discuss Light Reading's Leading Lights Awards and how to enter a submission. In addition, we share advice for how to craft a solid entry, tell you when the deadline to enter is, how much it costs and more.

Here are just a few things covered in this podcast:

Background on the Leading Lights Awards (01:10)
How the award winners will be announced (03:50)
How the judging process works (06:20)
Advice for how to craft a solid entry and tips on what to avoid (09:15)
What we mean by "innovative," and the importance of supporting documentation (14:27)
How to enter, deadlines and early bird discounts (21:10)

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The Divide: Measuring Internet equity, with Nick Feamster (bonus episode)

Thu, 21 Jul 2022 14:49:21 GMT

This week we're resharing an episode of the Light Reading Podcast featuring Nick Feamster, director of research for the Data Science Institute at the University of Chicago. He joined Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser last month to discuss his team's research based on the Internet Equity Initiative data portal, which uses Ookla Speedtest data to map out Internet inequities.

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What's the story? Ericsson's market momentum haunted by mismanagement

Mon, 18 Jul 2022 17:40:44 GMT

Light Reading's Iain Morris joins the podcast with insight into why Ericsson's stock price took a hit despite a solid second quarter.

"I was a bit surprised to see the share price, they opened at about 11% down, which is a big drop ... and normally that's the kind of thing that happens when they have a bad news item like the investigation for some of their activities in Iraq where there were various wrongdoings going on," said Morris.

Morris provides background on Ericsson's missteps in Iraq, but explains that this is an example of poor choices from previous management. While current management's efforts have righted the ship in some ways, the sins of Ericsson's past continue to make investors skeptical.

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Plume CTO on why Amazon has the inside track on IoT brand loyalty

Mon, 18 Jul 2022 15:02:45 GMT

With the pace of broadband subscriber growth showing signs of slowing after big surges during the early days of the pandemic, some service providers are expanding their influence into the management and security of IoT devices that are proliferating on the home network. While not all of those strategies have aligned perfectly among ISPs, an analysis of the data on the home Wi-Fi network can provide lots of insight about which brands and device types consumers are gravitating to.

Plume, a data and cloud services specialist that manages Wi-Fi in more than 40 million homes worldwide, recently issued its latest Plume IQ report, with this one focused on the IoT brands driving the most consumer loyalty. The report found that Amazon is seemingly in the cat bird's seat, atop of Apple and Google. Notably, Amazon's position in the IoT market runs relatively independent of the smart phone being used while Apple's position is largely determined by whether the consumer is an iPhone user.

Bill McFarland, Plume's chief technology officer, recently joined the Light Reading podcast with Editor-in-Chief Phil Harvey and Senior Editor Jeff Baumgartner to dig into the data and the numbers, extrapolate some broad IoT trends and explain how this kind of data can benefit the strategies of broadband operators.

To pinpoint some of that activity and gather trends and insights, Plume uses AI and machine language techniques to enable "device typing" to determine what kind of device is connecting to the network.

"It's not as easy as it might sound because there isn't a protocol or a standard message they send about what kind of device they are," McFarland said. "You have to kind of look at the way they're behaving, the protocols they are using and so forth, and then compare that with other devices you've seen of that type and you do a matching."

Here's an outline of topics covered in this podcast:

The technical basis of the Plume IQ report, and how it relies on data to uncover and identify industry trends and indicators. (1:40)
Thoughts on why Amazon was high on the IoT brand loyalty list and why it seems to broadly attract consumers independent of the rest of their device ecosystem, including smartphones. (5:30)
What other kind of data can be collected to help broadband service providers manage the home network and make better decisions that can cut down on the cost of their broadband delivery. (14:30)
How the role of the service provider in IoT and IoT security is evolving as consumers continue to adopt more connected devices that hook into the home network. (17:00)
Beyond the likes of Amazon, Apple and Google, what other products, brands and device types are making a mark in IoT? Where does Sonus and even connected cars, for example, fall in the pecking order? (26:30)

— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading

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Virtual and traditional pay-TV players take a hit on subs

Thu, 14 Jul 2022 18:19:52 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast to provide an update on some of the major players in the streaming video market. He also delivers insight into a recent report on the pay-TV market and why both traditional providers and OTT-TV players are struggling to keep their subscribers. We wrap up with our predictions on which shows win Emmys this year.

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The Divide: Ji Soo Song on the Department of Education's role in achieving digital equity

Thu, 14 Jul 2022 13:00:11 GMT

Ji Soo Song, broadband advisor at the US Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology (OET), joins the show to discuss the impact of the digital divide on students and the role his department plays in expanding access and affordability. We also discuss what he's learned through the Department of Education's Digital Equity Education Roundtables (DEER) initiative and how states and schools can use infrastructure funding and the Digital Equity Act to help close the digital divide for students.

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What's the story? Mike Dano on WCO, wireless wins and woes

Mon, 11 Jul 2022 13:04:55 GMT

In this episode, Light Reading's Mike Dano discusses growth predictions for the wireless industry in 2022 and why Verizon's forecast might be a little bleaker than those of AT&T and T-Mobile. He also explains the battle between WCO Spectrum and T-Mobile over the purchase of 2.5GHz spectrum licenses from academic institutions.

Here are just a few things covered in this podcast:

Update on wireless industry and growth predictions for 2022 (01:10)
Why postpaid customers are more valuable to wireless providers (03:00)
AT&T and T-Mobile pull ahead of Verizon in growth of postpaid customers (04:37)
Impact of inflation on the wireless market (06:18)
WCO Spectrum and T-Mobile battle over 2.5GHz spectrum licenses (08:29)
Benefits of leasing versus owning spectrum (12:04)
Impact of T-Mobile's right of first refusal to purchase the licenses (13:30)

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The Divide: Vistabeam's Matt Larsen on the reliability of wireless and pitfalls of federal funding

Thu, 07 Jul 2022 14:00:00 GMT

This episode features Matt Larsen, CEO of Vistabeam, a fixed wireless provider covering underserved areas of Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming. He joins the podcast to discuss the important role of fixed wireless and unlicensed spectrum in reaching underserved and unserved US populations. We also get into the role of federal funding in closing the digital divide, and why Larsen thinks more funding could negatively impact broadband expansion in the US.

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Juniper CTO on a more efficient 5G future

Tue, 05 Jul 2022 20:44:00 GMT

Juniper CTO Raj Yavatkar joins the podcast to discuss how the telecom industry can improve energy efficiency and service expectations for 5G deployments while also reducing the cost of running 5G networks. He also shares new use cases for private 5G and explains how Juniper is partnering with Rakuten Symphony on developing RAN Intelligent Controllers (RICs).

Here are just a few things covered in this podcast:

Opportunities for Juniper and its customers with 5G (01:00)
Growing interest in private 5G and new use cases (03:20)
Partnership with Rakuten Symphony on 5G deployments (06:30)
How to reduce the cost of running a 5G network for service providers (09:20)
Dynamic network capacity management and improving the energy efficiency of the network (12:00)
New approaches to data analytics and updates on Mist AI (13:07)
Automated service assurance (17:50)

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'NextGenTV' goes for a ride

Fri, 01 Jul 2022 13:32:38 GMT

ATSC 3.0, the new IP-based broadcast signaling standard branded as "NextGen TV," targets the TV with a blend of enhanced capabilities such as 4K, high dynamic range (HDR), on-demand video, immersive audio and advanced advertising. But the standard is also being touted as a downstream broadband distribution pipe that can support a much wider range of use cases, including mobile applications.

That mobility angle is starting to lead to apps and services for connected automobiles, including the distribution of info and entertainment services and the delivery of other large files. In the US, some of those use cases are starting to emerge at the Motown 3.0 Open Test Track in Detroit, Michigan, where a mix of technology demos are underway.

Pearl Television, a consortium of several US broadcasters, serves as the test manager at the test track.

"We always thought automotive was a natural extension to our television service," Anne Schelle, managing director of Pearl TV, said on the Light Reading Podcast. "We've demonstrated in multiple markets that this is a really robust signal ... meaning it's easy to receive it in a car even when you're in a garage or underground."

Schelle said Pearl TV and other broadcasters view ATSC 3.0 as a distribution pipe that can complement cellular and even satellite. "Automakers need every option," she said, noting that companies that run fleets of trucks or limousines are among the areas of the automotive market that could suit this use case.

South Korea, a market that is about two years ahead of the US with the standard, is also exploring the connected car use case. There, Hyundai Mobis is developing a lineup of cars that will come equipped with ATSC 3.0 receivers starting in 2023.

Here's a snapshot of topics covered in this podcast:

The origins of the Pearl TV consortium and its involvement with the ATSC 3.0 standard (1:30)
How the delivery of data to autos is a natural extension to the new IP-based signaling standard (8:50)
Background on the Motown 3.0 Open Test Track and some details and findings from the recent trials conducted there (10:15)
How ATSC 3.0 is expected to fit in with other wireless and mobile network types, including 5G and satellite (12:15)
Potential other use cases for NextGen TV/ATSC 3.0 (19:30)
A brief overview of the regulatory environment on the new standard, including thoughts on the FCC's fresh inquiry into voluntary adoption of the new standard and what technical challenges might be faced by cable operators and other multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) in redistributing those signals (23:00)

— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading

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The Divide: Connected Nation's Heather Gate on maps, grants and the 'future-proof' fallacy

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 13:30:00 GMT

On this episode, we're joined by Heather Gate, vice president of digital inclusion at Connected Nation, a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 that works with communities across the US to increase broadband access and adoption. We discuss the organization's work, including its broadband mapping projects and how states are using them. We also discuss the infrastructure law and how Connected Nation is helping states get and deploy the funding they need.

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Indiana's Hoosier Net takes a crack at beefing up the middle-mile

Wed, 29 Jun 2022 14:24:20 GMT

Amid all the hoopla about the deployment of fiber-fueled access networks, it's sometimes easy to forget the critical importance of middle-mile networks that feed and interconnect them. Middle-mile networks take on even higher standing when trying to deliver high-quality connections to unserved or underserved parts of rural America. Without a solid middle-mile, the last-mile network will suffer.

A consortium of telco cooperatives and Rural Electric Membership Cooperatives (REMCs) are looking to remedy that situation in Indiana with Hoosier Net, a newly formed entity that aims to develop (and build, where necessary) a statewide middle-mile network. Accord Telecommunications Collaborative, a group of 21 Rural Electric Membership Cooperatives (REMCs) and telephone cooperatives, recently announced an investment in Hoosier Net.

Drawing a bead on BEAD

Hoosier Net is taking form as federal and state authorities prepare to mete out billions of dollars in broadband grants under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. The group came together after another statewide network in Indiana, called the Intelligence Fiber Network, was sold to Zayo in June 2021.

That became an issue as "ISPs in Indiana lost control of their own destiny," Rob Shema, CEO of Hoosier Net, Independents Fiber Network in Ohio and Com Net Inc. (CNI), said on the Light Reading podcast. CNI, a company that provides backend services to ISPs, is also an owner of Hoosier Net and currently serves as the organization's managing partner.

"If [our] network has an outage, you'd better believe I have skin in the game, because at the end of the day, I'm owned by these companies. It's my job to get that Internet connection back up as quickly and as efficiently as possible," Shema said. "They want one throat to choke, and that throat's mine."

Shema estimates that the current plan for Hoosier Net will cover about 90% of Indiana, enabling a cohesive unit that can be presented to the NTIA as a way to provide backbone connectivity for several ISPs in the state. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is tasked with implementing the $42.5 billion in BEAD funding and $1 billion tagged for middle-mile infrastructure funding.

Here's a snapshot of topics covered in this podcast:

An overview of Hoosier Net, including how it started (2:10)
Why it's important that ILECs and REMCs are coming together on the project (6:50)
Why the middle-mile is important, particularly in rural areas (8:30)
An update and expected timeline on the Hoosier Net project (16:00)

— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading

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CableLabs takes aim at network and service convergence

Tue, 28 Jun 2022 15:03:57 GMT

Now that many cable operators around the globe are also wireless network operators in some form or fashion, CableLabs has embarked on several projects and initiatives focused on network and service convergence.

Following the formation of two groups – The Convergence Council and the Mobile Convergence Committee – CableLabs is taking aim at multitenancy at the edge and the convergence of both hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) and 5G networks. The initial focus is on the melding of network stacks into a common, collocated platform.

"Because more than half of the CableLabs members are both mobile and cable system operators, we think this unique insight into operations of both network types will be a catalyst for driving convergence requirements," Carmela Stuart, director of the future infrastructure group at CableLabs, explained on the Light Reading podcast.

Much of that work is detailed in a new white paper (PDF): Best Practices for Deploying 5G into a Shared Environment. And while the initial focus involves 5G vendors, CableLabs expects to run a similar exercise with HFC component vendors, and particularly with suppliers of virtual CCAPs (converged cable access platforms), Stuart explained.

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Here's a snapshot of topics covered in this podcast:

How the role of CableLabs is evolving to focus on network and service convergence (1:12)
How CableLabs is working specifically toward the convergence of 5G and HFC at the edge of the network (3:00)
What security issues need to be ironed out as network operators attempt to collocate different vendor apps on the same Kubernetes cluster. (4:30)
An outline of convergence goals that are being pursued by CableLabs and its members. (6:20)
An overview of the aims of a relatively new "10G" lab that's focused on interactivity and the testing out of various use cases involving cloud native 5G cores, virtual RANs and virtual CCAPs. (9:30)
How and why open source is playing a role in these network convergence projects. (11:00)

— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading

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Bringing fiber to Alaska's 'Deadliest Catch' region

Mon, 27 Jun 2022 18:56:59 GMT

GCI is doing more than going the extra mile to bring fiber to the Aleutian Chain in Alaska. In fact, it's going hundreds of extra miles below the surface of the ocean to accomplish the feat. Alaska's top service provider is making significant progress on the so-called GCI Alaska United Aleutians Fiber Project, an initiative that will soon start to deploy more than 800 miles of subsea fiber that will serve as the backbone for 2-Gig broadband and other services for communities in the remote, hard-to-reach region.

In this case, we're talking about a subsea fiber that will provide baseline connectivity for more than 7,000 people along the Aleutian Chain in the extreme Western end of the state, which includes the Unalaska region and Dutch Harbor of Deadliest Catch fame.

The $58 million project (funded by a $25 million grant from the US Department of Agriculture's ReConnect program and $33 million of direct investment by GCI) recently reached a key milestone, as more than 3.7 million pounds of custom-built fiber started its sea journey from Germany to Unalaska aboard the 330-foot-long M/V Vertom Thea cargo ship.

Once the fiber reaches British Columbia, it will be loaded onto two cable-laying vessels to complete its journey across the Gulf of Alaska to Unalaska.

GCI is in the process of matching its subsea fiber deployment with fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) access networks that will deliver services to homes and businesses along the Aleutian chain.

Here's a snapshot of topics covered in this podcast:

The scope of the project and why it's important to the region. (1:30)
How 2,000 tons of specially-built subsea fiber is being delivered by cargo ship – starting in Germany, and eventually reaching the Unalaska area later this year for deployment by cable-laying vessels. (5:00)
How GCI will connect homes and businesses to 2-Gig broadband services once the subsea fiber is deployed and lit up. (10:25)
What other services, beyond broadband, that GCI will deliver to homes and business in the region. (17:00)

— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading

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The Divide: Ready's Scott Woods on what NTIA got right and wrong with BEAD

Thu, 23 Jun 2022 13:45:09 GMT

Scott Woods, vice president of community engagement at Ready, and former director of the Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives at the NTIA, joins the show to discuss the NTIA's notices of funding opportunity for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) and Digital Equity Act programs. He explains what the agency got right and where its rules "missed the mark." We also discuss his current role at Ready and how the software company is helping ISPs and other broadband stakeholders prepare for funding opportunities.

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Craighead Electric's Jeremiah Sloan on lighting up Arkansas with fiber

Mon, 20 Jun 2022 12:00:32 GMT

Craighead Electric Cooperative Corp. (CECC), an 85-year-old electrical co-op in rural Arkansas, first started delivering fiber in 2018. Initially, it was for internal purposes: "We needed to communicate with critical electrical infrastructure out on the grid," said Jeremiah Sloan, CEO of CECC.

But the realization that 44% of its membership lacked access to Internet service of 25/3 Mbit/s led CECC to start delivering fiber to customers as an ISP called Empower Broadband.

"Fast forward to today, we've got about 4,000 miles of fiber, and we have 13,000 subscribers and roughly 25,000 premises passed," said Sloan.

Sloan joined Light Reading at the Fiber Connect conference to discuss CECC's work in rural Arkansas and a new partnership between Craighead Electric and other electric co-ops across the state to deliver wholesale fiber.

"Our primary mission with that organization is to make Arkansas the most connected state in the country," he said.

Here are just a few topics discussed in this video:

CECC's history and role as a broadband provider (00:50)
What's different about getting broadband from an electric co-op (03:00)
Why CECC "mothballed" its fixed wireless project (04:00)
How Craighead streamlined its fiber deployment (06:30)
New middle mile partnership with other electric co-ops (07:40)
Plans for federal funding (11:10)

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Musician Autumn Nicholas on defying genre and telling stories

Fri, 17 Jun 2022 21:30:12 GMT

Nashville-based singer/songwriter Autumn Nicholas, who performed this week at the Fiber Connect 2022 event, said that bold storytelling is what sets her songs and lyrics apart.

Related stories and links:

Autumn Nicholas (Spotify, Linktree and Instagram)
The Kentucky Gentlemen
Troubadour Blue
Black Opry (A resource for Black artists and fans of country, blues, folk and Americana music.)

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Cisco's Jonathan Davidson: Working globally to connect more people

Fri, 17 Jun 2022 15:05:40 GMT

Jonathan Davidson, EVP and GM of Cisco's Mass-Scale Infrastructure Group, discusses Cisco's desire to help close the digital divide.

"We're focused on powering an inclusive future for all. That's not just a tagline; that's what we believe we are here to do from a purpose perspective," he said.

Here's a list of topics that were covered in this podcast:

The digital divide as an opportunity for networking projects (2:00)
The status of Cisco's digital divide work (4:30)
How Cisco works with service providers, agencies and partners to accelerate programs aimed at helping alleviate the digital divide (6:30)
Being reactive versus proactive on connectivity projects (9:50)
Which issues require the most attention (11:15)
Where Cisco's private 5G-as-a-service fits in (12:50)

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Cisco's Masum Mir on the reality and hype of the metaverse

Thu, 16 Jun 2022 21:19:48 GMT

The story of what the so-called "metaverse" will be or should be is just getting started, and views differ widely between high expectations driven by hype and the realities of today's technologies and those on the viewable horizon.

Masum Mir, VP and GM of engineering at Cisco, recently joined the Light Reading podcast during the Cisco Live event in Las Vegas to offer some of his insights about the metaverse and its potential.

Here's a snapshot of topics discussed during this podcast:

What's a realistic view of what the metaverse will be in the next three to five years? (1:10)
How do the expected capabilities of the metaverse cross into the domain of 10G, the cable industry's program focusing on symmetrical 10-Gig speeds, low latency and strong security? (5:45)
Why the Internet must evolve – rather than be "reconstructed" – to support the demands of the metaverse. (7:15)
The expanding role of cybersecurity, from reactive one-offs to fully integrated ecosystems that are built-in during the early days of metaverse development rather than bolted on sometime down the road. (10:30)
How Cisco's role in the cable industry has evolved as the company's attention continues to shift away from traditional access network hardware components such as amplifiers and nodes. (14:00)

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5G Americas on mile markers for 5G and the digital divide

Mon, 13 Jun 2022 21:48:07 GMT

Chris Pearson, president of 5G Americas, joins the podcast to provide an update on global expansion of 5G, new revenue opportunities for private 5G networks and breakthroughs in addressing the digital divide. Pearson also provides a brief recap of his keynote at the Big 5G Event in May.

Here are just a few things covered in this podcast:

Big 5G Event recap and global growth of 5G (02:24)
Why "spectrum is the lifeblood of the industry" (04:40)
New revenue opportunities for private 5G networks (07:30)
Breakthroughs and mile markers for FWA and satellite in addressing the digital divide (12:50)
Setting realistic expectations for 5G (18:50)

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What's the story? All roads lead to 10G

Fri, 10 Jun 2022 19:26:11 GMT

In this episode, Light Reading's Alan Breznick provides a preview of what to expect at the Cable Next-Gen Europe Digital Symposium, which will focus on how European cable operators and their American counterparts are taking different roads to reaching 10G.

During the event, executives from Liberty Global and Vodafone and experts from SCTE, CableLabs and Omdia will discuss the latest in Distributed Access Architecture (DAA) technology, DOCSIS and more. The online event takes place Tuesday, June 21 and is free to attend. To register, click here.

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Orange brings SD-WAN and AI to evolution of enterprise IT

Thu, 09 Jun 2022 19:30:49 GMT

Orange Business Services' John Isch, practice director of the network and voice center of excellence, and Franck Morales, VP for secure digital infrastructure, join the podcast with an update on the service provider's deployment of nearly 1,200 SD-WAN sites for customer Siemens.

"It's probably one of the most complex deployments as we've also been deploying during the evolution of [Siemen's] IT, their SD-WAN, and changing nearly 100% of the underlay because the decision was clear from Siemens to move away from MPLS and to go maximum to Internet," said Morales.

In addition, Isch and Morales explain Orange's new Service Manage-Watch feature that monitors network and application performance via data analytics and an AIOps tool.

Here are just a few things covered in this podcast:

Orange Business Services' deployment of SD-WAN to nearly 1,200 Siemens sites (01:20)
Bringing customers' network, IT and security teams together (15:34)
Orange's Service Manage-Watch tool (20:16)

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The Divide: Why Dryden, New York, chose municipal fiber

Thu, 09 Jun 2022 14:01:23 GMT

Jason Leifer, Dryden Town Supervisor; Ryan Garrison, director of technology at HUNT Engineers, Architects & Surveyors; and Gina Nienaber, director of portfolio marketing at Ciena, join the podcast to discuss Dryden Fiber: a new municipal fiber network being deployed in Tompkins County, New York. We discuss the digital divide in Dryden, how the decision to create a municipal broadband network came about, the timeline for this project and much more.

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The five keys to unlocking Internet equity

Wed, 08 Jun 2022 20:15:14 GMT

The five components of Internet equity include accessibility, infrastructure, affordability, adoption and performance/reliability, says the University of Chicago's Nick Feamster.

In his latest return to the podcast, Nick Feamster, director of research for the Data Science Institute at the University of Chicago, shares findings from his team's research that supports the Internet Equity Initiative data portal, which uses Ookla Speedtest data and other data sets to map out Internet inequities.

"This important work shows the disparity of Internet access and performance, as well as a variety of different demographic measures, including race, wealth and education by Census tract," said Ookla in a recent newsletter.

The Internet Equity Initiative deployed Internet measurement devices in over 100 households in Chicago to measure disparities in Internet performance and reliability between low-income and high-income neighborhoods, according to Ookla.

Here are just a few things covered in this podcast:

Background on the Internet Equity Initiative (01:40)
The five components of Internet Equity (05:40)
Comparing digital conferencing tools (11:26)
Data and research behind the Internet Equity Initiative (15:53)
Conclusions reached based on available data (21:57)
Challenges with speed testing (34:21)
Preview of upcoming research paper: "Benchmarks or Equity?" (35:21)

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Nextlink plugs the power of 6GHz for fixed wireless access

Tue, 07 Jun 2022 15:54:38 GMT

Nextlink Internet has been able to push gigabit-level speeds over fixed wireless access (FWA) in a limited fashion, but is now looking to scale up and expand that capability by tapping into fresh spectrum in the 6GHz band.

That band, already supported in the home in the Wi-Fi6E standard, is poised to become an important data conduit for FWA as the FCC works out some final details on how that band will accommodate both new and legacy users.

As the FCC irons out some of those details, Nextlink Internet has already conducted FWA tests in the 6GHz band using an experimental license. Nextlink's test showed that throughputs in excess of 1Gbit/s downstream and 500Mbit/s upstream were achievable via a 160MHz channel at a distance of two miles using access points from Cambium Networks powered by Qualcomm silicon.

Claude Aiken, the recently appointed chief strategy officer and chief legal officer of Nextlink Internet, recently joined the Light Reading podcast to discuss the trial in more detail, what's likely to come next, and to provide an update on the regulatory landscape for the 6GHz band for fixed wireless access.

Nextlink, which also provides fiber-based broadband services and participated in the CBRS auction, is "really taking an all-of-the-above approach to spectrum access," said Aiken, an industry vet who most recently served as the president and CEO of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA). "We want to be able to utilize this [6GHz spectrum], and put this in our toolkit as soon as possible … We're pretty bullish about what this spectrum means for high-speed, rural fixed wireless service."

FWA in the 6GHz band will use automated frequency coordination (AFC) to mitigate interference in the band with incumbent users. But Aiken contends that the implementation for the 6GHz band is "much simpler" than the complications that the industry had to overcome in the CBRS band.

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor,

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The evolution of the mentor/sponsor relationship

Tue, 07 Jun 2022 15:31:18 GMT

AUSTIN – Big 5G Event – In this fireside chat during the Women in Telecoms workshop, experts from T-Mobile and Verizon explain the difference between a mentor, sponsor and coach; how to develop relationships with career allies; and how to develop a personal board of directors.

Yasmin Karimli, senior director of device technology & development for T-Mobile; and Krys Grondorf, director of communications for Verizon also share how relationships with mentors, sponsors and coaches evolve over the course of a career.

"Over this 25-plus year career, you have built relationships that aren't one way, you don't just go to them when you need something, but they come to you when they need something," said Grondorf. "Now it's fulfilling on both sides and you're having those conversations both ways."

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Here are just a few things covered in this fireside chat:
The difference between a mentor, sponsor and coach (04:20)
Evolution of relationships with mentors, sponsors and coaches over the course of a career (09:25)
Karimli and Grondorf share examples of their experiences as mentors (14:50)
How to identify a mentor, sponsor or coach and how to foster that relationship (19:00)
Assembling a personal board of directors (22:22)

Check out more news from the Big 5G Event here.

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IndyCar and NTT take predictive analytics to the speedway

Tue, 07 Jun 2022 13:46:58 GMT

Behind the wheel, NTT and IndyCar are using tools such as predictive data analytics and digital twins to improve the race experience for both IndyCar teams and fans of the sport.

"NTT is taking a lot of the unseen and we're working to make it more visible to the fans to help them understand what's going on in the race, what they should look for and where they should look for it to happen," said SJ Luedtke, VP of marketing for IndyCar.

Luedtke and Bennett Indart, VP of SMART world solutions for NTT, join the podcast to explain what it takes from a network standpoint to collect and analyze the data produced during the race.

"We're using predictive analytics in a lot of different places," said Indart. That includes analyzing pit strategies and anticipating which drivers will make a move during the race.

"We're trying to take and distill stories buried in billions and billions of messages coming off the cars during the day, and we're allowing artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to do that," he explained.

Editor's note: This podcast was recorded ahead of last weekend's IndyCar race in Detroit, Michigan.

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Here are a few highlights in the podcast:

Impact of predictive data analytics on the race and fan experience (01:00)
Data monitoring technologies and private networks (05:20)
Popularity of IndyCar and the draw for fans (09:06)
Applying learnings from IndyCar to smart cities applications and other entertainment venues (12:53)
Digital twins, data twins and visual twins (16:14)
Utilizing trends in historical data for future races (19:07)

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Overcoming the credibility conundrum

Fri, 03 Jun 2022 20:58:37 GMT

AUSTIN – Big 5G Event – In this fireside chat during the Women in Telecoms workshop, experts from AT&T, Boingo and MetTel discuss the "credibility conundrum,”"and how women in the industry can better demonstrate their value and best utilize their skill sets to advance their careers.

Layli Amiri, lead member of technical staff: network infrastructure and services for AT&T; Lori Thomas, SVP of strategic engagement & transformation for MetTel; and Rachel Rea, SVP of operations for Boingo; discuss how to access leadership and continuing education programs, the importance of speaking up and taking credit for personal success, and how to identify allies and support in the workforce.

Attracting female talent to the telecom industry continues to be a challenge – "It does have to start young and you have to breed that interest. You also need women in roles and responsibility of influence," said MetTel’s Lori Thomas. "If you look across Fortune500 countries today, there’s 15% [female] CEOs which is 74 women. It is not enough."

Here are just a few things covered in this fireside chat:

How the telecom industry can attract more female talent (03:31)
Opportunities to reskill to establish credibility (06:55)
Accessing leadership programs (08:54)
Identifying allies and advocates (10:13)
Making your voice heard inside and outside your organization (16:49)
Becoming more comfortable with self-promotion (19:17)
Changing course after constructive criticism (22:00)
What to do when you don’t have all the answers (24:10)

Check out more news from the Big 5G Event here.

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The 150-year march toward gender parity in telecom

Tue, 31 May 2022 20:13:51 GMT

AUSTIN – Big 5G Event – In this fireside chat during the Women in Telecoms workshop, Ericsson North America CMO Ciricia Proulx and Rogers Communications VP of Advanced Services Tess Van Thielen, share their perspectives and experiences about why diversity is important for business, how the industry can move in a more positive direction to support diversity, and why studies show it could take nearly 150 years to reach gender parity in the workforce.

Proulx and Thielen weave statistics and real-world examples into the conversation to explain why there's still a long road ahead to achieve gender and diversity parity in business.

"There's a perception that there has been such a strong desire to hire female or diverse talent but if you look at the numbers as you go up in leadership, that's not the story they're telling," said Proulx. "If you look at telecom, entry level we have about 37% female and by the time you get to more senior leadership it's less that 27%, so it's actually going down and is even lower if you look at additional diversity … unless we're having those conversations and the male leadership is understanding the impact, we won't progress."

Here are just a few things covered in this fireside chat:

A look at female representation and diversity in telecom (01:52)
Estimating female representation at the Big 5G event (05:25)
How to share personal experiences to create change (06:00)
Gender parity in the workforce will be achieved in 139 years (07:08)
"Women vote with their feet" – telecom loses women that don't receive adequate support (11:23)
Internal programs and initiatives that support diversity (12:10)
Challenges that remain: "tightrope/double bind," and "prove it, then prove it again" (18:10)
Having honest conversations and finding support from coworkers (25:31)
Explaining "gender deafness" (29:17)
Parting professional advice (31:50)

Check out more news from the Big 5G Event here.

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The Divide: WeLink's John Paul Farmer on bringing affordable broadband to cities

Fri, 27 May 2022 13:45:36 GMT

In this episode, we hear from John Paul Farmer, chief innovation officer at WeLink Cities, and the former chief technology officer of New York City. We discuss the fixed wireless technology WeLink is using to deploy broadband in cities, and the company's efforts to deliver affordable service. We also get into WeLink's new Cities Challenge: a $100 million effort to partner with cities on rapid broadband deployments.

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Wireless testbed research can help smash tech silos

Tue, 24 May 2022 11:00:31 GMT

US Ignite's Mari Silbey discusses how public-private partnerships can help with some big 5G issues, like resolving the technical challenges in open RAN networks and feeding better network data sets to AI and machine learning engines.

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Unlocking new tech possibilities with spectrum

Mon, 23 May 2022 11:00:44 GMT

Joe Kochan, a telecom veteran and former CEO of US Ignite, talks to Light Reading about his new role as the executive director at the National Spectrum Consortium (NSC), where he aims to promote stronger tech partnerships between government, academia and industry.

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The Divide: How rural electric co-ops like Tri-Co are closing deep broadband gaps

Fri, 20 May 2022 13:03:46 GMT

On this episode, we're joined by Elizabeth Page, national sales director at Ribbon Communications; and Aaron Young, chief operating officer at Tri-Co Connections, a fiber broadband provider in rural Pennsylvania powered by Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative, and a customer of Ribbon's. We discuss why, how and when Tri-Co started deploying broadband to its service area and the state of its rollout, why electric co-ops are well-placed to fill in broadband gaps in the rural US, Ribbon's role in rural broadband delivery – and much more.

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What's the Story? Dish Network's unwavering optimism for 5G

Tue, 17 May 2022 20:54:00 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss Dish Network's 5G-focused analyst day event. Dano explains analysts' reactions to Dish's business projections, what Dish has planned for the retail space and for enterprise private wireless customers, the launch of Boost Infinite and more.

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The Cable Center CEO on how the industry must innovate from within to drive change

Fri, 13 May 2022 17:23:48 GMT

In this podcast, Diane Christman, new CEO of The Cable Center, digs into the genesis, purpose and takeaways of the organization's first annual Intrapreneurship & Innovation Report, and offers a look ahead to this year's Cable Hall of Fame event in New York.

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The Divide: Closing the broadband adoption gap in Charlotte, North Carolina

Thu, 12 May 2022 15:13:04 GMT

This episode features Rachel Mukai Stark, smart cities program manager for the city of Charlotte, North Carolina; and Bruce Clark, executive director for the Center for Digital Equity at Queen's University of Charlotte. We discuss how broadband access in Charlotte has changed over the years, what's causing the digital divide and the city's roadmap to closing it, the importance of connecting communities with opportunities for digital training and more.

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Omdia's Pablo Tomasi: A cautionary tale about private 5G networks

Tue, 10 May 2022 20:42:21 GMT

Omdia Principal Analyst Pablo Tomasi returns to the podcast with an update on the industry's progress in deploying private 5G networks. He explains why there's a land grab for logos and how the rush to identify partners in this space could present new challenges in the future.

"You need to ensure your long-term view and the long-term view of your partners is well aligned," Tomasi says. "At the moment, everyone wants an ecosystem and as many partners as they can get, and that could present a bit of a challenge going forward."

In addition, Tomasi shares where service providers and enterprises are finding success in the private network market, and why Verizon chose to partner with private-wireless startup Celona as part of its private network strategy.

Here are just a few things covered in this podcast episode:

Changes to the competitive landscape for private 5G networks (01:25)
Identifying experts and partners in a crowded market (03:21)
Setting realistic expectations for private networks (08:15)
Service provider case studies for success in the market (11:10)
Most successful verticals deploying private networks so far (14:23)
Replicating private network deployments (18:30)

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What's the Story? Dano's deep dive on mobile service pricing

Tue, 10 May 2022 13:22:34 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss recent pricing changes by T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T. Dano explains why some service providers are increasing the price of mobile and fixed wireless services while others are announcing new deals for consumers, and what this means for the broader industry.

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The Divide: How UniCity's public Wi-Fi partnerships help connect communities

Thu, 05 May 2022 14:16:41 GMT

This episode features John Putnam, director of UniCity – the smart city division at Cincinnati Bell, now known as Altafiber. We discuss UniCity's 3,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots and how the division engages partners on providing connectivity and digital training services across its service areas in Northern Kentucky, and Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio.

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What's the Story? NAB showcases ATSC 3.0 standard and 8K

Thu, 05 May 2022 13:13:41 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast with a recap of the NAB show in Las Vegas. During the show, Jeff says there were discussions around the ATSC 3.0 standard for broadcast TV, latency concerns for live TV and streaming services, and he was able to attend an 8K video demo.

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The Divide: How Yellowstone Fiber plans to boost broadband choice in Bozeman

Wed, 27 Apr 2022 14:00:00 GMT

Yellowstone Fiber, a nonprofit open access fiber network, broke ground in March to deliver fiber throughout the city of Bozeman, Montana. Formerly known as Bozeman Fiber, Yellowstone Fiber is now operating in partnership with Utopia Fiber, an open access network based in Utah. Greg Metzger, CEO of Yellowstone Fiber, and Kim McKinley, CMO and deputy director of Utopia Fiber, join the podcast to discuss their partnership in Bozeman, and where the open access model works best in the US.

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What's the Story? Elon Musk's mixed motives for buying Twitter

Thu, 21 Apr 2022 20:14:58 GMT

Light Reading's Iain Morris joins the podcast to discuss Elon Musk's offer to buy Twitter for $43 billion. Morris explains Musk's potential motives behind purchasing Twitter, what it might look like if he goes through with taking ownership of the social media outlet, and what impact that could have on Twitter's future revenues and profits.

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The Divide: Render's Sam Pratt on using digital tools to close the digital divide

Thu, 21 Apr 2022 13:11:45 GMT

In this episode, we hear from Sam Pratt, CEO of Render Networks, a provider of geospatial network construction technology. Founded in Australia, Render is primarily focused on building networks in the US and is currently active across 12 states. We discuss Render's recent announcement that its network construction technology has helped connect over 1 million premises to fiber – and what that milestone says about the industry's evolution on using digital tools in the field. We also get into funding initiatives and how the US federal effort to close the digital divide differs from Australia's.

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What's the Story? Tier 2s are bullish about 5G

Tue, 19 Apr 2022 18:16:40 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss his trip to the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) show, why T-Mobile had a presence at a show typically attended by Tier 2 operators and why smaller carriers are investing in 5G. He also explains what these smaller service providers have planned for funding from the federal government's infrastructure deal, and why they're showing a growing interest in utilizing public clouds.

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Tarana CEO Basil Alwan: Making WTF moments in FWA

Fri, 15 Apr 2022 15:09:27 GMT

Basil Alwan, CEO of Tarana Wireless, joins the podcast to discuss Tarana's approach to fixed wireless access (FWA) and why its technology is unique. Alwan, a startup veteran who most recently ran Nokia's IP/Optical business, also weighs in on how Tarana's gear can help lessen the digital divide and why some of the company's customers are having WTF moments about FWA.

In our conversation, we cover how and why Alwan became CEO at Tarana, a company that has been around since 2009, but only really started turning heads in the broader telecom market about a year ago. Alwan discusses how Tarana transitioned from handling small cell backhaul to building a novel broadband solution for service providers of all sizes, Tarana's G1 platform.

He goes on to talk about the costs that service providers should consider when deploying traditional fixed wireless and line-of-sight cellular technologies. Finally, he reveals how Tarana Wireless is working with service providers and other channel partners and how the company's latest funding round has changed things.

In March, Tarana announced that it had closed a $170 million round at a $1 billion valuation and was on track to "deliver over $100 million of revenue in 2022, from a customer base that has exploded to more than 120 service providers."

Here's how the conversation unfolded:

How Basil Alwan became CEO of Tarana Wireless (01:26)
Tarana Wireless's work in the small cell market (04:55)
Market opportunities for FWA and line-of-sight technologies (07:06)
Key regions where FWA can lessen the digital divide and the cost to service providers for homes passed (09:18)
Digging into Tarana's latest funding round and growth prospects (12:03)
How Tarana is going to market and how service providers are stepping up (13:24)
A real WTF moment for one of Tarana's customers (21:33)
What changes when your company becomes a unicorn? (29:25)

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Juniper CEO: The new networking – experience, speed and scale

Wed, 13 Apr 2022 17:01:21 GMT

Juniper Networks CEO Rami Rahim catches up with Light Reading just a couple of months following Juniper's acquisition of WiteSand, a pioneer of cloud-native, zero-trust network access control solutions. In the podcast, we discuss what that string of buzzwords means and why the acquisition fits in nicely with Mist Systems, which brought a wireless LAN to Juniper, along with the ability to use AI to make network operations easier.

Here are a few things covered in this podcast episode:

Juniper's acquisition strategy and how it's paying off (01:44)
What Juniper looks for in an acquisition target (07:17)
Juniper's focus on enterprise customers (11:29)
Why Juniper loves the O-RAN opportunity (15:46)
Can Juniper make the right bets while so much is changing in the network? (20:26)
Moving service providers to "experience first" networking (23:46)
Data is precious but coffee is better (26:05)

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The Divide: ACA's Matt Polka discusses unserved Americans' need for BEAD

Wed, 13 Apr 2022 15:54:56 GMT

In this episode, we hear from Matt Polka, CEO of ACA Connects, a trade association representing small and midsize independent service providers since 1993. We discuss broadband access in the service areas represented by ACA Connects, as well as a recent letter Polka sent to the NTIA's Alan Davidson regarding the final rules for the NTIA's $42.45 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (or BEAD) grant program.

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The Divide: State Rep. Deb Ruggiero on fighting for broadband in Rhode Island

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 13:55:22 GMT

This week, we hear from Rhode Island State Representative Deborah Ruggiero. Rep. Ruggiero made some news when Cox Communications announced that it would invest $120 million to build fiber and expand its network in the state – prompting the representative and her colleagues to release a statement about the incumbent's years of underinvestment. She joins the podcast to discuss the state of broadband access in the state of Rhode Island, what's holding up progress and why she is fighting to pass a bill that would establish a broadband council at the state level.

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Akamai CTO: All access is remote access

Wed, 06 Apr 2022 11:08:40 GMT

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.

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Globalstar's IoT ambitions: two-way tech and more carrier partners

Sat, 02 Apr 2022 20:22:40 GMT

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.

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Ciena's Brian Lavallée on Tonga's tussle with a broken submarine cable

Thu, 31 Mar 2022 18:51:39 GMT

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)

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Nokia lab powers the future of PON, FWA

Thu, 31 Mar 2022 14:30:13 GMT

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)

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The Divide: Clearfield's Cheri Beranek on explosive fiber demand and building heterogenous networks

Wed, 30 Mar 2022 13:00:13 GMT

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.

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John Deere's Igino Cafiero: How agriculture is advancing with robotics, IoT

Mon, 28 Mar 2022 14:17:43 GMT

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)

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Executive Spotlight Q&A: Precision OT's Keith Habberfield

Fri, 25 Mar 2022 19:28:36 GMT

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.

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The Divide: How Philadelphia is pursuing digital equity

Wed, 16 Mar 2022 14:23:04 GMT

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.

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What's the Story? The splinternet is coming

Tue, 15 Mar 2022 19:19:47 GMT

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 splinternet

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Heavy Reading's Sterling Perrin coherently talks about pluggables

Tue, 15 Mar 2022 06:00:18 GMT

ICYMI – OFC 2022

As 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.

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Omdia analysts size up the PON market

Tue, 15 Mar 2022 05:10:41 GMT

ICYMI from OFC 2022

Omdia analysts Julie Kunstler and Jaimie Lenderman discuss the growth of fiber access, new operator concerns about power consumption and the glut of fiber funding that's just around the corner.

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Cignal AI's Andrew Schmitt on what's hot in optical networking

Tue, 15 Mar 2022 05:01:36 GMT

ICYMI from OFC 2022:

Andrew Schmitt, founder and directing analyst at Cignal AI, discusses how advanced computing requirements from machine learning and AI are driving the need for co-packaged optics. He also talks about the possibility that the 400ZR market is suddenly becoming fragmented and why there was not a singularly huge, market-moving announcement at OFC this year. This interview was recorded on March 9 at OFC 2022 in San Diego.

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Infinera's Rob Shore: Optical engine revving at OFC

Fri, 11 Mar 2022 01:05:00 GMT

Rob Shore, Infinera's SVP of marketing, discusses three announcements covering Infinera's most recent technology and market moves in optical transport, pluggable optics and a partnership that will unlock private networking and edge computing deployments for a major US service provider.

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GlobalFoundries bets on optical integration with GF Fotonix

Fri, 11 Mar 2022 01:00:00 GMT

Anthony Yu, VP of computing and wired infrastructure at GlobalFoundries (GF), joins the Light Reading podcast on the show floor at OFC to discuss his company's GF Fotonix announcement, the partners involved and the timing of the markets it is addressing with silicon photonics.

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What's the Story? FWA both friend and foe to cable cos

Thu, 10 Mar 2022 21:44:20 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast to discuss why some streaming services are now offering ad-supported versions, what the future of DOCSIS looks like and what cable operators think about growth in the fixed wireless access market.

For more from Baumgartner on these topics, check out his in-depth analysis here:

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The Divide: Sacred Wind's John Badal on bringing broadband to Navajo Nation

Thu, 10 Mar 2022 14:06:09 GMT

This episode features John Badal, founder and CEO of Sacred Wind Communications (SWC): a privately owned telecommunications company focused on bridging the digital divide for tribal lands in rural New Mexico. Founded in 2006, Sacred Wind has brought high-speed wireless and fiber broadband access to Navajo lands that previously lacked basic phone services.

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What's the Story? Iain Morris escapes robot dogs to bring MWC recap

Wed, 09 Mar 2022 16:12:35 GMT

Light Reading's Iain Morris joins the podcast to share highlights from last week's Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona. He discusses how attendance compared to pre-COVID-19 times, themes that emerged such as the metaverse, his thoughts on the slowest 5G-powered barman on Earth, whether robot dogs can be trusted and more.

Morris also provides updates on drama that unfolded outside the walls of the Fira as telecom companies halted business in Russia, and Ericsson had to answer why the company "initially kept quiet about the possibility it may have paid Islamic State to use Iraqi roads."

For more MWC coverage from Light Reading, check out the MWC Resource Center.

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What's the Story? Dano dishes on 5G cell site tour

Thu, 03 Mar 2022 16:58:12 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast to share his experience touring a Dish 5G cell tower in Las Vegas. He recounts making a successful call on the new cloud-native network and discusses why that's more significant than it seems. Dano also explains what he learned about Dish's network and when it will be commercially launched.

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The Divide: What Starry has learned about connecting low-income communities

Wed, 02 Mar 2022 15:00:16 GMT

Virginia Lam Abrams, co-founder and SVP of government affairs and strategic advancement at Starry, returns to the podcast with an update on the fixed wireless provider's Starry Connect program – which provides low-cost broadband to affordable and public housing developments – and how federal subsidies are helping some Starry customers get broadband at no cost.

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What's the Story? Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies conference

Wed, 16 Feb 2022 20:23:03 GMT

Alan Breznick, cable/video practice leader for Light Reading, joins the podcast to discuss the upcoming Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies conference, a free digital event on Tuesday, March 15 and Wednesday, March 16.

This is the event's 15th consecutive year, and its third year in an all-digital format. Cable Next-Gen will focus on a range of cable tech topics, including 10G, DOCSIS 4.0, XGS-PON, Distributed Access Architecture, 5G, network virtualization, Wi-Fi 6, smart homes, edge computing and related technologies, platforms and services, as well as COVID-19's impact on the broadband landscape. A variety of top tech execs will speak at the event, including executives from Comcast, Charter, CableLabs, Cox Communications, Consumer Technology Association, Cogeco, Midco, Schurz Communications and SCTE.

More details on how to register for this free digital conference can be found here.

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The Divide: STL's Ankit Agarwal on what's prolonging the digital divide globally

Wed, 16 Feb 2022 20:04:23 GMT

Ankit Agarwal, managing director at STL (aka, Sterlite Technologies Limited), joins the podcast to discuss STL's perspective on the digital divide based on its work delivering network solutions in over 100 countries. We get into the central connectivity challenges in communities worldwide and where government efforts are making a difference. We also discuss the role of fiber in bridging the divide in India, and how the supply chain is impacting STL's work to accelerate digital network delivery.

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NTT on the security and business case for private 5G networks

Tue, 15 Feb 2022 02:19:26 GMT

Parm Sandhu, VP of enterprise 5G products and services for NTT; and Warren Small, global head of security and innovation for NTT, join the Light Reading podcast to discuss NTT's approach to delivering private 5G networks to enterprise customers.

Sandhu shares insights from a recent study by NTT and Economist Impact, Private 5G Here and Now, which revealed that 90% of executives expect that private 5G will become the standard network choice.

"Nearly a quarter of the companies that we interviewed are already piloting private 5G networks. About one-third of those have already deployed at least the network as operational, meaning it's really moving data as part of their operations mission," explains Sandhu.

Here are just a few things covered in this podcast episode:

What's driving interest in private 5G networks from enterprise customers (01:52)
How private 5G networks address security concerns (03:40)
Challenges enterprises face that private 5G can address (06:20)
NTT's use cases in working with customers on private 5G networks (13:00)
More on security aspects of private 5G; NTT partnership with ServiceNow (16:30)

Related stories and links:

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Verizon's Frontline team suits up for Super Bowl LVI

Fri, 11 Feb 2022 20:38:41 GMT

Cory Davis, director of public safety operations for Verizon, returns to the podcast while on site at Verizon's network-monitoring command center in SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles, California. Davis and the Verizon Frontline team are gearing up for Super Bowl LVI; the service provider has been preparing for two years for this Super Bowl, investing $119 million in and around SoFi Stadium.

"We look at the [command center] like a football team, we have an offense, defense and special teams," says Davis. "The goal is to keep our network at 100% to the best of our ability and respond very quickly to anything that happens."

Verizon has an on-call team on site working with federal, state and local agencies to boost network capacity if needed.

Davis also provides a tour of Verizon's Tactical Humanitarian Operations Response (THOR) unit, which is a 5G disaster response prototype vehicle. For more on THOR, check out this previous podcast with Davis.

Here are just a few things covered in this podcast episode:

Overview of Verizon's network-monitoring command center (00:39)
Tour of the command center (02:25)
Monitoring network performance (03:00)
Verizon's preparations for the Super Bowl (04:27)
Connectivity challenges at SoFi Stadium (05:36)
Interactive fan experience and data usage (08:14)
THOR vehicle tour (09:53)
Recent THOR deployments (11:55)

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Nokia Bell Labs' Peter Vetter: 6G will unite the physical and digital worlds

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 15:35:26 GMT

Peter Vetter, president of Bell Labs Core Research for Nokia Bell Labs, joins the podcast to discuss the industry's preparations for 6G and how it will differ from previous cellular generations. Vetter has been with Nokia for over 20 years and has a background in optical communications, FTTH, radio access and network infrastructure research.

"What 5G has done is connect humans and machines. In 6G, we expect a much richer connectivity of machines and the physical world, the human world, with the digital world – so, the fusion of the digital worlds with physical worlds," explains Vetter. "And that's enabled by massive scale deployment of sensors that in real time capture the state of the physical world."

Commercial deployments of 6G will begin in 2030 but will take ten years to prepare, he adds.

Here are just a few things covered in this podcast episode:

How 6G will differ from previous generations and when it will emerge (02:51)
Digital twinning and simulating the physical environment in a digital space (04:37)
Use cases for digital twinning such as traffic, retail and healthcare management (08:17)
"AI comes to the rescue" for network automation (09:18)
Paving the way for 6G (09:48)
6G radios learning from each other (11:40)
6G for emergency response, energy management and public safety (12:53)
Ensuring security is built-in for 6G (15:10)
Critical network infrastructure for 6G (16:38)
One global 6G standard but national and regional requirements (18:36)
When 6G applications and specifications will emerge (20:25)
6G will "unleash human possibilities … putting humans back at the center," says Vetter. (23:18)

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Verizon's Aparna Khurjekar guides SMBs through the security labyrinth

Wed, 09 Feb 2022 19:02:53 GMT

Aparna Khurjekar, SVP and president for Verizon Business Markets, joins the podcast to explain how the service provider works with small and midsized businesses (SMBs) to assess and address their security needs. Khurjekar works with businesses with ten to 1,000 full-time employees on delivering communications, security and "other above the network services."

In addition, she shares insights from Verizon's Small Business Recovery Survey covering 600 business owners. "About 50% of small/medium businesses that we talked to said they have upgraded or they're planning to upgrade within the next six months a lot of their software solutions for security," she said.

Here are just a few things covered in this podcast episode:

Security concerns revealed in Verizon's Small Business Recovery Survey (02:25)
Different approaches to security among small/midsized businesses (04:09)
Security priorities according to verticals (07:28)
Unique security challenges for small businesses (09:35)
Applying security learnings from enterprises to smaller businesses (12:49)
Hackers shifting to organized crime (15:31)
Advice for smaller businesses on their overall security strategy (17:02)

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The Divide: Where fiber broadband deployment is (and isn't) progressing worldwide

Mon, 07 Feb 2022 18:41:50 GMT

Michael Philpott, research director at Omdia, joins the podcast to discuss Omdia's 2021 Global Fiber Development Index, including where fiber is being deployed the fastest and why speed inequalities are growing as countries work toward closing their connectivity divides.

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Lumen's Chris McReynolds on edge computing

Wed, 02 Feb 2022 19:20:45 GMT

Chris McReynolds, VP of product management, cloud and data services at Lumen Technologies, joins the podcast to discuss Lumen's approach to edge computing and what's driving edge use cases among enterprise customers.

"We have a lot of distributed physical locations where we can deploy edge computing nodes, we have a lot of fiber connectivity to manufacturing locations, logistics and sorting centers – the types of locations where these edge and IoT use cases make a lot of sense and add a lot of business value," said McReynolds.

In addition to building out edge computing locations to "cover 95% of enterprises in North America," Lumen has invested in its network and compute layers and "automated a lot of the network over the past three or four years for an SDN-enabled network," said McReynolds. He emphasized Lumen's efforts to focus both on the physical and virtual infrastructure to support edge computing use cases.

Here are just a few things covered in this podcast episode:

Lumen's strategy and approach to edge computing (01:36)
Deploying edge computing sites to improve latency (04:58)
Enterprise use cases for edge computing (07:37)
Partnerships with T-Mobile and other service providers and vendors (10:24)
Lumen's Edge Private Cloud, Edge Gateway and Edge Bare Metal (12:46)

Related stories and links:

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What's the story? T-Mobile pursues purchase of 2.5GHz spectrum

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 16:59:31 GMT

Today we're talking with Mike Dano about T-Mobile's efforts to purchase 2.5GHz spectrum licenses, why it's trying to purchase those licenses now, who the competition is and what it means for the industry at large.

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Sandvine's CSO warns of terabyte 'power' users

Mon, 31 Jan 2022 17:22:41 GMT

Samir Marwaha, chief strategy officer for Sandvine, joins the Light Reading podcast to share insights into the consumption of Internet data from Sandvine's Global Internet Phenomena Report.

For this report, Sandvine surveyed about 160 fixed, mobile and satellite service providers to gain a better understanding of Internet data usage, applications, security and more.

"In the pandemic, we have a lot more 'power users' and the definition of power users continues to change. We have a lot more terabyte users, people using terabytes a month, which was inconceivable a few years ago. In North America, about 30% of networks have people using about 3TB a month," says Marwaha.

Power users' in-application usage of Zoom, games, videos and more averages five hours a day, he adds, which "is a huge increase in terms of amount of hours spent in applications."

Here are just a few things covered in this podcast episode:

Report methodology and respondents' demographics (01:36)
Data usage behavior of "power users" (02:48)
Impact of video usage on fixed and mobile networks (06:44)
Impact of Big 6 tech companies on service providers' networks (08:59)
Application complexity (12:35)
Responsibility of measuring traffic (15:55)

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10G, FARMSIS and the future of cable broadband

Thu, 27 Jan 2022 18:27:50 GMT

Phil McKinney, president and CEO of CableLabs, joins the Light Reading podcast to discuss where the cable industry is on the path to 10G and how CableLabs is stoking interest and innovation with its 10G Challenge.

"The path to the ultimate vision for 10G – 10 gigabits and beyond – is a long road. We're talking multi-gigabit symmetrical coming soon and then getting into the higher speeds. But, again, 10G is not just about DOCSIS," McKinney told podcast hosts Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser. "We also have a lot of work going on in fiber and then there are other elements – low latency, improved security, improved privacy and all of those elements. We made great progress in 2021. And in 2022, a lot of the focus is on the next step in speed and performance."

Here are just a few things covered in this podcast episode:

The CableLabs 10G challenge (04:10)
The kinds of applications that would really need ultra-low latency (6:25)
How CableLabs is working to help companies find their way in the metaverse (09:46)
Adaptive route control, application privacy and why apps don't need to always know your location (14:29)
Does IPA beer taste like grass clippings? (20:56)
FARMSIS – the funny name and serious effort to connect rural America (22:02)

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The Divide: How FibreONE is helping bring broadband infrastructure to rural Canada

Wed, 26 Jan 2022 19:05:27 GMT

Tim Emoff, vice president of the telecom division at Sales Outsource Solutions, joins the podcast to discuss the digital divide in Canada, where an estimated 45.5% of the population can't access high-speed Internet, and a new project called FibreONE that seeks to tackle that. A consortium of companies – including Prysmian Group, Clearfield, Dura-Line, MacLean Network Solutions, Primex Technologies and Oldcastle Infrastructure – FibreONE is an effort to help deliver a fiber backbone across rural Canada. We discuss the challenges facing rural Canadian communities when it comes to the digital divide, and how the partners involved in FibreONE are collaborating to expedite the delivery of high-speed broadband.

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NTT Security's Greg Garten on cleaning up 'dirty networks'

Tue, 25 Jan 2022 16:36:55 GMT

Greg Garten, CTO for NTT Security, joins the podcast to discuss security concerns that arise as service providers and enterprises move their business operations to the cloud, and how NTT Security is cleaning up "dirty networks" for small and mid-sized business customers.

Garten says there's a misconception in the industry that traditional approaches to security can be applied easily to the cloud. In addition, Garten explains how NTT Security has applied security learnings from enterprises to assist small and mid-sized customers, and vice versa.

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Ciena's Gina Nienaber on IP/optical convergence

Mon, 24 Jan 2022 13:00:00 GMT

Ciena's Gina Nienaber joins the podcast to explain what IP/optical convergence is and how it fits in with service providers' strategies to automate their networks. Light Reading's research group Heavy Reading recently partnered with Ciena to survey 220 service provider executives about IP/optical convergence. In the survey, "61% [of respondents] defined IP/optical convergence as the streamlining of operations across IP and optical functions. To me, that involves multi-layer intelligent software control and automation," said Nienaber, director of marketing for the routing and switching portfolio at Ciena.

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The Divide: How Astranis plans to connect Peru with small satellites

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 19:54:33 GMT

John Gedmark, CEO of Astranis – a microGEO satellite company based in San Francisco – joins the podcast to discuss the company's small satellite technology and its upcoming deployment in partnership with Peruvian mobile provider Grupo Andesat to deliver 4G broadband to millions of people in Peru.

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Omdia's Andreas Olah on IoT and edge services for 5G

Thu, 20 Jan 2022 15:30:35 GMT

Andreas Olah, senior analyst of Digital Enterprise Services for Omdia, joins the podcast to discuss his recent research on 5G, IoT and edge services trends for 2022 and beyond.

Olah explains how service providers can deliver AR/VR, edge computing, IoT and intelligent automation capabilities as-a-service to enterprise customers, and how both parties can benefit from the as-a-service delivery model.

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Verizon Frontline and THOR tap 5G for disaster response

Wed, 19 Jan 2022 20:31:26 GMT

Verizon's Cory Davis joins the podcast to discuss how the service provider is addressing challenges first responders face, such as interdepartmental communication between public safety agencies and across different networks, and gives a preview of new tactical response tools such as "THOR."

More on THOR later, but first, Davis, director of public safety operations for Verizon, provides insight into Verizon's Public Safety Communications Survey, and what the results reveal about how new devices and networking technologies can better assist first responders in the field.

In addition, Davis explains why the Verizon Response Team (VRT) launched THOR, the Tactical Humanitarian Operations Response, which is a prototype response vehicle with mobile 4G/5G connectivity and radios. THOR also includes a tethered drone for aerial views, a rear command center, a camera, a six-seat cabin and an exterior touchscreen display.

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What's the Story? Astound and Atlantic Broadband rebrand

Tue, 18 Jan 2022 15:17:27 GMT

Light Reading Senior Editor Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast to provide an update on Astound Broadband and Atlantic Broadband's rebranding efforts. Baumgartner explains why the cable companies are choosing a new moniker, what it means for customers and what to expect next.

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The Divide: NTCA's Shirley Bloomfield on bridging the 'rural-rural' divide

Thu, 13 Jan 2022 14:00:33 GMT

Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association, joins the podcast to discuss the challenges facing rural providers when it comes to network deployment and upkeep, and how federal funds from the Biden administration's infrastructure law can best be spent to close the digital divide in the most-underserved areas of the country.

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Omdia's Pablo Tomasi: Why 2022 won't be the year of 5G private networks

Tue, 11 Jan 2022 19:58:00 GMT

Pablo Tomasi, principal analyst of private networks for Omdia, joins the podcast to share key findings from his latest report, "2022 Trends to Watch: Private Networks and the Shadow of 5G." Tomasi explains that while the topic of 5G may give service providers a "marketing hook" when discussing private network options with enterprise customers, 4G LTE offers all the razzle dazzle enterprises need in the near term.

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Windstream's Mike Frane forecasts enterprise networking and security trends for 2022

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 19:01:12 GMT

Mike Frane, VP of product management for Windstream Enterprise, is back on the podcast to provide his forecast for enterprise trends in 2022 such as cybersecurity, SASE, zero trust access, SD-WAN and more. Frane also discusses how enterprise culture must adjust to the needs of the distributed workforce, and is hopeful that the industry will better understand the "acronym soup" around managed services for enterprises so operators' customers can better customize the networking and security services they need.

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What's the Story: 5G networks on C-band spectrum stalled

Thu, 06 Jan 2022 15:14:15 GMT

Mike Dano, editorial director of 5G & mobile strategies for Light Reading, joins the podcast to discuss why AT&T and Verizon are delaying their deployment of 5G networks on the C-band spectrum, the broader industry implications of that delay and what to expect next.

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CES 2022: Finding and profiting from the metaverse

Wed, 05 Jan 2022 11:00:00 GMT

On the podcast this week we present an interview recorded on December 28, just before we took a short New Year's Day break. Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner and Phil Harvey talked to the Consumer Technology Association's Sayon Deb about the metaverse, the evolution of consumer electronics and where service provider networks fit in.

As Deb was just about to pack his bags for CES 2022 in Las Vegas, we got his thoughts on why the metaverse is important for businesses and consumers and what kinds of experiences it could unlock now and in the next few years.

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What's the Story: Streaming TV providers seek market stability

Wed, 22 Dec 2021 13:00:30 GMT

Light Reading Senior Editor Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast to explain the competitive challenges that virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) are facing as the market becomes more saturated. In addition, vMVPDs face some of the same challenges that their cable counterparts have grappled with for years: YouTubeTV recently warned subscribers that Disney-owned channels may go dark if the companies can't reach a pricing agreement.

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The Divide: Craig Settles on broadband funding and the need for accountability

Tue, 21 Dec 2021 14:45:18 GMT

Broadband and telehealth consultant Craig Settles joins the podcast to discuss the details of the $65 billion broadband bill, how monopolies have held the US back from closing its digital divide and why getting the rules around implementation right with this latest batch of funding is crucial to serving communities in need.

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NTT's Bruce Snell on 'wide sweeping ramifications' of Log4j vulnerability

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 13:00:43 GMT

Bruce Snell, VP of security strategy and transformation at NTT Security, returns to the podcast to provide an update on the Log4j vulnerability, potential security threats to the supply chain and highlights from NTT's Global Threat Intelligence Center Monthly Report for December. Snell covers some of the biggest cybersecurity trends of 2021 and has advice for how organizations can better manage and secure their data.

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Lumen's Mark Dehus tracks DDoS threats

Thu, 16 Dec 2021 14:08:57 GMT

Mark Dehus, director of information security and threat intelligence for Lumen Technologies, joins the podcast to share the key findings from the operator's Q3 DDoS report, and his predictions for DDoS trends in Q4. In addition, Dehus explains why multi-vector DDoS attacks were more common than single-vector, why voice and VoIP attacks are on the rise and which verticals were hit the hardest by bad actors.

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Juniper jumps on the O-RAN bandwagon

Mon, 13 Dec 2021 20:10:35 GMT

Jai Thattil, director of strategic marketing for Juniper Networks, joins the podcast to discuss Juniper's work in the open RAN space, why the networking company has partnered with Intel and Rakuten on O-RAN, updates on standards for the technology and his predictions for new O-RAN developments in 2022.

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MetTel CTO Ed Fox on clearing up confusion around SASE

Fri, 10 Dec 2021 19:10:52 GMT

MetTel CTO Ed Fox returns to the podcast for an update on enterprise interest in the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) trend that brings together networking and security services. Fox explains how MetTel's own approach to SASE has evolved and which components are key to any SASE service, such as Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA). In addition, Fox shares how the service provider is working with customers making the shift from copper wire networks to fiber, cellular and VOIP networks.

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The Divide: Gary Bolton on taking fiber advocacy to the states

Fri, 10 Dec 2021 14:33:30 GMT

Gary Bolton, president of the Fiber Broadband Association, returns to the podcast to discuss how the fiber industry's advocacy efforts are changing as the US federal government implements its $65 billion broadband bill. We also discuss FBA's forthcoming fiber optic technician training program, broadband mapping woes at the FCC and more.

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Omdia's Rik Turner on cloud permissions management

Wed, 08 Dec 2021 20:42:19 GMT

Rik Turner, principal analyst of emerging technologies at Omdia, is back on the podcast to explain how cloud permissions management (CPM) can help service providers and enterprises take a zero-trust approach to cloud access. CPM is a process by which organizations can identify and catalogue "all extant permissions, then recommend how and where they might be reined in to minimize the organization's attack surface," Turner explained in a report published this August. During the podcast, Turner discusses how CPM addresses issues such as permission sprawl and orphan accounts, and how organizations can take a more proactive approach to managed cloud access permissions.

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What's the Story: Cable Next-Gen Business Services Digital Symposium

Tue, 07 Dec 2021 16:21:47 GMT

Light Reading's Alan Breznick joins the podcast to provide a preview of what attendees can expect to learn at the 15th annual Cable Next-Gen Business Services Digital Symposium on Thursday, Dec. 9. Register for the event here.

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The Divide: Digging into Pennsylvania's broadband map

Wed, 01 Dec 2021 14:00:26 GMT

In this episode, we hear from Harry Crissy and Tom Beresnyak, who work at Penn State Extension: a science-based educational organization run by Penn State University.

Harry and Tom both played a key role in creating Pennsylvania's broadband map, which President Biden's nominee for FCC Commissioner Gigi Sohn has called one of the best in the country.

We discuss why and how the state made its own broadband map, how it's being used to tackle Pennsylvania's digital divide and what other states can learn from their work.

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What's the story: The $22 billion Andromeda auction

Thu, 25 Nov 2021 14:25:38 GMT

On this episode, we talk with Light Reading's Mike Dano about all things spectrum auctions, including the "Andromeda" auction, which just wrapped up with $22 billion in bids. We also get into the subject of broadband mapping and how spectrum could be used to tackle the digital divide.

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What's the story: Altice USA flip flops on fiber

Thu, 25 Nov 2021 14:21:18 GMT

Light Reading's Alan Breznick joins the podcast to discuss why Altice USA had a change of heart regarding the company's broadband growth strategy. In addition, Breznick provides an update on Altice's Q3 results and a forecast on what to expect from the cable company next year.

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MixComm CEO: Making beamforming and mmWave for 5G, from antennas to algorithms

Thu, 18 Nov 2021 19:00:24 GMT

ICYMI: From our coverage of the Big 5G Event in early September, here's a short interview with Mike Noonen, CEO of MixComm.

In this interview with Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser, Noonen explains MixComm's approach to beamforming and how public and private partnerships have played a role in furthering technologies that support 5G mmWave.

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The Divide: Internet Society's Mark Buell on what's 'very good' and 'less good' in the broadband bill

Thu, 18 Nov 2021 14:35:10 GMT

With the Biden administration's $65 billion broadband bill now signed into law, this week we hear from Mark Buell, regional vice president for North America at the Internet Society, on the impact the legislation will have on the digital divide in the US. (Note: This conversation was recorded just prior to the bill passing in the House. It was officially signed as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on November 15.) We discuss some of the "very good" things in the broadband bill, as well as the "less good" elements – like a lack of specific funding for municipal and community networks. We also discuss the urgency for the FCC to update its "horrendously inaccurate" national broadband map now that so much funding is at stake.

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KORE Wireless CEO: Looking beyond the IoT hype

Thu, 18 Nov 2021 00:00:00 GMT

ICYMI: From our coverage of Mobile World Congress Los Angeles in October, here's a short interview with KORE Wireless President and CEO Romil Bahl.

Bahl talks to Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser about the challenge of managing IoT devices, and he shares a use case where KORE is working with Dexcom to improve health monitoring systems for diabetes patients.

Bahl also discusses KORE’s approach to IoT security in both the device and the network, and he reveals how the company is using eSIM technology to connect IoT devices globally. Making IoT management simpler, he said, is what will help the industry move beyond IoT hype to real use cases.

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Making the most of the 6GHz spectrum band

Tue, 16 Nov 2021 21:00:07 GMT

ICYMI: From our coverage of Mobile World Congress Los Angeles in October, here's a short interview with Federated Wireless CEO Iyad Tarazi.

Tarazi talks to Light Reading's Mike Dano about how and why Federated is moving forward an automated frequency controller (AFC) technology that could help support broader usage of the 6GHz band. The 6GHz band currently is set aside for licensed users, including carriers and MVNOs, who have deployed thousands of point-to-point microwave links to backhaul network traffic, the CEO explains. With its new technology, Federated is hoping to help advance the deployment of WiFi 6 and 5G in the US.

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How to price and sell 5G to consumers

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 21:00:33 GMT

Telcos are excitedly deploying 5G and advertising it nonstop during American football games and there's a good reason for that: Making money from consumer 5G is challenging and may take a while.

Omdia analyst Nicole McCormick joins the podcast this week to discuss her latest research on 5G pricing and what seems to be catching on with consumers. She's looked at 158 network operators around the globe and has come up with "six basic ways that operators are charging consumers for 5G service."

In this podcast we discuss the merits of those various models and talk about a few examples where operators are having success.

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The Divide: James Clark on preserving Native American culture with broadband

Thu, 11 Nov 2021 15:22:47 GMT

This week on the podcast, we hear from James Clark, a fellow with the American Connection Corps (ACC), who is working with Mille Lacs Band tribal leadership to preserve his ancestors' Ojibwe language. Clark, whose name in Ojibwe is Ozaawaanakwad, is one of 50 individuals tapped for a fellowship through ACC, a program spearheaded by Land O'Lakes and Lead for America that supports individuals seeking to improve broadband connectivity and digital inclusion in their communities. We discuss that effort, along with the causes of the digital divide at Mille Lacs and what they and other Indigenous tribes need from policymakers.

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What's the story: High drama at Rogers Communications

Tue, 09 Nov 2021 19:14:54 GMT

Light Reading Senior Editor Jeff Baumgartner joins the reboot of 'What's the Story?' with an update on the unfolding drama at the Rogers Communications board amid the company's pursuit of a $20.8 billion merger with fellow Canadian cable and mobile operator Shaw Communications. The leadership and control structure of Rogers Communications has been fraught with uncertainty thanks to Succession-style power struggles and politics, family feuds and an unintended phone call that put Rogers CEO Joe Natale on notice that his job was in hot water.

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MWCLA 21: The Light Reading Recap

Mon, 01 Nov 2021 14:42:19 GMT

Light Reading editor Kelsey Ziser, Jeff Baumgartner and Mike Dano join Phil Harvey for recap of some of the issues that were covered and smothered at Mobile World Congress Los Angeles.

The gang takes a big picture view of the digital divide, talks about open RAN's progress in the industry and why Rakuten Symphony is so controversial (and innovative).

We also cover the alarming disconnect between the massive job growth and economic development constantly promised by 5G, all while the industry providing 5G is shrinking, automating and getting smaller every week.

Did the Clear app work well enough to avoid long vaccination check-in lines? Is there a 5G killer app on the horizon? Is it too early to talk about 6G? Watch and listen for a few answers and a few laughs during this roundtable recap. This episode was recorded on Oct. 27 in Los Angeles; the video version is available on our website, along with the show notes.

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Rakuten's Tareq Amin: Conducting Symphony but changing the music

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 18:00:18 GMT

LOS ANGELES – MWC LA – This week Rakuten Symphony released a reference architecture for a distributed RAN node and cell site transport device called Symware. Rakuten's not getting in the hardware business, its execs said. But it is trying to standardize certain network components so it can tightly control costs and speed up software-based innovation.

The multipurpose edge appliance, built with hardware from Intel and carrier routing software from Juniper Networks, combines cell site routing and "a containerized Distributed Unit on a single general-purpose server platform," the company said.

In this video interview, we discuss Rakuten's motivation behind building network equipment designs for 5G networks and how this fits in with its overall network-as-a-service vision. "We believe this could be a big game-changer, and how operators consume products," said Tareq Amin, CEO of Rakuten Symphony. "And, you know, we have an audacious goal to cut the total cost of ownership to north of 45% from what they pay today."

Also in the interview, we cover the telco industry's reaction to Rakuten's platform play – its desire to take what it has learned from its carrier business in Japan to the rest of the world via its platform and network-as-a-service offerings. The Rakuten approach is at once giving carriers a way forward in cloud-native, open RAN networks and it is ruffling feathers in the network equipment space. "I really think that the hardware margins are really unreasonable – very, very unreasonable," Amin said. "And you know, when you look at, not just in the United States, you know, many companies across the world today, they are struggling to justify the financial investment for 5G, right? And if you really want to ask, 'Why is that?' "

[Ed. note: Despite what he said around the 00:27 mark, Phil knows it's October and not August. He's still thinking about summer vacation.]

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The Divide: Dr. Dominique Harrison on achieving digital equity in the Black Rural South

Thu, 28 Oct 2021 14:38:46 GMT

On this episode, Dr. Dominique Harrison, director of the Technology Policy Program at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, joins to discuss her recent research into the digital divide in the Black Rural South showing that 38% of Black residents in the region lack Internet service at home compared to 23% of white residents. We discuss the causes of digital inequality in these communities, and how the $65 billion broadband bill in Congress does and does not respond to these issues. Read the full report here.

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The Divide: How LUS Fiber makes the muni model work in Lafayette, Louisiana

Thu, 21 Oct 2021 13:21:39 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Ryan Meche, director of LUS Fiber, a municipal fiber provider in Lafayette, Louisiana. LUS Fiber emerged from Lafayette Utilities System (LUS), the city's provider of electric, water and wastewater for nearly 125 years. Today LUS Fiber serves about 25,000 customers in the city of Lafayette. We discuss why Lafayette chose a municipal broadband model, how it's funded and how it functions differently as a public utility. We also discuss the company's plans to expand, pending support from an NTIA grant.

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The Divide: What Viasat's Evan Dixon wants DC to know about satellite broadband

Thu, 07 Oct 2021 15:22:45 GMT

Evan Dixon, president of global fixed broadband at Viasat, joins the podcast to discuss the company's role in tackling the digital divide in the US and abroad. He also talks about how Viasat's forthcoming ViaSat-3 will change how and where the company delivers service, and he pushes back on arguments from the fiber industry that satellite isn't "future proof."

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Nokia Deepfield CTO: How DDoS attacks are changing

Thu, 07 Oct 2021 10:25:15 GMT

Craig Labovitz, CTO for the Nokia Deepfield business, is watching how distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks have changed throughout the pandemic and how Internet growth changes the nature of cyberattacks. In this podcast, he talks about how service providers can strategically approach the fight against DDoS threats and attacks and how 5G networks add both bandwidth and breadth of devices to make security even more of a challenge. Finally, he talks about his journey from a startup to top tier vendor, and how making security part of the Internet's infrastructure is the best way forward. "I think the shift you're seeing is the industry is largely recognizing that these are no longer separable – security and networking are one and the same," he said.

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Consolidated CEO bets the house on fiber

Tue, 05 Oct 2021 18:14:49 GMT

Consolidated CEO all in on fiber over FWA

Bob Udell, president and CEO for Consolidated Communications, joins the podcast to provide an update on the service provider's fiber buildout plan and the company's efforts to deliver connectivity to rural areas. In addition, Udell explains why Consolidated is investing in more fiber across its market region of 23 states, instead of fixed wireless access.

Consolidated has a five year plan to extend its fiber footprint to reach 1.6 million upgraded locations, and Udell says the company is on track to reach 300,000 new upgraded residential and business locations with 1GB fiber despite global supply chain issues impacting the telecom industry.

In regard to supply chain woes, "It's something we have to continue to watch," says Udell. "We see the opportunity to scale more in our build. I think fiber slicers will be the pressure point next." He adds that Consolidated is investing in training programs to educate internally to bring employees up to speed as the operator moves forward with the next phase of its fiber build.

"Ultimately, fiber is going to be the best future-proof answer and radio for fixed wireless is always going to be best where you just can't build [fiber] effectively," says Udell about Consolidated's emphasis on fiber versus FWA. There are some mobile or temporary use cases where FWA is best, he says, but for the majority of customers, fiber is more cost-effective for Consolidated to deploy.

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The Divide: How broadband impacts public health

Fri, 01 Oct 2021 13:00:12 GMT

Dr. Amy Sheon is a digital health equity consultant and president of Public Health Innovators, which provides digital health equity strategy support to healthcare systems, governments and advocacy groups. She joins the podcast to discuss the impact of the digital divide and digital redlining on public health, how health policy and broadband policy need to intersect in order to address this problem and what lessons have been learned thus far about digital equity and public health throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Verizon zeroes in on recovery efforts and network refresh

Thu, 30 Sep 2021 14:45:06 GMT

Suzanne Schnaars, senior manager of network engineering for Verizon, joins the podcast to discuss her team's work to integrate new technology into Verizon's network, support recovery efforts and lessen the digital divide.

"Knowing that the work I'm doing is putting the technology and wireless connectivity out to our country to help those kids learn and help those parents who are working remotely to continue to do their jobs and learn – it's just really important for us to continue to push to close that gap," she says.

Schnaars leads a team of project managers tasked with integrating new equipment into Verizon's network, and she explains how scope creep and vendor interoperability are among the challenges her team faces in updating the network.

"We're looking at tool integration and making sure that anything we deploy is secure for our customers and our network as well," says Schnaars. "We also have to make sure all those various boxes out there will play well together. There's a lot of vendors out there that interpret software and standards differently so we have to make sure everyone plays well in the sandbox."

In addition, Schnaars is active in a number of industry organizations that support STEM education including NAF, EngineeringGirl, Nepris and Built By Girls. She shares her efforts to support students interested in an engineering career path, and her professional advice for moving up in technically challenging positions in the telecom industry.

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BT on clearing up the cloudy relationship between telcos and hyperscalers

Mon, 27 Sep 2021 14:39:00 GMT

BT Global's Chet Patel joins the podcast for a discussion on how the relationship between telcos and hyperscalers is changing as a result of enterprise demand.

As enterprises become more reliant on cloud applications and need help managing their cloud infrastructure, telcos have shifted their focus from providing connectivity where their large customers are located, to where the cloud nodes are located, says Patel.

He explains how hyperscalers and telcos can work together to provide customers with the managed services they require. He also discusses BT's own approach to managing cloud infrastructure and how the service provider is supporting customers that need access to both public and private cloud applications.

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The Leading Lights finalists: Part III

Sat, 25 Sep 2021 14:00:38 GMT

Light Reading's editors are in the middle of judging the 2021 Leading Lights Awards and this is the third and final episode in a three-part podcast series discussing the Leading Lights finalists.

On this podcast, Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser, Fiona Graham and Iain Morris discuss trends they're seeing, what's happening in the awards categories that they're judging and what they've learned from the contest entries as they dig in and prepare to announce this year's winners.

The categories covered in this podcast include:

Company of the Year (Public)
Outstanding Digital Enablement Vendor
Outstanding Test & Measurement Vendor
Outstanding Use Case: Service Provider AI/Automation
Outstanding Use Case: Service Provider IoT
Person of the Year
Best Deal Maker

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5G World: Mavenir EVP dishes on open RAN's technology advantage

Sat, 25 Sep 2021 13:00:56 GMT

Open RAN is a truly different network architecture and over the next five years, those RAN sites will be able to perform functions that traditional RAN won't be able to do, according to Mavenir's EVP and CMO, Stefano Cantarelli.

He also talks about the deployment at Dish Network and the challenges of building completely new networks. Cantarelli said Dish's approach is a fresh one, especially its decision to use AWS and the public cloud as a core part of its strategy. He expects that even brownfield networks will be able to discover technology lessons from Dish as that operator starts turning on 5G services.

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5G World: Vodafone takes on its telco legacy

Fri, 24 Sep 2021 13:24:44 GMT

Vodafone's chief network officer, Andrea Donà, said the way to the 5G future is to first make sure you radically simplify and take care of legacy networks and services.

Donà says that telcos need to "try and expose some of those inherent inbuilt functions within the network and start exposing them in a standard API interface-able way so that we can create new revenue streams."

He continued: "We need to try and bring technology together so that we stimulate that new innovation because just playing simple connectivity play is not going to be enough. For the future, we need to try and elevate our technology and our network in a way that creates and sparks new, innovative business cases, new revenue streams, so we can thrive in the future."

This interview was recorded at the 5G World show in London.

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5G World: Reasons to be upbeat about 5G and the telco cloud future

Thu, 23 Sep 2021 21:00:01 GMT

There are definitely reasons to be upbeat about the trajectory of 5G, according to Dario Talmesio, Omdia's research director for service provider strategy and regulation. This is especially true if you consider that "real" 5G – 5G standalone – doesn't exist yet in most places, yet service providers are still growing their topline with 5G services from their consumer businesses. A lot of service providers still seem behind the curve on finding business models to take full advantage of 5G, the analyst said. "I think we are very much in proof of concept, type of mode, we are in implementation mode. There are obviously important examples in the market. But in terms of how to commercialize it – or what commercial models are going to be – then it is probably too early," Talmesio said.

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5G World: The 5G icon is starting to mean something

Thu, 23 Sep 2021 20:30:51 GMT

New, improved 5G radios and other products are starting to make a difference in service provider deployments, according to Gabriel Brown, Heavy Reading principal analyst covering mobile network infrastructure and technologies.

Brown cited the second generation of 5G networking products and the move to use more 5G spectrum in the mid and lower spectrum bands as reasons that 5G service is improving, both in speeds and coverage, compared to the first weeks of 5G rollouts in Europe.

"Clearly, these new products are a lot better," Brown said. "So now as operators invest, they're getting a much more kind of material, capable, massive MIMO product for midband. So that's going to give them more confidence and it's going to be kind of steady build out."

That steady buildout and improvement is starting to show up for consumers. "I would say, if you get a 5G icon, in general, you're going to get a very good service," Brown said.

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The Leading Lights finalists: Part II

Thu, 23 Sep 2021 15:36:32 GMT

Light Reading's editors are in the middle of judging the 2021 Leading Lights Awards and this is the second in a three-part podcast series discussing the Leading Lights finalists.

On this podcast, Light Reading's Phil Harvey, Jeff Baumgartner and Alan Breznick discuss trends they're seeing, what's happening in the awards categories that they're judging and what they've learned from the contest entries as they dig in and prepare to announce this year's winners.

The categories covered in this podcast include:

Best New Cable Tech Product or Service
Best New Cloud Product or Service (Network Operator)
Best New Video/Media Product or Service
Most Innovative Service Provider Cloud Strategy
Outstanding Use Case: Customer Experience
Outstanding Use Case: Private Wireless Networks

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Verizon's Shah on private networks, now and later

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 14:36:17 GMT

Anand Shah, director of Technology and Architecture for Verizon, joins the podcast to share insight into industry progress for deploying network slicing, private networks and Open RAN.

"[Open RAN] increases your competition and definitely decreases costs for us, so we're all in there whenever we can save some on costs" says Shah. "The more vendors you include in any formula and the more equipment you include, the harder that equation gets to solve. And it's not that we can't solve it, we can solve it."

In addition to the challenge of coordinating with multiple vendors and technologies for Open RAN, Shah explains how service providers also have to consider enterprise customer's needs for network slicing and private networks. He also addresses the debate around whether an enterprise using a private network also needs network slicing.

While AR, VR and robotics applications generate the most buzz, Shah says many of those private network use cases are several years out. Currently, computer vision is one of the most widely used private network use cases, he explains.

"Right now, it's pretty simple. One of the biggest use cases are getting their computer vision or camera uplink feeds into a local MEC or a cloud compute -- wherever it is, on-prem or off-prem, etc. Computer vision seems to be a big use case," says Shah.

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Cisco siphons $20M into Rural Broadband Innovation Center

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMT

The goal of the Cisco Rural Broadband Innovation Center is to provide service providers of any size with access to testing the same level of technologies that support broadband access, says Robin Olds, a business development manager for Cisco's Americas Service Provider group, who joined in on the Light Reading podcast with Zeus Kerravala, founder and principal analyst of ZK Research. The $20 million Center was launched in mid-June under the umbrella of Cisco's Country Digital Acceleration program and will focus on delivering high-speed Internet access to rural areas to lessen the digital divide.

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Light Reading Recap: Week ending Sept. 17

Mon, 20 Sep 2021 17:58:02 GMT

Last week's telecom news highlights included a look at the wild valuation ride of social media and messaging platform Discord as it recently rejected a $12 billion takeover bid and then a $500 million funding round. We also review the latest info on 3G network shutdown dates for the big US carriers.

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The Divide: How Uprise Fiber seeks to solve what you hate about your ISP

Thu, 16 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMT

In this episode, we hear from Sam Sanders, founder CEO of Uprise Fiber. Uprise was launched two years ago on the West Coast by a group of telecom industry vets eager to use their expertise to provide communities with a new, better, and more affordable Internet option. We discuss how Uprise addresses typical problems people have with their ISPs, as well as the company's model of partnering with developers and leveraging existing fiber, and how Uprise seeks to build digital equity into broadband deployments.

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Windstream: SD-WAN stalled, not squashed by pandemic

Thu, 16 Sep 2021 11:00:46 GMT

Windstream CMO Mike Flannery joins the podcast to discuss why enterprises didn't deploy SD-WAN as widely as the industry anticipated they would at the start of the pandemic. Flannery explains how concerns around cost and ease of use stalled SD-WAN deployments for remote workers, but the tide is changing as remote access tools improve and enterprises budget for a long-term distributed workforce.

"Organizations still had quite a bit of their overhead tied up in physical locations and networking services," explains Flannery. "Investment in a home-based SD-WAN would have been a materially additive cost at a time when business revenues were under pressure as a result of the pandemic."

In addition, Flannery shares insights on whether customers are on board with and fully comprehend SASE, the networking and security convergence trend recently coined by Gartner. He also explains which industries have been more bullish about readily adopting SASE and SD-WAN.

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The Leading Lights finalists: Part I

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 13:02:04 GMT

Light Reading's editors are in the middle of judging the 2021 Leading Lights Awards and this is the first in a three-part podcast series discussing the Leading Lights finalists.

On this podcast, Light Reading's Phil Harvey, Kelsey Ziser and Mike Dano discuss trends they're seeing, what's happening in the awards categories that they're judging and what they've learned from the contest entries as they dig in and prepare to announce this year's winners.

The categories covered in this podcast include:

Best New Open RAN Product
Most Innovative Hybrid Networking Strategy
Most Innovative SD-WAN Product/Service Evolution
Outstanding Use Case: Service Provider Security (can include SD-WAN)
Best New 5G Core Product
Most Innovative 4G/5G Business Service
Most Innovative 4G/5G Consumer Service
Outstanding Use Case: Edge Computing
Best New Optical Networking/IP Product
Company of the Year (Private)
The Light Reading Hall of Fame
Outstanding Optical/IP Networking Components Vendor

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Matrixx CTO: How modern charging, billing unlocks new mobile services

Tue, 14 Sep 2021 17:11:44 GMT

Marc Price, CTO of Matrixx Software, joins the podcast to explain how operators can rethink traditional mobile pricing models for 5G services. Price recently spoke at Light Reading's BIG 5G Event to discuss new monetization opportunities and the benefits of an open cloud-native network core for 5G.

Price explains how Matrixx is supporting Visible, the MVNO run by Verizon, and why that approach fits a growing market that wants customer service on completely different terms. "It's much more like the Amazon experience. As customers procure a service or want a new feature … it's all done directly through the phone and the service," Price said.

Price also recounts Matrixx's work with Australian service provider Telstra on digital billing services. "Telstra uses Matrixx for the lion share of [Australian] customers, and because of the real-time experience, they realize that there's no reason to separate pre-paid and post-paid customers," said Price. This shift has improved the customer experience, reduced the number of calls to customer service and thereby saved Telstra money, he said.

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Big 5G Recap: Going hybrid in the mile-high city

Tue, 14 Sep 2021 13:39:06 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner and Mike Dano join Phil Harvey to recap the Big 5G Event and discuss what has happened lately with in-person events, what seems to be working well as folks start traveling more and how things could be just a little bit better in these "new normal" times.

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How 'as a service' might supercharge private 5G

Tue, 14 Sep 2021 11:00:51 GMT

The private wireless networking trend has been a hot-button issue in the global wireless industry for months now. The notion, after all, is tantalizing: What if software and equipment vendors could sell their networking wares to enterprises, utilities, ports and other such customers in addition to wireless network operators? Already, some vendors believe the space is showing signs of maturity. "Private 5G is really taking off," said Todd Krautkremer, CMO of private networking equipment vendor Cradlepoint. Ericsson acquired the company last year in a $1.1 billion deal. Krautkremer explained that the sector is growing in part because of the new business models available to potential customers, specifically the "as a service" model. It allows schools, government agencies and other private 5G networking customers to pay for their networking needs under an "as you need it," Netflix-style model, rather than buying the network outright as one might a DVD. "People want the value of private 5G but they don't want to build a mini carrier network," Krautkremer explained. "They want it to act a lot like Wi-Fi does in the enterprise."

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Verizon's Peselli on enterprises' evolving network consumption model

Tue, 14 Sep 2021 11:00:13 GMT

Massimo Peselli, SVP of Global Enterprise for Verizon Business, provides insight into how the pandemic has changed the way "enterprises consume the network." "Over the last 18 months we developed this concept of network-as-a-service, which is our response to cloudification of the application," says Peselli. "It's basically a concept where customers are consuming the network on a consumption-based model." Peselli explains how customers can utilize Verizon's cloud to reduce the hardware needed to support their network operations, and how 5G is advancing the network-as-a-service approach. This interview was recorded at the Big 5G Event in Denver.

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Private 5G represents 'turning point' for John Deere

Mon, 13 Sep 2021 14:36:59 GMT

John Deere's Kiel Ronning provides some fresh insight into how 5G-powered private networks are weaving their way into smart manufacturing, enabling the company to take advantage of low latencies, speed and other important performance metrics that make factories run more efficiently and flexibly. Ronning also considers how private networks will play into John Deere's short- and long-term plans and how the company can integrate IoT devices into private network environments. "We think this is a key turning point for us to ... introduce cellular connectivity in our factories so that we can take advantage of the low-latency, high-bandwidth and QoS components that come with that," he says. This interview was recorded during the Big 5G Event in Denver.

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Light Reading Recap: Week ending Sept. 10

Mon, 13 Sep 2021 13:27:35 GMT

Last week's telecom news highlights included more trouble for Norwegian operator Telenor as it moves away from Myanmar. We also muse about the changing shape of Verizon's deal with the NFL and why 5G networks are still struggling to prove their worth to consumers.

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AT&T's Katibeh on bridging the digital divide

Fri, 10 Sep 2021 11:00:57 GMT

Mo Katibeh, SVP of network infrastructure and build for AT&T, examines several new use cases for how the service provider is addressing the 5G customer experience for both consumers and enterprises. "In 2020, we achieved 200 million people, or PoPs, covered with our sub-6GHz 5G, and across the last year we've been able to expand that out from 200 to 250 million people across 500 markets, so very broad availability," said Katibeh. Katibeh also speaks to AT&T's efforts to close the digital divide and what's next for the operator's future fiber and 5G network buildouts. "Over the last few years, we've committed over $1 billion toward closing the digital divide," said Katibeh. "Across the next three years, we're going to commit $2 billion," Katibeh says AT&T's approach to the digital divide includes providing affordable broadband to areas with limited Internet access, through charitable contributions and also assisting students in accessing broadband to complete their homework from any location. In addition, AT&T is working with customers to deploy new 5G use cases across a number of verticals, including agriculture – one use case Katibeh mentioned centered around deploying IoT sensors to improve wine production. AT&T also recently teamed up with an AR application that makes the "images jump off the page" in children's books, said Katibeh.

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The Divide: New map shows 60M Americans lack Internet

Thu, 09 Sep 2021 12:49:00 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Eric Frank, CEO of LightBox – a real estate information and technology platform – on his company's just-released nationwide Internet connectivity map, revealing that roughly 60 million Americans are disconnected. That number far exceeds the FCC's most recent estimate of 14.5 million. We discuss the various data sources that went into producing LightBox's map, what it tells us about the bigger picture of the digital divide in the US, and how LightBox hopes to use its map to work with the FCC and state governments on closing the broadband gap.

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Verizon builds a private 5G network at the Port of Southampton

Thu, 09 Sep 2021 11:05:56 GMT

Jennifer Artley, SVP of Strategic Initiatives for Verizon Business, catches up with Light Reading after her keynote on Verizon's private 5G network deployment at the Port of Southampton, the UK's largest port.

Southampton struggled to provide reliable Wi-Fi onsite and partnered with Verizon and Nokia to become the first mainland UK port with access to a 5G network. The UK port now uses 3.7GHz spectrum, which is similar to the midband C-band in the US. In addition, the network spans seven transmission sites running Nokia equipment, whereas the port's Wi-Fi network uses 200 access points.

"With this private 5G network, we closed those [Wi-Fi] dark spots completely in a more cost-effective way than it would have been to put fiber in place," said Artley.

The first use case tested at the port on the private 5G network centered around health and safety by using drones to inspect cranes after storms.

Artley also explains how Verizon is collaborating with other verticals to improve customer experience through 5G deployments.

This interview was recorded at the Big 5G Event in Denver.

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Mike O'Rielly, formerly of the FCC, cautions on infrastructure timing

Thu, 09 Sep 2021 11:00:02 GMT

One of the FCC's former commissioners believes that Congress is poised to quickly approve around $65 billion in infrastructure spending on broadband in the US.

However, he cautioned that telecom industry executives may have to wait for a year or more before they can expect to receive a portion of that funding.

"We're weeks away from something passing," Mike O'Rielly, a former FCC commissioner who is now principal at MPORielly Consulting, said.

But he said the money contained in that legislation will likely be contingent on the FCC developing new maps showing the location of broadband services in the US. "Most of the money now is tied to new FCC maps," he explained. This interview was recorded at the Big 5G Event in Denver.

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AT&T's Gordon Mansfield expands on plans for standalone 5G and open RAN

Wed, 08 Sep 2021 20:00:32 GMT

Gordon Mansfield, AT&T's vice president of converged access and device technology, joined us here to offer an update on the company's deployment of a 5G standalone core and the anticipated benefits that will come from it. Mansfield also shed more light on AT&T's C-band spectrum deployment, the company's plans for open RAN and how AT&T's fiber buildout fits in with the company's network and service convergence strategy. This interview was recorded at the Big 5G Event in Denver.

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Boingo aims to bring connectivity and 'touchless travel' to airports

Wed, 08 Sep 2021 20:00:29 GMT

Boingo CTO Derek Peterson provides an update on the company's partnerships with service providers on 5G deployments and how Boingo is supporting contactless experiences at airports. In addition, Peterson shares Boingo's approach to private networks and offers a sneak peek on his panel about virtualizing the 5G core. This interview was recorded at the Big 5G Event in Denver.

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Exploring Dish's 5G vision

Wed, 08 Sep 2021 11:00:15 GMT

Sidd Chenumolu, Dish Network's vice president of technology development, offers an update on the company's national 5G network buildout and what Dish hopes to learn as it moves ahead with its first 5G service deployment in Las Vegas. Chenumolu also illuminates why Dish is a big proponent of open RAN, why interoperability is critical, and how Dish is positioning itself as the prime system integrator for its ambitious 5G network rollout. This interview was recorded during the Big 5G Event 2021 in Denver and first published on Light Reading.

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Lumen's Mike Benjamin: An old RAT with new tricks

Tue, 07 Sep 2021 15:36:33 GMT

Lumen's Mike Benjamin joins the podcast to discuss the recent ReverseRAT update, a malware scheme that was used to target government and energy-sector organizations in India and Afghanistan. Benjamin and his team at Lumen's security research division, Black Lotus Labs, have been closely following the Remote Access Trojan (RAT) threat. The new iteration ReverseRAT web camera access and the ability to steal files via USB drives, explains Benjamin.

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Why Dish Network digs MVNOs

Thu, 02 Sep 2021 18:00:33 GMT

Stephen Stokols, the Dish Network executive in charge of the company's growing camp of mobile brands, said Dish might not be done buying mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). This interview was recorded at the Big 5G Event in Denver on September 1.

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The Divide: MTA's Wanda Tankersley on Alaska's middle-mile problem

Thu, 02 Sep 2021 14:01:49 GMT

In this episode, we hear from Wanda Tankersley, chief operating officer (COO) at MTA (or Matanuska Telecom Association), a telecommunications co-op in Alaska.

We discuss the unique middle-mile challenges to providing broadband in a rural and rugged state like Alaska, as well as the company's AlCan ONE project, the first all-terrestrial fiber line connecting Alaska to the Lower 48. We also get into MTA's recent efforts to connect students to high-speed Internet, the impact of supply chain and labor shortages on its plans to expand, and more.

[Ed. note: Tankersley refers to MTA's coverage area as the size of West Virginia; however, the correct size comparison is the state of Massachusetts.]

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From our sponsor: Driving trends and emerging technologies in optical networks

Sun, 29 Aug 2021 19:18:03 GMT

This podcast will explore some of the key trends driving telecommunications networks, the challenges and opportunities for network operators, and how new innovations in optical transmission technology are helping to move the industry forward and enable exciting new services.

This podcast is sponsored by Infinera.

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The Divide: Tackling the global broadband gap with aerial mapping

Thu, 26 Aug 2021 13:55:00 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Jennifer Alvarez, Co-founder and CEO, Aurora Insight, a company that measures the availability of spectrum and wireless networks in the rural US and abroad; as well as David Hartshorn, CEO of Geeks Without Frontiers, a nonprofit organization working to address the digital divide globally.

The two organizations have recently formed a partnership to tackle the lack of reliable wireless broadband in underserved parts of the US and abroad. We discuss the details and goals of that partnership, the challenges surrounding broadband mapping across the world, and more.

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Verizon on managing the mobile threat landscape

Tue, 24 Aug 2021 15:44:30 GMT

Verizon's Terrance Robinson joins the podcast to share key findings from the service provider's Mobile Security Index. In addition, Robinson shares insights about which mobile security threats are on the rise, and how enterprises and their employees can identify and address potential threats. The full report can be downloaded here.

"We're seeing over a 360% year-over-year increase in phishing attempts on mobile devices," says Robinson. Bad actors are increasingly targeting text messages in their phishing attempts because the rate at which consumers read text messages is 98%, and 45% respond to those messages. By comparison – only 20% of email is viewed, with a 6% response rate, says Robinson.

In addition to addressing the rise of phishing, ransomware, shadow IT and other security threats, Robinson explains how enterprises can address these issues by developing Appropriate Use Policies and educating employees on how to better protect their devices.

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Light Reading Recap: Week ending August 20

Mon, 23 Aug 2021 14:45:49 GMT

Last week's telecom news highlights included all the damage, and damage control, surrounding T-Mobile's recent hack and data breach. We also ponder why cable operators are suddenly very popular mobile service providers and whether smaller cable operators will join the fray.

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The Divide: Virginia's Dr. Tamarah Holmes on running the country's 'OG' broadband office

Thu, 19 Aug 2021 13:20:54 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Dr. Tamarah Holmes, director of the Office of Broadband for the state of Virginia.

Since the office was established in 2019, Dr. Holmes says Virginia has successfully closed half of its digital divide. Recently, the state's Governor Ralph Northam announced plans to invest $700 million in federal relief money toward achieving universal broadband access over the next three years.

Dr. Holmes and I discuss how Virginia has been able to address connectivity needs through the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative, or the VATI program, for last-mile deployments, why it helps that the state's broadband office sits within the Department of Housing and Community Development, and how her office is preparing to distribute state and federal aid to close the remaining divide.

Link to access the state's VATI grant program (just remember... Dog, House, Cat, Dog!): https://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/vati

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Light Reading Recap: Week ending August 13

Wed, 18 Aug 2021 20:20:47 GMT

Last week's telecom news highlights included some M&A speculation involving Reliance Jio and T-Mobile Netherlands. We also covered the new roaming fees that are now summering in the UK. Finally, don't look up now but we have another satellite story – this one discusses SpaceX's decision to buy Swarm, a company that operates around 100 microsatellites providing IoT connectivity.

Here are the stories we mentioned in the podcast:

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Verizon's Suzanne Widup on data theft and donuts

Thu, 12 Aug 2021 20:30:36 GMT

Verizon's Suzanne Widup joins the podcast to provide insight into cybersecurity trends and share key findings from the service provider's annual Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR). The full report can be downloaded here.

As the senior principal threat intel analyst for Verizon and co-author of the DBIR, Widup has her finger on the pulse of hackers' evolving efforts to undermine network security via phishing attacks, ransomware and social engineering.

"We've seen tremendous growth in our data sets over time on both social attacks and ransomware," said Widup. Hacker's approach to ransomware has evolved as well – "Now you not only lose access to your data but they can give it to other people … we've seen the commoditization of ransomware, giving out ransomware-as-a-service and how mature these marketplaces have become."

In addition, as enterprises became more reliant on cloud networking during the pandemic, hackers took advantage of this shift. Bad actors also took advantage of public interest in pandemic-related news by incorporating language around COVID-19 into their phishing lures.

"We did see more of the attacks targeting the cloud systems than we had before," said Widup. "The phishing lures take whatever the current headline is, so COVID was all over the place there."

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The Divide: How Flume is tapping NYC's dark fiber to deliver affordable broadband

Thu, 12 Aug 2021 14:50:42 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Prashanth Vijay, founder and CEO of Flume, a last-mile, dark-fiber-based home broadband service.

Flume was launched in New York City in 2020 to introduce competition to the service provider market and to help bring affordable broadband to underserved areas.

We discuss how Flume accesses and leverages dark fiber to deliver high-speed Internet at competitive prices, Flume's commitment to deliver broadband to New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) buildings through the NYC Internet Master Plan, and where the company plans to expand next.

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Light Reading Recap: Week ending August 6

Mon, 09 Aug 2021 18:04:10 GMT

Last week's telecom news highlights included an overview of Rakuten's impressively aggressive plans, a look at Telegram's rapid growth and the looming threat it presents to telcos, and a summary of the supply chain issues that broadband equipment providers are having as the pandemic has forced higher prices and longer wait times for many components and logistics services.

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Clearfield CEO Cheri Beranek on the growth of 'community' broadband

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 16:00:34 GMT

Clearfield CEO Cheri Beranek joins the podcast to talk about how she's helped build a company that keeps growing as more and more community broadband providers deploy fiber. Clearfield classifies utilities, municipalities and small telcos as "community" providers because, as Beranek explains, they "were not having their needs met by the typical Tier 1 incumbent providers."

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The Divide: Amdocs' Anthony Goonetilleke on the industry's shifting priorities

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 13:28:56 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Anthony Goonetilleke, group president of media, network and technology at Amdocs: a software and services provider for communications and media companies.We discuss how a recent survey Amdocs conducted on broadband issues is informing the company's priorities, as well as how service providers in Amdocs' orbit are rethinking the future of connectivity in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also talk about Amdocs' work with ISPs and tech giants like T-Mobile, Microsoft and others at the 5G Innovation Lab to find novel solutions for addressing the digital divide.

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Verizon uses computer vision to help customers help themselves

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 13:00:34 GMT

Verizon's Erik Sheehan joins the Light Reading podcast to provide insight into the operator's use of computer vision for a variety of reasons, such as assisting in network operations and improving technicians' ability to help customers troubleshoot connection issues.

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Lumen's Mike Benjamin: How telcos can catch a RAT

Sun, 01 Aug 2021 13:00:14 GMT

Lumen's Mike Benjamin joins the podcast to provide insight into a new remote access trojan, and explain who and what the bad actors were targeting.

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The FBA's Gary Bolton on training the next wave of fiber techs

Sat, 31 Jul 2021 21:00:11 GMT

Gary Bolton, president and CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association, discusses the newly launched Optical Telecom Installation Certification (OpTIC) program, a new training and certification curriculum for fiber techs in North America.

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NTT Security's Bruce Snell and David Gray: Tracking Kaseya

Sat, 31 Jul 2021 13:00:01 GMT

The Kaseya ransomware attack is the latest in a trend of bad actors working together to target the supply chain.

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Light Reading Recap: Week ending July 23

Mon, 26 Jul 2021 10:00:21 GMT

Last week's telecom news highlights included some spectrum auction and siesta news from Spain, an update on how Verizon moved forward with a fabulous, free 5G phone promotion, and you'll find out what US city took a gamble on building a network that covered 65 square miles with broadband in just 45 days.

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Orange Silicon Valley COO Gabriel Sidhom: How telcos and cloud providers get along

Fri, 23 Jul 2021 11:00:31 GMT

Gabriel Sidhom, COO for Orange Silicon Valley, joins the podcast to provide insight into service providers' move to the cloud and shares five drivers that have pushed that cloud journey forward.Orange Silicon Valley got its start as a lab and R&D center, but has evolved to "be much more focused on external innovation. We refer to ourselves as an innovation center," explains Sidhom.In addition to discussing how technologies such as 5G are impacting telcos' cloud journey, Sidhom examines how the dynamic between hyperscalers and traditional service providers is changing."In the case of the telco, there's a strong synergy because a lot of the cloud players have what the telcos need, but the telcos also have what the cloud players need," says Sidhom. "It's all about getting as close to the customer as possible."

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The Divide: Hughes' Paul Gaske on upping speeds with a 'massive new satellite'

Thu, 22 Jul 2021 15:40:49 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Paul Gaske, EVP and general manager for HughesNet in North America, which operates the largest satellite broadband network in the US.Hughes primarily connects rural areas of the country that are either unserved or still stuck with technologies like DSL or even dial-up. While Gaske says current Hughes speeds meet the FCC standard of 25/3 Mbit/s, he adds that the company is in the midst of a $600 million capital build of a "massive new satellite" that will allow Hughes to offer plans at 100 Mbit/s and 50 Mbit/s starting next year.With that in mind, Gaske also rebuffs the critique that satellite Internet is not "future proofed.""I think that the notion of future proofing just because you haul fiber around is quaint," he says. "The technology at both ends of that fiber has to change constantly for you to be future proofed. And that's the next proposition."We discuss the role of satellite broadband in closing the digital divide and Hughes' plans to meet demand for higher bandwidth and lower latency, as well as the company's recent announcement that it will participate in the FCC's Emergency Broadband Benefit program, making it the only national satellite provider to do so thus far.

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Digital twinning at the Tour de France

Thu, 15 Jul 2021 16:00:46 GMT

Any major sporting event has plenty going on behind the scenes. On this podcast, NTT's wizard behind the curtain, aka Tim Wade, shares his insight into data capture and analysis for the Tour de France.As VP of the Advanced Technology Group for Sport at NTT, Wade has witnessed firsthand how data analysis of the Tour de France has changed since the race was first digitized in 2015. Initially, data captured from cyclists provided real-time updates but now the entire event has a digital doppelgänger.Wade explains the process of creating a digital twin of the Tour de France, and how NTT is digitizing maps of the course, tracking cyclists, and highlighting important data points such as the best locations for the live audience to watch the race. In addition, Wade explains the role of edge computing, AI and 5G in supporting data analytics for the race.

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The Divide: How Kajeet keeps kids and communities connected

Thu, 15 Jul 2021 14:02:59 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Dominic Marcellino, director of strategy and business development for Kajeet: a provider of Internet connectivity services for students, enterprises and state and local governments, working with all major wireless carriers in the US.Kajeet recently partnered with the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, on a six-month pilot program to deliver free Internet access. We discuss the details of that partnership and other ways Kajeet is teaming up with cities, schools and libraries to better connect communities, the challenges to forming municipal partnerships and more.

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Light Reading Recap: Week ending July 9

Mon, 12 Jul 2021 20:33:02 GMT

Last week's telecom news highlights included some revealing numbers about the annual MWC Barcelona event, the US government walking back an unprecedented cloud computing contract for its defense systems, and a whimsical story about 5G-connected, remote controlled cars in Las Vegas, where the high temperature on July 12 will be 113 Fahrenheit.

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LR Editors: More pitches be crazy!

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 21:53:24 GMT

Light Reading's editors are premium targets for PR firms and marketing experts all across the media landscape. But not all story ideas make it from the inbox to the front page.Our roundup of near-miss pitches this time around includes some howlers for Father's Day, a racy tech support scheme and some canned comments about canned wines to watch with your favorite deep-cable dramatic movies.Light Reading's Phil Harvey, Mike Dano, Fiona Graham and Kelsey Ziser have a good-natured discussion about whimsical gift ideas and far-out story pitches, and take a summertime dip into the pool of bad marketing ideas as they review some recent PR pitches that completely struck out.

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The Divide: CORI's Matt Dunne on closing the rural opportunity gap

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 13:00:30 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Matt Dunne, founder and executive director of the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI), a nonprofit action tank that started in 2017 to close the rural opportunity gap for broadband services.We discuss the impact the digital divide has had on the rural US over the past 20+ years and how the Center on Rural Innovation works with communities to help them build out broadband, among other things. In addition, we discuss why rural America does need fiber infrastructure, despite what some industry stakeholders would have you believe, and which state and federal policies are and are not working when it comes to helping rural communities get connected.

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Executive Spotlight Q&A: Here Technologies – Digital twins and 5G networks

Tue, 29 Jun 2021 00:52:26 GMT

Digital Twins, high fidelity digital mirrors of processes or physical objects, are being used in many industries to optimize business outcomes but remain relatively new in telecommunications and 5G networks.In this podcast, two industry specialists from HERE Technologies describe how this concept can be applied to the design of mobile networks to accelerate new site selection and equipment deployment, reducing costs while boosting operational efficiencies and customer experience.This podcast is sponsored by HERE Technologies.

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Light Reading recap: Week ending June 25

Mon, 28 Jun 2021 19:31:04 GMT

Last week's telecom news highlights included a look back at some huge 5G product news for Nokia, a summary of some new cloudy ideas coming from Mobile World Congress, and a summary of what's up at Switzerland's Astrocast – a company launching a network of satellites for IoT connectivity.

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Cohere CEO: Open RAN ideal for enterprise applications

Fri, 25 Jun 2021 20:56:50 GMT

Ray Dolan, chairman and CEO of Cohere Technologies, joins the Light Reading podcast to discuss how Cohere is working with partners such as VMware, Capgemini Engineering and Intel on developing an open RAN platform for Vodafone that improves 5G capacity.

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The Divide: UTOPIA Fiber's Roger Timmerman on serving Utah with open access muni broadband

Thu, 24 Jun 2021 13:00:39 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Roger Timmerman, CEO of UTOPIA Fiber, an open access municipal fiber network in the state of Utah, formed by a group of 11 cities in 2004. (UTOPIA stands for Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency.)As an open access network, UTOPIA provides fiber and infrastructure, but not service. Instead, customers can choose from a variety of participating local providers, including Rise Broadband, Veracity Networks, Fibernet and others.We discuss why these cities chose the municipal open access model, how it works and why it works. And we get into the ongoing debate around federal support for municipal networks, and what other municipalities should be prepared for as they embark on building out broadband.

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Light Reading recap: Week ending June 18

Mon, 21 Jun 2021 22:21:19 GMT

Last week's telecom news highlights included Viavi's ongoing pursuit of a merger with Exfo, Rakuten's open RAN plan to reveal what it's really paying for telecom gear, and we briefly ponder why Nokia would roll out the red carpet for open RAN developers in Dallas.

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The Divide: Internet Society Foundation aims to bolster broadband with global grants

Thu, 17 Jun 2021 13:06:36 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Sarah Armstrong, executive director of the Internet Society Foundation, a non-profit philanthropic organization founded in 2019 to support the Internet Society's vision of an open Internet for everyone, everywhere.The Internet Society Foundation is currently reviewing a round of grant applications from entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, Senegal and Colombia for local digital literacy and Internet adoption initiatives. Winners are eligible for grants of $150,000 each for projects lasting up to 24 months.We discuss the Internet Society Foundation's work to tackle the digital divide and the various challenges to broadband access and adoption around the world, and how the organization is using its "SCILLS" grant program to promote education and economic growth through community-led Internet initiatives.

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Juniper Networks CEO Rami Rahim: The 5G future will be virtualized

Thu, 17 Jun 2021 00:09:48 GMT

Juniper Networks CEO Rami Rahim joins the podcast to discuss why future 5G services will be virtualized, how AI can improve network performance and what's next for the Apstra and Netrounds acquisitions.The networking company wants to further automate data centers "because the future of 5G services is going to be virtualized, it's going to leverage the distributed telco cloud." Later in the podcast, Rahim discusses 5G as a catalyst for Juniper to heighten its focus on improving performance in WAN transport networks as service providers converge mobile, fixed access, enterprise and residential networks. Find out more about Juniper's M&A history on Light Reading's website and be sure to sign up for the Light Reading Weekly newsletter for the telecom news, analysis and interviews.

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Telia Carrier CEO Staffan Göjeryd on divestment, discipline and world domination

Tue, 15 Jun 2021 20:52:13 GMT

Telia Carrier CEO Staffan Göjeryd joins the podcast to explain what its divestment from Telia Group means for the service provider.

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Light Reading recap: Week ending June 11

Mon, 14 Jun 2021 14:50:16 GMT

Last week's telecom news highlights included a piece of good news for TikTok users in the US, a big bet on BT's fiber rollout from French telecom giant Altice and Starlink's plans to provide in-flight Wi-Fi.

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The Divide: INDATEL and Connected2Fiber on monetizing 'fiber to the farmhouse'

Thu, 10 Jun 2021 14:45:13 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Ben Edmond, founder and CEO of Connected2Fiber, a cloud platform that allows fiber providers and MSOs to plan and monetize service routes; and Mel Wagner, CEO of INDATEL, a nationwide network of 700-plus rural broadband operators, and a client of Connected2Fiber.We discuss the work their companies are doing in rural America to accelerate broadband rollout, the challenges rural operators face with deployment and monetization – including current year-long delays in getting fiber materials – what policy decisions would benefit rural ISPs tasked with building broadband to the hardest-to-reach areas, and why it's crucial to fund middle-mile deployments.

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Light Reading recap: Week ending June 4

Mon, 07 Jun 2021 17:12:04 GMT

Last week's news highlights included a look at big telco job numbers (they're dropping), Huawei's software strategy and T-Mobile's plans to connect rural America. This podcast first appeared, in video form, on Informa Tech's executive community, The Network.

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The Divide: How Project Nandi is addressing Internet inequity in the Twin Cities

Thu, 03 Jun 2021 12:55:50 GMT

On this episode, we hear from community leader Ini Augustine, founder of Project Nandi: a program that provides devices, technical support and broadband assistance to local families in Minnesota's Twin Cities. Project Nandi was launched in 2020 following the onset of COVID-19 to help prevent Black, Indigenous, Latinx and Asian students from being left behind by remote learning.We recorded our conversation shortly before the first anniversary of the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and shortly after another Black man, Daunte Wright, was fatally shot by police during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.She and I discuss how her community's digital divide was worsened by the coinciding crises of the pandemic and police violence, why solutions like Project Nandi to address broadband inequity are necessary (though extremely hard to get funded), her plans to start a community fiber project and her message to legislators working on broadband bills in Washington, DC.Donations to support Project Nandi are being accepted here: https://www.givemn.org/organization/Project-Nandi

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The Divide: Rep. Drew Hansen on passing Washington's Public Broadband Act

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 14:38:55 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Washington State Representative Drew Hansen, who has served the 23rd district since 2011. He is the lead sponsor of the Public Broadband Act, a recently passed law in Washington that effectively reverses a prior state law banning municipal broadband.We discuss the digital divide in Washington and why the Public Broadband Act was necessary, the difficulty (and "nonsense") he and his colleagues faced in getting it passed, what the next steps are once the law officially takes effect in July and more.

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The Divide: Clearfield CEO Cheri Beranek on preparing for the 'fiber bubble'

Tue, 25 May 2021 14:14:13 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Cheri Beranek, president and CEO of Clearfield, a company that designs, manufactures and distributes fiber optic management products.We discuss how Clearfield creates its products to be scalable and cost effective for service providers, how the company is preparing for what she calls a forthcoming "fiber bubble" amidst labor and supply shortages, whether or not it's realistic to deploy fiber everywhere in the United States – and more.

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Comcast crafts accessibility features for Xfinity X1

Thu, 20 May 2021 19:00:20 GMT

Tom Wlodkowski, VP of accessibility for Comcast, joins the podcast to share how he got started in the accessibility field and explains the evolution of Comcast's Voice Guidance system on Xfinity X1 and the development of the Xfinity X1 Adaptive Remote."In 2014, we launched the industry's first accessible set-top box experience for people who are blind or visual impaired on our X1 platform and we called that Service Voice Guidance. Think of it as a screen reader inside of a box, even though it's in the cloud because X1 is all cloud-based," says Wlodkowski. "Voice guidance, once it's enabled, reads all of the UI (user interface) elements as you navigate with the remote control using the D-pad (directional pad)."Previously, visually impaired users were limited to scrolling up and down on channels, and features that most people take for granted were inaccessible to them, adds Wlodkowski. The Voice Guidance capability provides visually impaired users with the ability to now "navigate TV listings, schedule and play back DVR recordings, navigate on-demand content and control settings such as parental controls," explains Wlodkowski.The end result of adding more accessibility features to content platforms extends beyond those with disabilities, says Wlodkowski. Closed captioning is one feature that everyone can benefit from, such as when an actor is difficult to understand or sound mixing muddles dialogue."When you build an inclusive product, you end up building a better product for everyone," says Wlodkowski.

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IBM and Lumen: Distributed cloud brings the edge to enterprises

Thu, 20 May 2021 18:29:04 GMT

IBM's Bill Lambertson and Lumen Technologies' Dave Shacochis join the podcast to discuss the distributed cloud and how it supports the delivery of edge computing resources to enterprises."The distributed cloud allows you to bring down a whole set of public cloud capabilities and SRE [site reliability engineering] support on-premise or in your location of choice," explains Lambertson.Lumen recently deployed IBM Cloud Satellite, IBM's distributed cloud service, across 180,000 of the service provider's global edge locations. Shacochis and Lambertson share several use cases for how this deployment could help enterprise customers, such as providing video analytics to improve worker safety measures in manufacturing and distribution centers."The integration and use case we tested was more facility and worker-safety based. Hard-hat detection is one of the computer vision algorithms that IBM software already knows how to plug-in and detect," says Shacochis. "Avoid one accident and the whole system pays for itself in many ways."

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AT&T unravels its content, pay-TV empire

Tue, 18 May 2021 23:45:30 GMT

Light Reading's Alan Breznick and Jeff Baumgartner weigh in on the burning questions surrounding the recently announced media moves by AT&T. The telecom giant is spinning out its WarnerMedia group to a new joint venture it will form with Discovery in a deal that will give AT&T $43 billion and a controlling stake in the new company. The move unravels the $84 billion merger between AT&T and Time Warner that was sealed just three years ago. What will it mean for AT&T and its competitiveness as a network operator? How will the new media company loom large on the pay-TV and consumer media landscape? Breznick and Baumgartner give their early reactions and address some questions that remain.

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Limelight's Steve Miller-Jones on tracking the content delivery evolution

Tue, 18 May 2021 23:44:18 GMT

Steve Miller-Jones of Limelight Networks joins the podcast to talk about the future of media and video distribution. The pandemic changed our media consumption patterns, but what happens when we all start going to live events and large venues again – and is there a new media business model emerging with that change? Miller-Jones said he expects that broadcast TV, live events and linear programming will still continue, but "our expectation is going to be that we can choose how we're going to consume that."He said we'll want to see different camera angles at live events, pause and revisit media on different devices, and have more to consume that's "about" the event or the things we're doing in-person. He said that move to provide companion content to in-person experiences means "additional data, additional services, additional applications, or content that comes with what we're consuming, and there's going to be, I suspect, a whole sort of emergence of a different type of storytelling, perhaps in a different type of content management and content production."

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The Divide: How 'Project Overcome' is tackling access in Clinton County, Missouri

Tue, 18 May 2021 15:32:35 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Mari Silbey, director of partnerships and outreach at US Ignite, as well as Alex Wyglinski and Casey Canfield, engineering professors and co-leads on a broadband deployment project in Clinton County, Missouri.The deployment, which will use RF-over-fiber to serve a rural community, was selected to receive grant funding through Project Overcome, a $2.7 million joint effort spearheaded by the National Science Foundation and US Ignite – with additional financing from Schmidt Futures – to fund novel broadband projects and find new solutions to closing the digital divide.We discuss more about Project Overcome, as well as details and plans for this specific deployment in Clinton County, Missouri, and the complexities of choosing the right technologies and outreach methods to service rural communities.

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What's the story: Gagandeep Kaur on telecom in India

Wed, 12 May 2021 14:19:33 GMT

Light Reading contributor Gagandeep Kaur joins the podcast to discuss the state of telecom in India in light of the ongoing surge of COVID-19 across the country.We discuss the most important stories happening in the Indian telecom sector – from forthcoming 5G trials to satellite services; how the current coronavirus outbreak is impacting the industry and her coverage of it; and what other developing topics she's tracking this year.

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Stanford's Nick McKeown on his SDN legacy and 5G security

Tue, 11 May 2021 16:12:33 GMT

Stanford University's Nick McKeown joins the podcast to discuss a career milestone and a very forward-looking 5G project that involves (hopefully not) crashing drones on purpose. McKeown today is set to receive the 2021 IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal "for contributions to internet router architecture and software-defined networking." This will happen during the 2021 IEEE VIC (Vision, Innovation, and Challenges) Summit and Honors Ceremony, which will be held virtually on May 11 through May 13, 2021.After discussing the impact and importance of software-defined networking, McKeown reflects on what is changing about networking as we move toward more software-defined and open systems. Soon, he said, we'll be more worried about what we're doing on the network and not as worried about protocols and interoperability and hardware. "It's a big distributed system – a platform that is programmable by those who own and operate it," he said. "This is a massive change."

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Nokia North America CTO: Standards and parity will save open RAN

Thu, 06 May 2021 21:17:10 GMT

Michael Murphy, CTO of wireless for North America with Nokia, joins the Light Reading podcast to examine areas where open RAN needs to be fleshed out for vendors and service providers to reap the full benefits of this technology.Murphy recently wrote a Guest Perspective column for Light Reading about the limitations of open RAN and the importance of developing standards to help the technology mature."The [open RAN] principles are good to opening up the system to more vendors but there are some challenges along the way," says Murphy in the podcast. "The purpose of that article was to lay them out. It's not saying that we, Nokia, think they're not surmountable, it just takes a little time. From the standards perspective, and this is a very important point by the way, we believe the whole concept of open RAN won't follow unless it's based on standards."He adds that the industry is relying on the O-RAN Alliance to develop open RAN standards, but "we don't really have the full suite of specifications at a maturity level that is good enough to build an end-to-end O-RAN compliant system yet, so more time is required."In addition, Murphy discusses the importance of meeting parity in the open RAN journey, which he describes in his article as "the set of features or capabilities available with O-RAN-compliant products that should, minimally, be the same as those deployed today and in the future with incumbent, integrated solutions."

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The Divide: Francella Ochillo on documenting local perspectives in broadband policy

Thu, 06 May 2021 14:26:34 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Francella Ochillo, Executive Director of Next Century Cities: a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC, that works to support local officials and community leaders in their efforts to expand broadband.She and I discuss the challenges local communities face in having their voices represented in broadband policy making, as well as how inaccurate FCC mapping data imperils state and municipal efforts, and the day-to-day work that Next Century Cities is doing to ensure local communities can get access to the broadband funding and services they need.

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LR Editors: These pitches be crazy!

Fri, 30 Apr 2021 11:00:32 GMT

It goes without saying that the editors at Light Reading are living the dream, but this job – nay, calling – is not all puppy tails and rainbows. The sad truth is that many of the email pitches we receive from public relations (professionals?) are off the mark.In this Light Reading podcast, editors Phil Harvey, Mike Dano, Jeff Baumgartner and I share some story pitches that are about as useful as a Shake Weight. Whether it’s letting us know which cities are the best to find herbal refreshment, where we can get travel-sized lawn samplings for our dogs to do their business or how to get more information on stories we've already reported on, these pitches were too wild not to share with our readers.While we've clearly made it onto some media contact lists that have nothing to do with the telecom industry, we are grateful to all the PR pros striving to better understand our beat, woo us with free water bottles (writing makes me thirsty!) and who actually answer our follow-up questions before the news breaks. Before you get a big head, though, we plan on future podcasts where we point out more pitches that simply struck out (so you’ve been forewarned).

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Nick Feamster on how the pandemic highlighted our biggest network needs

Thu, 29 Apr 2021 22:01:32 GMT

Nick Feamster, Neubauer Professor of Computer Science at the University of Chicago, returns to the podcast to provide an update on his research into how COVID-19 has impacted Internet traffic demands in the US. He also discusses the impact the pandemic has had on Internet performance and how service providers are responding to these changes.By analyzing interconnection data for two large ISPs in the US, Feamster and his colleagues identified a 30-60% increase in peak traffic rates in Q1 of 2020. In addition, their research data revealed a significant shift in traffic volume at the onset of the pandemic. Despite an influx of remote workers relying more heavily on home networks, the Internet has held up strong against capacity demands."I'm happy to report that the Internet, technically speaking, has done pretty well over the course of the pandemic," says Feamster.In regard to progress made during the pandemic concerning the digital divide, Feamster says some improvements have been made with subsidy programs, but "many communities and cities have the clairvoyance to recognize this isn't a long-term solution, necessarily, and it's been good as a stop-gap in some cases ... there are a number of places where the subsidy only needs to be part of the solution."

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The Divide: Stealth's Shrihari Pandit on bringing fiber to underserved business communities

Thu, 29 Apr 2021 14:16:10 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Shrihari Pandit, president and CEO of Stealth Communications, which provides fiber Internet to businesses in New York City.Since 1995 Stealth has been active in New York, where it has installed over 80 miles of fiber. In the last couple of years it's extended its service to underserved areas of Brooklyn, the South Bronx and Harlem.We discuss the company's expansion and what it takes to get fiber to businesses in underserved areas, how ending the digital divide will change the US economy, and why traditional government funding methods for building out broadband aren't working.

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MyBundle.TV coaches viewers on cutting the pay-TV cord

Fri, 23 Apr 2021 14:16:57 GMT

Jason Cohen, CEO and co-founder of MyBundle.TV, joins the Light Reading podcast to discuss how his company connects viewers to streaming services, and assists broadband and cable providers in identifying new customers.In addition, Cohen examines drivers behind the cord-cutting trend, and shares why many viewers are still holding out with traditional pay-TV services."One of the big misnomers is that everyone has cut the cord. There are still about 70 million households with traditional TV, and that's too many in our opinion. A big chunk of those don't know that there is YouTubeTV, Hulu, Sling…etc. We believe that with a helping hand, there are a lot of people who can make that transition to streaming that still want the traditional live TV content."Cohen provides insight into the channels and streaming services that are most popular among viewers – plus, some surprising results.

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Verizon's Anand Shah on why private networks are a big opportunity

Thu, 22 Apr 2021 15:00:41 GMT

Anand Shah, Verizon's director of technology strategy and architecture, joins the podcast to talk all about private networks. We cover the wide variety of use cases for private networks, the enterprises and industries that present the most challenging private network deployments; and we talk briefly about security considerations and edge computing advancements involved as well.Shah also reminds us that managed services is a huge opportunity that surrounds private networks, even in those cases where 5G is not the most urgent need. For many businesses, in fact, connectivity, networking and IT itself can all be delivered as a service. "I mean, you don't need an IT department now to manage these private networks, we got it for you," Shah said.

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The Divide: ConnectMaine's Peggy Schaffer on the 'street-by-street battle' for broadband

Thu, 22 Apr 2021 14:00:21 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Peggy Schaffer, executive director for the ConnectMaine Authority.ConnectMaine was established in 2006. Since then, Shaffer says it has spent approximately $12 million in grant funding to expand broadband services to people.She and I discuss the state of broadband in the state of Maine and what her office has been able to accomplish; as well as what she hopes to see from federal broadband legislation and why she believes we need to stop giving money to the FCC.

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The Divide: David Gilford on local priorities for federal broadband funds

Thu, 15 Apr 2021 14:00:46 GMT

On this episode, we hear from David Gilford, principal at HR&A Advisors and co-founder of the Broadband Equity Partnership: a consultancy focused on ending the digital divide in the US.In partnership with the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, the Broadband Equity Partnership recently issued a survey to 120 government and nonprofit broadband leaders across the country to assess local priorities for the federal government's broadband stimulus.David joins the podcast to discuss the results of that research and the key takeaways for Congress as lawmakers negotiate legislation around President Biden's $100 billion broadband plan.

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Microsoft Azure's Yousef Khalidi curates carrier clouds

Fri, 09 Apr 2021 16:30:01 GMT

Yousef Khalidi, corporate VP of Azure for Operators at Microsoft and a member of the founding team of Azure, joins the podcast to discuss how his role has evolved to working on Azure for Operators. Khalidi explains why working with service providers requires a different approach to enterprise customers."Operators have very unique requirements," says Khalidi. "The level of carrier-grade networking and availability is higher than what most other customers need. On a technical level, things like packet processing, number of loads and so forth, are much higher than what you would need for an enterprise application."Khalidi also discusses the economic benefits operators can experience by partnering with a cloud provider, such as cost savings and new monetization opportunities, and how the cloud model enables operators to "really future-proof more of the infrastructure and concentrate on your value-add versus the plumbing."

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The Divide: Scott Willis, Bruce Garrison on the 'collective ecosystem' needed to close the gap

Thu, 08 Apr 2021 14:26:00 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Scott Willis, CEO of DartPoints, a colocation data center provider; as well as Bruce Garrison, chief revenue officer at Bluebird Network, a regional provider of fiber infrastructure.We discuss the different ways their companies are addressing the digital divide in the communities they serve, including in rural Iowa, and the ecosystem of companies necessary to improve access to connectivity and digital resources.

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The Divide: Fiber Broadband Association's Gary Bolton on the 'good news, good news' for fiber

Thu, 01 Apr 2021 14:12:57 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Gary Bolton, President and CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association: an organization of over 350 companies focused on delivering an all-fiber broadband network across the Americas.As the head of the Fiber Broadband Association, Gary is unsurprisingly pretty optimistic about fiber's potential and progress. We discuss why he says the US needs a fiber-first strategy and the legislation in Congress that could get us there, why hype around satellite broadband could be a "disaster" for communities, and why municipalities and electric cooperatives are becoming "the biggest emerging class of fiber deployers."

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Light Reading's Mike Dano: Six questions about 6G

Wed, 31 Mar 2021 16:00:50 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss which service providers and vendors are pulling ahead in the planning stages for 6G.In addition, Dano examines whether 6G will reach the terabyte per second speed threshold, and whether the industry will experience a smooth transition from 5G to 6G.While much is yet to be determined in regard to the benefits of 6G, Dano says there are two tangible improvements coming with the technology: "There's a discussion that 6G will be 80GHz and above that – 95GHz – all these super high-frequency communications. Most people agree that 6G is in even higher spectrum bands." The second tangible improvement, explains Dano, is that 6G could provide more realistic VR experiences where science-fiction movies such as Ready Player One become a reality.

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MetTel's Ed Fox on extending enterprise IT to home networks

Wed, 31 Mar 2021 15:00:30 GMT

Ed Fox, CTO of MetTel, joins the Light Reading podcast to discuss challenges in extending SD-WAN services to home networks, whether SASE makes sense to enterprise customers and how MetTel is helping its customers navigate the onslaught of video conferencing and messaging applications."Extending SD-WAN to the home – we've done it sparingly and not as much as you would have thought," says Fox. As employees return to the office, Fox predicts that enterprises will take a hard look at the VPN, SD-WAN and SASE services available as they develop strategies around their move to the cloud and also balance IT support for remote and on-premises employees."There was a lot of trepidation [from enterprise customers] about extending the network to home," says Fox. "Also, the IT departments didn't want to do it because now I have to deal with 'Joe's' cable modem and all of a sudden I'm in his home network? Those are some of the things we saw that really surprised us."

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LR's Alan Breznick: The NFL's TV deals gave streaming platforms legitimacy, longevity

Mon, 29 Mar 2021 17:00:20 GMT

Light Reading's Alan Breznick is back on the podcast to discuss whether the NFL's $110 billion deal with a number of streaming video services will be the nail in the coffin for traditional pay-TV bundles."Everybody wants football and it's amazing that with football games on so many different places that the NFL is getting overexposed," says Breznick. "But it seems like you can't overexpose the NFL."In the lineup of streaming services that will now provide access to NFL games, Amazon Prime gained exclusive national TV rights to NFL's Thursday Night Football slate for a cool $1 billion per year.The move to hosting football games on streaming services also provides viewers with the ability to watch games on a number of different devices, which grants the NFL access to new data and insights into how viewers want to consume content.

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The Divide: Blair Levin and Clint Odom on digital equity and inclusion

Thu, 25 Mar 2021 16:56:22 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Blair Levin, who oversaw the creation of the National Broadband Plan under President Barack Obama and served as FCC Chairman Reed Hundt's chief of staff under President Bill Clinton, as well as Clint Odom, senior vice president of policy and advocacy at the National Urban League.Earlier this year, the National Urban League put forth the Lewis Latimer Plan for Digital Equity & Inclusion, outlining steps toward ending the digital divide and creating a more equitable and inclusive society in the US.We discuss the goals of the plan, which include deploying networks everywhere, overcoming the significant adoption gap, using networks to improve the delivery of essential services and creating new economic opportunities in the digital economy – and how the National Urban League and others are working with policy makers at the federal level to advance this agenda.

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The Divide: Ribbon's Bruce McClelland on economics and politics of rural broadband

Thu, 18 Mar 2021 15:40:25 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Bruce McClelland, CEO of Ribbon Communications, about his company's work with broadband service providers in the rural US.McClelland says he took advantage of this last year of lockdown to reach out to policymakers in Washington, DC, and local reps at the state level, to "gauge tone" on rural broadband. We talk about his takeaways from those conversations, as well as the challenging economics around expanding broadband in hard-to-reach areas, why he's enthusiastic about the outcome of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction and more.

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Light Reading's Alan Breznick: Which DOCSIS are we on anyway?

Tue, 16 Mar 2021 18:28:04 GMT

The King of Cable, aka Alan Breznick, returns to host the 14th year of Light Reading's Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies event on April 28-29. While this year's event will be virtual, Breznick and his fellow cable industry experts will cover an array of topics including 10G, DOCSIS 3.1 and 4.0, DAA, Wi-Fi 6, fiber deployments and more.Breznick joins Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser on the podcast to discuss which topics will be covered during the event and provide insight into challenges and business opportunities facing the cable industry. One conundrum facing cable operators is whether there's a future in pay-TV or if the real revenue lies in streaming services."One big question is whether cable TV will stay a big pay-TV player and how that will happen," says Breznick. "Traditional pay-TV is going by the wayside and a lot of operators are exiting or downplaying the business and trying to make the pivot to be a streaming player and the aggregator of streaming services."

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The Divide: Upstream's Kostas Kastanis on offering 'free' Internet in Africa

Thu, 11 Mar 2021 15:20:08 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Kostas Kastanis, deputy CEO of Upstream – a mobile technology company that works with providers to offer affordable and secure access to Internet services, primarily in emerging markets.Our conversation focuses on Upstream's work in Africa, where its service Zero-D offers free Internet access through an ad-supported model. Kastanis says this works especially well in countries like Nigeria where 1 gig of data costs more than an average day's pay. We discuss how Zero-D works for users and providers, and other ways to solve the unique challenges to delivering and accessing the Internet in Africa.

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Heavy Reading's Gabriel Brown on 5G's next wave

Sat, 06 Mar 2021 17:00:12 GMT

The Light Reading podcast welcomes Gabriel Brown, Heavy Reading's principal analyst, mobile networks and 5G, to preview some of the discussions and topics that will be part of the 5G Next Wave Digital Symposium.The symposium will be moderated by Brown, along with Jim Hodges, chief analyst, Heavy Reading, and it will feature speakers from Swisscom, Anritsu, Red Hat, 5G Americas, Telus and more.As the 5G network goes from a 4G enhancement to a true, standalone next-gen network, the prospect of additional network investment and more immersive services is on the horizon as technologies like 5G core, edge cloud and network slicing take hold.

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MNJ's Ben Niernberg: SD-WAN is still seeing midmarket growth

Fri, 05 Mar 2021 19:01:58 GMT

MNJ Technologies COO Ben Niernberg returns to the Light Reading podcast to discuss predictions for growth in the MPLS and SD-WAN markets.According to a recent Avant Communications report, over 60% of enterprises plan to increase or significantly increase their SD-WAN usage this year and 59% plan to increase MPLS usage in 2021.Niernberg shares his perspective on these results, explaining that enterprises' plan to increase SD-WAN usage wasn't a surprise to him since the technology is "well past the early adoption phase."

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The Divide: WISPA's Claude Aiken on tech-neutral solutions

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 17:17:32 GMT

On this episode, we hear from Claude Aiken, president and CEO of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA), which represents the wireless Internet service provider industry, covering an estimated 6 million customers.We discuss the role of fixed wireless technology versus fiber when it comes to ending the divide in rural and hard-to-reach areas, how WISPs have kept people connected during the pandemic and the organization's policy priorities under the Biden administration.

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Executive Spotlight Q&A: Plume Co-founder and CEO Fahri Diner

Mon, 01 Mar 2021 21:37:52 GMT

This episode of the Executive Spotlight Q&A features Plume Co-founder and CEO Fahri Diner, a veteran telecom entrepreneur and investor that Light Reading has covered for several years. In this interview, we discuss Plume's origins, why it exists, and what technology advantage the company has in the market.We also talk about Plume's recent $270 million funding round, a massive Series E round that brings the company's valuation to $1.35 billion and its total equity funding to date to $397 million. Diner discusses the reason behind the funding, what Plume will invest in next and how it addresses some of the most impactful trends happening in the connectivity and smart home space.The Executive Spotlight Q&A is a sponsored Light Reading audio production.

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The Divide: How US counties are confronting connectivity needs

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 22:30:42 GMT

On this episode of The Divide, we hear from Judge JD Clark of Wise County, Texas and Councilmember Craig Rice of Montgomery County, Maryland – co-chairs of the National Association of Counties (NACo) Broadband Task Force. The task force, formed in October 2020, is a coalition of nearly three dozen county government officials from across the US studying the country's digital divide and the challenges facing underserved communities.We discuss what the task force hopes to achieve, why FCC mapping needs an overhaul, why broadband should be treated as a utility and more.

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Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner on Paramount+, pay TV and live sports

Wed, 24 Feb 2021 22:30:18 GMT

Light Reading Senior Editor Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast to discuss the state of streaming video services and why they're eating away at pay-TV subscriber numbers. He also discusses new streaming services such as Paramount+, whether live sports can keep pay-TV alive, and what other features are keeping pay-TV subscribers from cutting the cord.

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Beats x Broadband: a fiber-fueled music masterclass

Wed, 24 Feb 2021 15:00:28 GMT

The Light Reading podcast welcomes Dan Kurin, the tech coordinator at Factory Two and Brandon Corder the CEO of Beats x Beers to discuss an upcoming experiment with low-latency broadband in Flint, Michigan.Using the LoLa software system, developed in Italy and popularized by Internet2, a group of musicians at Factory Two will conduct a real-time musical performance and hip hop masterclass over a low-latency fiber network for students across town at the Flint Cultural Center Academy. This event, called Beats x Broadband, is sponsored in part by US Ignite as part of its National Science Foundation-funded Smart Gigabit Communities program. The class takes place on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 4:00 pm ET and you can watch it on Facebook Live.

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What's the story: Mike Dano follows the money in the $81B C-band spectrum auction

Wed, 24 Feb 2021 12:00:38 GMT

Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss the significance of the FCC's $81 billion C-band spectrum auction.Mike recently wrote that 5G in the US will become a lot clearer by the end of March, with the C-band spectrum winners soon to be revealed. In this episode, we discuss how the results of the auction are likely to shake out and what impact the spectrum allocated will have on Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile's 5G plans going forward.

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The Divide: Dr. Nicol Turner Lee on the 'digitally invisible'

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 12:00:35 GMT

On this episode of The Divide, we hear from Dr. Nicol Turner Lee, a senior fellow in governance studies and the director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institute. As a researcher and policy advocate, Dr. Turner Lee went on a ten-city tour investigating the digital divide in the US up close, which she writes about in her forthcoming book, "Digitally Invisible: How the Internet is Creating the New Underclass."We discuss what she saw during that tour, what is and isn't working when it comes to telecommunications policy, and best practices learned from public-private partnerships to get people connected during the pandemic.

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Vodafone Business taps IoT to reduce carbon emissions

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 00:30:25 GMT

Erik Brenneis, head of IoT for Vodafone Business, joins the podcast to discuss growth in the IoT market and explains how Vodafone Business' customers are using IoT in their sustainability strategies.

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Heavy Reading's Sterling Perrin on what's coming up in optical networking

Fri, 12 Feb 2021 20:30:42 GMT

Heavy Reading's Sterling Perrin gives a quick rundown of what's coming up in the optical networking space for 2021 as he previews Light Reading's Optical Networking Symposium on February 16 and 18.

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Omdia's Pablo Tomasi forecasts growth for private LTE and 5G networks

Wed, 10 Feb 2021 20:13:20 GMT

Pablo Tomasi, principal analyst for Private Networks at Omdia, joins the Light Reading podcast to discuss his predictions for the growth of private LTE and 5G networks."By 2025 … the size of the global market will be $5.2 billion," which is a significant leap from the predicted market size of $1 billion this year, says Tomasi,Private networks could be a major opportunity for telcos to "enter into new relationships with enterprises. It provides them with the ability to sell additional technologies and services," he adds.In addition, Tomasi shares his forecasts for private network market growth on a geographical level, the impact of CBRS on private networks in the US, which verticals could benefit the most from these networks, and when and where 5G will be a factor in private networks.

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The Divide: How Starry connects cord cutters and the underserved

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 15:00:18 GMT

On this episode of The Divide, we hear from Virginia Lam Abrams, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Strategic Advancement at the alternative broadband provider Starry.Starry's service is live in five major cities, and the company sets itself apart as a hybrid fiber-wireless provider that uses fixed-wireless technology for last-mile connections.We discuss Starry's overall rollout model and "customer-first" approach, how the company is bringing affordable broadband to people living in public housing, and the "basket of solutions" needed at the policy level to end the digital divide.

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BT's Detlef Nauck: Using AI and data science in a telco

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 13:00:18 GMT

The Light Reading podcast welcomes Detlef Nauck, Head of AI & Data Science Research for BT's Applied Research Division. Nauck gives us an overview of his work and the processes involved in using AI and machine learning in traditional telecom networks.Nauck said BT is working to help drive standards for machine learning model management and governance – if companies can better explain and interpret what machine learning technology is doing, they can use it more effectively and prevent an automated network from adding capacity in the wrong places and inadvertently costing the telcos more money.He also pushes back on the idea that automation driven by AI is a permanent job killer. "The way [human-in-the-loop] AI models operate, and basically, orchestrating the strategy of these models, will be controlled by people," Nauck said. "And so AI models become advanced tools for the network engineers to keep control of the network."

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The Divide: NDIA's Angela Siefer on digital redlining

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 13:00:18 GMT

This episode features Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA). We talk about what digital inclusion work looks like, how the digital divide is being made worse by digital redlining, and what needs to happen at a provider and policy level to change that.

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The Divide: Pew's Anna Read on state efforts to close the gap

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 15:09:59 GMT

Welcome to "The Divide" – a new podcast from Light Reading exploring the ongoing digital divide: why it still exists, where it still exists and what needs to be done to fix it.Today's guest is Anna Read, a research officer with the broadband research initiative at The Pew Charitable Trusts.We discuss ongoing challenges to broadband access and adoption, which policies and efforts are (and are not) working, and how state programs and public-private partnerships can make a difference.For more from Pew's broadband research initiative, check out the show notes to this episode on www.lightreading.com.

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The Divide: EFF's Ernesto Falcon on 'building back better' broadband

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 22:39:33 GMT

Welcome to "The Divide" – a new podcast from Light Reading exploring the ongoing digital divide: why it still exists, where it still exists and what needs to be done to fix it.Our guest is Ernesto Falcon, senior legislative counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). We discussed the need for nationwide fiber infrastructure in the US and what's holding that up, what the pandemic has revealed about broadband policy in the US, and what to expect from the incoming Biden administration on the broadband front.

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Nick Weaver, CEO of eero, says smart Wi-Fi is essential for connected homes

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 16:00:29 GMT

This week the podcast welcomes eero CEO Nick Weaver to discuss in-home connectivity and how his company has changed since it was bought by Amazon in 2019. The podcast covers the proliferation of Wi-Fi 6, the new demands on home routers now that everyone's been home for nearly a year and, finally, eero's progress on its efforts to become a home connectivity partner for service providers.

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Omdia's Dario Talmesio: What's ahead for telcos in 2021

Tue, 12 Jan 2021 12:00:27 GMT

Dario Talmesio, research director for Omdia's service provider strategy and regulation practice, talks about the big topics that will shape the year ahead for communications service providers (CSPs).This podcast, recorded in late December, covers the industry's progress in 5G and where the world of mobile broadband is going next (01:45); the evolving role of cloud providers in the CSP ecosystem (07:30); the economic fallout of COVID-19 and how telcos will retain customers who have lost work or have been hit with medical bills (12:15); and the push for more corporate social responsibility both in environmental concerns and hiring practices (17:25).

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US Ignite's Mari Silbey: Tech tests for better rural broadband access

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 19:59:38 GMT

Mari Silbey, senior director of Partnerships and Outreach for US Ignite, joins the Light Reading podcast in this episode, recorded in late December. Silbey provides an update on "Project Overcome," a program by US Ignite and the National Science Foundation to improve the reach of broadband in underserved areas.Also, she shares an update on the Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) program, which is US Ignite's effort to work with partners in testing new technologies that could improve rural broadband access."For rural America, there's probably not one technology that will solve everyone's problems, and we need to experiment with how to bring them together in different ways to get the best connectivity for these folks that can't otherwise be connected," she said.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Phil Harvey recaps the year in Huawei

Thu, 24 Dec 2020 16:26:05 GMT

Are the Huawei bans working? What will the US do next year to keep China's champion from 5G world domination? Phil Harvey returns to the podcast to give us the latest on Huawei's turbulent year.

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Off Topic: Gary Smith on blending photography, philanthropy

Thu, 24 Dec 2020 16:24:18 GMT

The Light Reading podcast is going off-topic. As folks are winding down for the holiday weekend, we've recorded an episode featuring a noted telecom luminary talking about a bunch of stuff that has nothing at all to do with broadband, open RAN or SD-WAN.Ciena CEO Gary B. Smith joins the podcast to discuss his journey as a photographer – how he got started, his 20-year photography drought and the hows and whys behind his current work. See the show notes for links and all the details on www.lightreading.com.

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What's the story: HBO Max, Peacock and the streaming wars

Wed, 16 Dec 2020 13:00:20 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner was on the podcast this summer talking about the launches of HBO Max and NBCU's Peacock. Now he's back and on this episode, Jeff gives an update on those streaming services and others that have been announced since then, and what the streaming landscape looks like as we head into 2021.

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Orange Business Services gets SASE and secure

Tue, 15 Dec 2020 23:53:35 GMT

Rob Mello, the head of strategy and transformation in the Americas for Orange Business Services, joins the podcast to discuss the carrier's use of the cloud when deploying security services to enterprise customers. He discusses the relationship between the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) and Zero Trust Security and whether the two are mutually exclusive. He also talks about what industries are benefiting from SASE now and how global enterprises are benefiting from the platform.Orange Business Services and several other global network operators were featured during Light Reading's Service Provider Security Strategies for the Enterprise Symposium on Tuesday, December 15.

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From our sponsor: CSG's Scott Lawrence on digital transformations

Tue, 15 Dec 2020 01:00:10 GMT

In this special sponsored podcast episode, we speak with Scott Lawrence from CSG's Experiences Practice division. His job focuses on coaching companies to make decisions that can help them evolve and improve the way customers experience their products and services. Lawrence discusses how and when digital transformations are effective, how companies should measure success and the art of creating a culture that values constant improvement. This podcast is sponsored by CSG.

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Plume CEO Fahri Diner on scaling a network services for smart homes

Mon, 14 Dec 2020 23:26:50 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner connected with Plume CEO Fahri Diner to get caught up on all things related to the management and security of the smart home. As part of that discussion, they chat about the drivers of the vendor's latest deployment milestone – 20 million "active" households worldwide that have been fueled by an average increase of 1 million activations per month thus far through 2020.They also dig into the role of open source in smart home deployments and how Plume's recent acquisition of Walleye Networks fits in with the company's broader tech and services portfolio.

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AT&T's Rita Marty: How to make 5G secure

Fri, 11 Dec 2020 20:00:40 GMT

Rita Marty, VP of Emerging Services Security Architecture for AT&T, joins the Light Reading podcast to discuss 5G security."We're taking all the learnings from LTE and 3G and applying it to 5G so we don't have the same problems day one," says Marty. "One thing that's unique about 5G is that it's designed with security in mind from day one." AT&T is also working closely with the standards organization 3GPP to develop the "5G security posture," explains Marty.As 5G is being deployed nationwide, AT&T will continue to work on improving security for previous mobile generations. "You want to continue to harden the legacy networks like 3G and LTE," says Marty.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Iain Morris does an open RAN recap

Thu, 10 Dec 2020 19:30:10 GMT

Iain joined the podcast back in August to talk about open RAN's potential in the telco space, particularly as the UK government imposes a ban on using Huawei equipment. On this episode, we talk about what we've learned about open RAN since then, whether or not the technology is living up to the hype; and what's in store for open RAN in telecom next year.

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Heavy Reading's Gabriel Brown: Surveying the open RAN ecosystem

Wed, 09 Dec 2020 20:19:56 GMT

Light Reading's Open RAN Ecosystem Symposium starts up again on Thursday, Dec. 10 and will feature open RAN discussions, case studies, cautionary tales and service provider perspectives. The symposium is moderated and chaired by Gabriel Brown, Principal Analyst, Mobile Networks & 5G, Heavy Reading. In our discussion, Brown tackles where exactly service providers can find savings by using open RAN, and we add some context to the discussion of whether general-purpose O-RAN kit is actually less expensive than what is on offer, at scale, from big vendors like Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia.

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Dell'Oro's Mauricio Sanchez: SASE and the future of SD-WAN

Wed, 09 Dec 2020 19:57:54 GMT

Mauricio Sanchez, research director for Dell'Oro, joins the Light Reading podcast to clarify the definition of Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) and explain what this new trend means for the future of the SD-WAN market."We see SASE as the intersection of networking and security in a cloud-delivered vehicle or solution," explains Sanchez. He adds that this trend has been a long time coming as the industry has been pursuing the goal of "a single control panel that an administrator can look at and control the network experience and the security policy in their environment."

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Cogent Communications CEO Dave Schaeffer on building a better Internet backbone

Fri, 27 Nov 2020 17:01:32 GMT

Cogent Communications CEO Dave Schaeffer founded his company in 1999 to sell symmetrical, low-cost, Internet connectivity to businesses. That whole time he's said some variation of the same thing about Cogent – he knows it's a commodity business and it's much simpler that way."Look, we don't sell things that people don't want," Schaeffer told Light Reading in 2018. "We only sell things people want, and we sell it cheaper. It's not really complicated."Now Cogent operates in 47 countries, connects to nearly 1,300 data centers and is constantly building one of the most interconnected, high-capacity Internet backbones in the world. In this podcast, we talk about why companies are still buying huge amounts of bandwidth even when their offices aren't full of people. We also cover the significance of Cogent's recent traffic growth – close to early pandemic levels – and how that underscores the trends we're seeing in the consumer video streaming market (and why that growth will keep on going).

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Everstream CEO on fueling a Midwest fiber expansion

Wed, 25 Nov 2020 17:00:52 GMT

Brett Lindsey, CEO of Everstream, joins Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser on the podcast to discuss the company's strategy around building fiber networks in the Midwest. Lindsey also addresses how Everstream competes with incumbent telcos such as AT&T, and how the pandemic has impacted the construction of new fiber buildouts.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner on satellite broadband

Wed, 25 Nov 2020 16:30:22 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner has been keeping us up to date on the much-talked-about Starlink satellite service from SpaceX, as well as other satellite competitors in the field like HughesNet and Viasat.He's here today to talk more about the difference between these players, recent developments in the satellite broadband space and why they matter and what's likely to happen next.

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Frost & Sullivan's Roopa Honnachari on the 2021 outlook for SD-WAN

Tue, 24 Nov 2020 16:43:49 GMT

Roopa Honnachari, industry director for Frost & Sullivan, joins Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser on the podcast to explain how COVID-19 impacted growth in the SD-WAN and cloud services markets, plus her forecasts for growth over the next few years. Honnachari also discusses why telcos are bundling in a number of security features and enterprise business services with their managed SD-WAN platforms.

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From our sponsor: Nokia's Steve Vogelsang on the service provider network evolution

Tue, 24 Nov 2020 16:37:26 GMT

The Light Reading podcast welcomes Steve Vogelsang, the CTO of IP and optical networks at Nokia. Nokia is also our podcast sponsor for the month.In this episode, we discuss how the pandemic is affecting the evolution of service provider networks and whether 5G deployments are fundamentally changed because of the difficulties presented in logistics and other factors. Vogelsang also discusses other aspects of the service provider network evolution, including cloud migrations, software-as-a-service and how massive machine-type communications (mMTCs) will require a new kind of flexibility from network operators.

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Vertical Systems Group's Erin Dunne: What's next in SD-WAN

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 00:01:01 GMT

Erin Dunne, Director of Research Services for Vertical Systems Group, joins the Light Reading podcast to discuss the state of fiber deployments and the SD-WAN market during the pandemic. Dunne sheds light on how organizations like MEF are helping standardize SD-WAN and she gives a ballpark prediction of how the SD-WAN market will grow in 2021.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Iain Morris on Orange's deal with TRC

Thu, 19 Nov 2020 00:00:51 GMT

Light Reading's Iain Morris joins us to talk about convergence and consolidation amongst European telcos. France's Orange recently took a controlling stake in Telekom Romania Communications (TRC), and Iain will shed some light on what this deal means for the individual telcos and the industry at large.

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MNJ's Ben Niernberg on simplifying UCaaS and demystifying SD-WAN

Wed, 18 Nov 2020 10:00:21 GMT

MNJ Executive VP Ben Niernberg returns to the podcast to talk about how simplifying unified communications in the enterprise is even critical during the pandemic. Niernberg also offers advice on how enterprises can secure the edge of their networks and how they can navigate the crowded market of security and SD-WAN vendors.

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Heavy Reading's Sterling Perrin on network slicing, edge needs for 5G applications

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 20:30:37 GMT

Heavy Reading's Sterling Perrin and Light Reading's Phil Harvey recapped the recent 5G Transport & Networking Strategies symposium and they discussed network slicing in transport networks, how Verizon is handling its 5G traffic and how the increasing importance of edge computing is shaping optical networking technologies and spending.Perrin said that it's important to think about what network slicing means in the transport network, where "you have to define both quality of service and network separation." There's a lot of work left to be done here, he said, as the radio and wireline sides of the network still haven't worked together enough to make network slicing happen yet in a commercial way. The timing is getting tight, too, because a lot of the services that 5G monetization depends on require network slicing.In edge computing, Perrin said the symposium discussions revealed more "solidity" around where the edge is needed inside of cities and where it's not. A few years ago, there was a discussion about needing edge computing capabilities at every cell tower. Now what matters more than sprawling buildouts is the latency required by the network, Perrin said. In many cases, data centers and colocation facilities – important not just because of where they are but also their proximity to cloud providers – will get the job done.

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128 Technology's Sue Graham Johnston: Creating a session-aware network

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 20:52:36 GMT

Sue Graham Johnston, president of 128 Technology, joins Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser on the podcast to discuss the company's technology approach to networking and how that led to its announced acquisition by Juniper Networks. Johnston explains how 128 aims to build a session-aware network and how that improves user experience as well as enterprise security. Johnston also offers advice on how Women in Comms can network virtually, and how to adjust to the "new normal" of work-life balance as the line between work and personal lives blurs from the COVID-19 remote working boom.

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Vonage's Jay Patel: UCaaS and APIs for the win

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 17:48:26 GMT

Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser talks with Vonage's Jay Patel about unified communications customer use cases. They cover Domino's Pizza and Siemens and talk about how both companies are using Vonage's Voice and Video APIs.

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Infinera's Tim Doiron on TIP, open networking and how vendors adapt

Sat, 31 Oct 2020 20:30:04 GMT

Infinera's Tim Doiron discusses open networking and Infinera's role in a recent Telecom Infra Project deployment.

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Telia Carrier's Mattias Fridstrom: The pandemic is reshaping network traffic

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 21:30:34 GMT

Telia Carrier VP and Chief Evangelist Mattias Fridstrom joins the podcast to discuss new trends in network and traffic patterns as Internet usage is changing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fridstrom also provides insight into how and where Telia Carrier is expanding its fiber network, and how that approach differs in the Americas vs. Europe. Also, Fridstrom shares Telia Carrier's approach to SD-WAN and why the company chose to enter that market.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Mike Dano talks about Rivada and the DoD's 5G ambitions

Thu, 29 Oct 2020 21:26:34 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano about a recent request for information issued by the US Department of Defense that may or may not further the Trump administration's apparent interest in a nationalized 5G network.We also talk about Rivada, what role the company is playing in all of this, and why it matters.

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Juniper CTO Raj Yavatkar: Acquisitions and building AI-focused enterprise networks

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 21:00:26 GMT

Juniper CTO Raj Yavatkar joins the Light Reading podcast to discuss Juniper's strategy to use machine learning and AI to help customers build "self-driving" enterprise networks. The acquisition of Mist Systems brought that capability to Wi-Fi access points, he explains. Once Juniper completes its acquisition of 128 Technology, it can improve on its AI-driven approach to its SD-WAN and WAN assurance offerings, too.

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Heavy Reading's Gabriel Brown: Catching up on 5G

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 21:00:46 GMT

Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Heavy Reading's Gabriel Brown recap the 5G Ecosystem Digital Symposium and discuss the state of the industry when it comes to telecom 5G deployments, and what is likely to happen next.Brown starts off by recalling the service provider keynote delivered October 19 by Telecom Italia's Giovanni Romano. The Italian 5G ecosystem has been looking beyond the smartphone from the very beginning, Brown said and, as a result, both TIM and other operators have done a lot of work on advanced use cases for 5G. As 5G is deployed around the world, operators will want to keep an eye on TIM and how it got a head start on building 5G apps and services for vertical industries.Private networks and 5GIn the second part of the discussion, Brown recaps the second part of the symposium, which occurred on October 21, and featured keynotes and panels on private networks. One of the day's highlights was an update from Catherine Gull, head of Business Development at Three Private Networks, the operator that has built a private network for London's Heathrow Airport.Apple's 5G introThe discussion wraps up with a summary of some reasons why Apple put so much emphasis on 5G during its launch event for the iPhone 12 on October 16. Brown said there is a responsibility Apple has to the whole telecom ecosystem to deliver a new generation of handsets on a predictable schedule. If Apple waited too late to put out a 5G product, the telecom industry would be in a world of hurt.

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Telefonica targets fiber expansion

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 19:18:18 GMT

Light Reading's Iain Morris and Kelsey Ziser discuss highlights from last week's BBWF event, including an update from Telefonica CTO Enrique Blanco on the operator's efforts around fiber buildouts, both in Spain and South America. In addition, Morris and Ziser discuss women in comms sessions on new career opportunities around 5G deployments, closing the gender gap in telecom and building relationships with mentors.

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Boingo SVP Mike Zeto: Private networks are in high demand

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 15:47:38 GMT

Boingo's SVP of global strategy and emerging businesses, Mike Zeto, joins the podcast to discuss the opportunities in building private networks and how the pandemic is accelerating the need for some buildouts. Zeto explains how, even when built for enterprises, those networks and the capacity they bring can help service providers accomplish their goals as well.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser on SD-WAN security

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 15:00:24 GMT

On this episode, we're talking with Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser about recent product updates in the SD-WAN market to reflect the need for stronger security in the age of remote work.Kelsey is here to tell us more about what she's hearing from SD-WAN players about these service updates, what this shift in focus means for industry competition, and what we can expect to happen next.

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Light Reading's Cable Next-Gen symposium recap

Wed, 14 Oct 2020 16:00:44 GMT

Light Reading's Alan Breznick and Jeff Baumgartner recap the highlights from last week's Cable Next-Gen Digital Symposium, which wrapped up Thursday, October 8. The cable aces provide an update on the challenges and opportunities of utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities in cable architectures. Breznick and Baumgartner also discuss progress made on DOCSIS 4.0, momentum around Remote MAC-PHY, different approaches to distributed access architecture and more.

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From our sponsor: Avast's Sean Obrey on AI, 5G and providing better cybersecurity at home

Wed, 14 Oct 2020 15:00:44 GMT

In this episode, we are once again joined by Sean Obrey from Avast for a discussion on cybersecurity. This time we talk about how artificial intelligence is being used to improve security for service providers. This leads to a discussion about Avast's Smart Life platform and what sets it apart from earlier generations of security products and what those differences will mean for service provider partners and their customers.This podcast episode is sponsored by Avast, a global leader in digital security and family safety solutions for network operators and their customers.

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Light Reading's Alan Breznick and Jeff Baumgartner: Clear skies for cable

Wed, 07 Oct 2020 23:00:37 GMT

Light Reading's Alan Breznick and Jeff Baumgartner discuss the highlights of the Cable Next-Gen Digital Symposium on Tuesday, Oct. 6. While the pandemic appeared to slow the growth of cable business services in the second quarter, industry experts forecast expansion for business services in the third quarter.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Mike Dano sheds some light on Starlink

Wed, 07 Oct 2020 19:13:49 GMT

In this episode, we're talking with Light Reading's Mike Dano about Starlink, the satellite broadband service from SpaceX.SpaceX continues to launch Starlink satellites as it preps for its commercial debut. And just this week, Elon Musk suggested in a Tweet that he expects to take Starlink public in a few years. Mike is here to talk more about Starlink, what we know about the satellite service so far and how it may (or may not) disrupt the broadband industry.

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Radware's Aviv and O' Malley: Handling 5G and edge computing security threats

Sat, 26 Sep 2020 19:00:54 GMT

Radware's CTO, David Aviv, and VP of strategy, Mike O'Malley, discuss security concerns that companies have as they get ready for 5G and endeavor to protect applications and services in their data centers, edge networks and cloud deployments.

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Light Reading's Mike Dano and Phil Harvey: Big 5G Event recap

Fri, 25 Sep 2020 19:30:14 GMT

Light Reading editors Mike Dano and Phil Harvey recount some of the highlights of a busy, busy event discussing all things 5G. Standalone 5G stood alone as the big thing to watch in the coming months. We discuss remarks from execs at T-Mobile, AT&T, Telus and more.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner on Altice USA

Thu, 24 Sep 2020 20:00:14 GMT

This week on the "What's the Story?" podcast, we're talking with Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner about Altice USA.Jeff recently wrote about discussions between Altice USA, Rogers and Cogeco regarding Altice's efforts to acquire Cogeco, but sell its Canadian assets to Rogers – discussions that have now resulted in an exchange of dramatic letters between the companies.Jeff is here to tell us more about those developments between the companies, what Altice's momentum in the US means for the telecom industry at large, and what's likely to happen next.

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Omdia's Dario Talmesio: How Apple will define the 5G market

Wed, 23 Sep 2020 13:50:31 GMT

In this overview of what's happening in the 5G market, Omdia Principal Analyst & Practice Leader Dario Talmesio discusses the 5G deployments to date, the biggest enterprise vertical opportunities and how Apple's products will kickstart 5G consumer acceptance.

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Omdia's James Crawshaw: How 5G will help an OSS market rebound

Sun, 20 Sep 2020 20:00:08 GMT

The most advanced 5G features anticipated by network operators, like network slicing, will require OSS systems to be modernized and expanded, says Omdia Principal Analyst James Crawshaw.

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Omdia's Pablo Tomasi: 5G's role in enterprise private networks

Sat, 19 Sep 2020 20:00:08 GMT

Omdia Senior Analyst Pablo Tomasi says 5G won't be the main technology in private networks for a few years, but the 5G discussions in some verticals are moving the needle on planning and purchasing.

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Heavy Reading analyst Gabriel Brown on O-RAN's progress & standalone 5G networks

Sat, 19 Sep 2020 18:00:08 GMT

Heavy Reading's Gabriel Brown discusses how O-RAN is gathering momentum in 5G networks and why that matters. He also weighs in on operator moves to embrace standalone 5G, and what's holding some of them back.

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MetTel's Max Silber on how Phoenix is becoming a smart city

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 17:00:28 GMT

Max Silber, VP of Mobility and IoT for MetTel, discusses the service provider's IoT strategy for assisting the City of Phoenix in meeting its goal of becoming a zero-waste city by 2050. MetTel has worked with the city to provide automated vehicle location services via IoT-connected devices that monitor fuel usage, route efficiency, scheduling maintenance and more. In addition, Silber explains how MetTel used IoT technology to ensure driver safety, improve vehicle idle management, GPS tracking, Geo-fencing capabilities and provide other services for Brosnan Security's fleet of trucks.

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What's the story: Omdia analyst James Crawshaw on the evolution of OSS

Thu, 17 Sep 2020 21:52:41 GMT

This week on the "What's the Story?" podcast, we're talking with Omdia principal analyst James Crawshaw about operations support systems (OSS). Omdia has a new report out about the OSS market, projecting that OSS will see 6.5% growth in 2021. James is here to talk more about what's driving that growth, what the evolution of OSS and the role of cloud in that evolution means for the industry at large, and what is likely to happen next in terms of mergers and acquisitions.

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From our sponsor: Avast's Sean Obrey on creating seamless security across 5G and Wi-Fi networks

Tue, 15 Sep 2020 16:00:48 GMT

Network operators need to protect devices wherever they're at and Avast's Sean Obrey discusses how that can be done at the network level in a way that leads to solid user adoption, and better overall reporting and analytics. This podcast episode is sponsored by Avast, a global leader in digital security and family safety solutions for network operators and their customers.

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Nick Feamster: COVID-19 challenges online teachers and service provider networks

Mon, 14 Sep 2020 15:10:08 GMT

Light Reading podcast veteran Prof. Nick Feamster from the University of Chicago shares how teachers can successfully adapt to online teaching, provides an update on his research on network usage and performance during COVID-19, and discusses the challenge municipalities face in providing Internet access to historically underserved areas.

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Executive Spotlight Q&A: Cisco's Bill Gartner on optics and optical networking

Fri, 11 Sep 2020 17:00:33 GMT

Optics is a key technology pillar for modern networking and the cost of optics is becoming a larger part of the overall networking capex equation. Cisco wanted to control its fate in optics and Bill Gartner, Cisco SVP/GM optical systems and optics group, explains how the company did it. The Executive Spotlight Q&A is a sponsored Light Reading audio production.

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CommScope execs talk rural broadband and latency in a pandemic

Wed, 09 Sep 2020 22:47:00 GMT

CommScope's Morgan Kurk and Dave Wright join the podcast to discuss challenges service providers face in delivering rural broadband services, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, they explain how the Universal Service Fund can support programs to address rural connectivity, and how CommScope is working with service providers to close the digital divide.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Phil Harvey talks TikTok

Tue, 01 Sep 2020 12:00:37 GMT

This week on the "What's the Story?" podcast we're talking with Light Reading's Editor, Phil Harvey about the US vs. China trade war and how TikTok has been caught in the middle. Phil recaps a recent policy move by the Chinese government that looks to be aimed at delaying the sale of TikTok's US operations. The pressure is building and time is running out as the Trump administration has said the company needs to sell its US business soon or face a ban on its service. Phil catches us up on TikTok's whirlwind month, why it matters, and what's likely to happen next. This podcast was recorded on Monday, August 31.

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From our sponsor: Bart Spriester, GM, Content & Streaming Providers, Comcast Technology Solutions

Mon, 31 Aug 2020 21:00:17 GMT

Bart Spriester, General Manager, Content & Streaming Providers, Comcast Technology Solutions joins the podcast to discuss the consumer and industry trends shaping streaming technology today. We also talk about how media and entertainment companies are evolving their technology stack to stay competitive.

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Executive Spotlight Q&A: Fortinet's John Maddison

Thu, 27 Aug 2020 12:00:27 GMT

This Executive Spotlight Q&A features John Maddison, the CMO & EVP of products at Fortinet. Maddison discusses SASE, the secure access service edge, and what problems SASE solves for enterprises and service providers. He details what a full SASE deployment should look like and how it relates to Secure SD-WAN. The Executive Spotlight Q&A is a sponsored Light Reading audio production.

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What's the story: Connecting Africa's Paula Gilbert on mobile money

Wed, 26 Aug 2020 18:05:53 GMT

This week on the "What's the Story?" podcast we're talking with Paula Gilbert, editor of Connecting Africa, Light Reading's sister site. Paula has been reporting on the mobile money industry in Africa, including new partnerships between telcos and banks, the pandemic's impact on the sector and more. She's here to tell us more about the mobile money industry in Africa, how it's evolving, why it matters, and what's likely to happen next.

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Omdia's Jaimie Lenderman: How cable networks keep evolving

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 20:00:17 GMT

Omdia analyst Jaimie Lenderman discusses cable operator efforts to reimagine their networks as less centralized, with more intelligence at the edge. Are those efforts being sidelined by the pandemic?

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BT Security's Kevin Brown on remote working, cybersecurity and human firewalls

Fri, 21 Aug 2020 11:00:45 GMT

BT Security's Kevin Brown joins the podcast to discuss remote working in a pandemic, including all the risks, the changes and advantages the "new normal" has for service providers. We'll also cover BT's concept of a "human firewall" and how companies can prioritize their security approach based on people, not technology.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Mike Dano on 5G spectrum

Wed, 19 Aug 2020 15:12:15 GMT

This week we're talking with Light Reading's Mike Dano about 5G spectrum. Mike's been keeping us up to date on the FCC's CBRS auction, and the forthcoming C-band spectrum auction scheduled for December.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner on NBC's Peacock streaming service

Wed, 12 Aug 2020 17:11:28 GMT

On this episode, Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner talks with pod host Nicole Ferraro about NBC Universal's new streaming service Peacock: the latest news, why it matters and what's likely to happen next.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Iain Morris opens up about open RAN

Mon, 10 Aug 2020 14:10:02 GMT

On this episode of 'What's the Story?' – a new series from the Light Reading Podcast – Iain Morris talks with pod host Nicole Ferraro about open RAN: the latest news, why it matters and what's likely to happen next.

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Omdia on HPE's $925M acquisition of Silver Peak

Tue, 04 Aug 2020 15:00:26 GMT

Cliff Grossner, Executive Director of the Cloud & Data Center practice for Omdia, joins the podcast to discuss HPE's acquisition of SD-WAN supplier Silver Peak. Grossner explains how this acquisition may impact the industry at large, shares his predictions for the SD-WAN industry in the coming months, and addresses how COVID-19 could impact SD-WAN growth.

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From our sponsor: PacketFabric CEO Dave Ward on the future of networking

Thu, 30 Jul 2020 17:01:16 GMT

Dave Ward, CEO of PacketFabric, discusses the company's mission to deliver instant, scalable, and secure connectivity for companies of all sizes on its network. He talks about why he thinks the network-as-a-service opportunity will grow and how PacketFabric sets itself apart from other NaaS offerings. Ward also gives us some details about his conservation work and how he uses technology to help endangered species.

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AT&T Business EVP reveals how the carrier uses AI to keep customers happy

Thu, 30 Jul 2020 16:05:39 GMT

Sorabh Saxena, EVP of Customer Service & Operations for AT&T Business, joins the podcast to discuss how AT&T is incorporating artificial intelligence and machine learning into their approach to improving the customer experience.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Alan Breznick on the evolution of cablecos

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 13:53:31 GMT

This week on the show, Light Reading contributing editor Nicole Ferraro talks with Light Reading's Alan Breznick about cable companies. Alan recently wrote about cable company Cogeco Communications running tests of one-box small cells, in preparation for its entrance into the wireless market. Alan discusses Cogeco's and other cable companies' evolving business models, what it all means, why it matters and what's likely to happen next.

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Executive Spotlight Q&A: Arrcus – The hyperscale networking software company

Mon, 27 Jul 2020 11:00:09 GMT

Arrcus CEO Devesh Garg discusses how the company is disrupting the market as a hyperscale networking software company enabling secure distributed connectivity with the world’s best performance by providing simple, scalable, and seamless solutions for the data centers, edge and multi-cloud. This podcast is sponsored by Arrcus.

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Omdia's Rik Turner on SD-WAN and zero trust access

Thu, 23 Jul 2020 14:27:56 GMT

Omdia Principal Analyst Rik Turner joins the podcast to discuss whether the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is the next evolution of SD-WAN and security, why Zero Trust Access (ZTA) is front of mind during the COVID-19 pandemic, and new security challenges stemming from more employees working from home globally.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Phil Harvey talks about all the trouble in Huawei's world

Wed, 22 Jul 2020 18:00:19 GMT

This week on the show, we're talking with Light Reading's Editor-in-Chief Phil Harvey about Huawei. Light Reading has been extensively covering the ongoing drama surrounding Huawei and how US- and UK-imposed bans and sanctions are casting a shadow over Huawei's future and causing upheaval for the industry at large. Phil joins the show to tell us what it all means, why it matters and what's likely to happen next.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser on the wide world of SD-WAN

Wed, 15 Jul 2020 21:00:26 GMT

On this episode, Light Reading Contributing Editor Nicole Ferraro talks with Light Reading Senior Editor Kelsey Ziser about SD-WAN. Kelsey recently reported on developments around SD-WAN, including new partnerships between AT&T and Cisco, as well as projections for the SD-WAN market going forward. Plus, just this week, HPE announced it will purchase SD-WAN vendor Silver Peak for nearly $1 billion.

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Podcast: BT Global's Hriday Ravindranath on telco transformation

Tue, 14 Jul 2020 07:00:24 GMT

BT Global's Chief Technology and Information Officer Hriday Ravindranath joins the podcast to discuss how telcos can provide the networks and services that businesses need to re-invent themselves and adapt to life in a pandemic.

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NTT Americas CEO Simon Walsh: Seamless service in a hybrid world

Thu, 09 Jul 2020 10:00:35 GMT

NTT Americas CEO Simon Walsh is leading a team of 5,000 people in six countries across North and South America with combined revenues of over $3 billion. Walsh tells Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser and Phil Harvey about his attraction to the NTT opportunity, where he sees the company's strengths and how those assets will pay off for enterprise customers who are trying to adapt to a distributed workforce.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Mike Dano on Dish Network

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 13:00:11 GMT

On this episode, we talk with Light Reading Editorial Director Mike Dano about Dish Network. Mike recently wrote about Dish's official entrance into the wireless market and additional vendors for its planned 5G network, including Fujitsu and Altiostar. Mike sets us straight on Dish's plans, its evolution as a business and what's likely to happen next in this US 5G market.

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What's the story: Connecting Africa's Paula Gilbert on mobile data and broadband trends

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 15:45:01 GMT

In this episode, Light Reading Contributing Editor Nicole Ferraro talks with Paula Gilbert, Editor of Light Reading's sister site Connecting Africa. Paula recently reported that Sub-Saharan Africa is on track for mobile data traffic to skyrocket in the next five years. Meanwhile, fixed-broadband subscribers in South Africa have been declining. Paula joins the show to tell us what this means, why it matters and what's likely to happen next.

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Executive Spotlight Q&A: Tensor Networks CEO Alexis Flores-Betancourt

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 12:00:31 GMT

In this sponsored podcast, we speak with Tensor Networks CEO Alexis Flores-Betancourt and the company's CTO, Bill Walker, about the startup's desire to combine high-performance computing and networking, while simultaneously reducing capital and operational costs for service providers, enterprises and their customers.

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US Ignite's Mari Silbey: New broadband business models

Tue, 30 Jun 2020 19:32:19 GMT

US Ignite's Mari Silbey joins Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser and Phil Harvey for a discussion about what changes are ahead in how cities and companies can broadband to residents in underserved areas. The pandemic has been a wake-up call to broadband's overall importance in the US economy. While some big telcos are waving data caps and other penalties to make it easier for consumers to stay connected, those companies are not necessarily speeding up their efforts to connect underserved and rural communities. "It's difficult to make the economic case for a lot of broadband providers to go into these sparser, less populated communities," Silbey said. "But on the other hand, that doesn't mean the need is any less there and there still needs to be a solution and a way to get those areas connected." With tax revenue in decline in most places, thanks to businesses shutting or slowing down, cities are weighing the risks of public, private and hybrid networks to see which model might work best for their residents and geography. Silbey has all the details and as well as some examples of new business models being used in Westminster, Maryland; Fullerton, California; and Lincoln, Nebraska.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner on the momentum of HBO Max

Wed, 24 Jun 2020 12:00:32 GMT

On this episode, Light Reading Contributing Editor Nicole Ferraro speaks with Light Reading Senior Editor Jeff Baumgartner about HBO’s role in the streaming wars and its new service, HBO Max. Jeff recently wrote about WarnerMedia announcing it is phasing out HBO Go to clear up confusion around HBO's streaming services and pave the way for the successful adoption of HBO Max. Jeff joins the show to tell us what this means, why it matters, and what's likely to happen next.

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What's the story: Light Reading's Iain Morris on Rakuten and 5G

Wed, 17 Jun 2020 19:00:22 GMT

Welcome to What’s the Story: a new, short podcast from Light Reading where we take a step back from the most significant topics in telecom to tell you the latest news, how we got here, what it means and what to expect next. For our first episode, Light Reading Contributing Editor Nicole Ferraro talks with Light Reading International Editor Iain Morris about Rakuten and 5G. Iain recently wrote about Rakuten announcing that fellow Japanese company NEC will supply its 5G core, and that Rakuten will effectively junk its existing 4G core in the process. He tells us what this means, why it matters and what’s likely to happen next.

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From our sponsor: ServiceNow's Chris Bauschka on how telcos can provide proactive customer service

Tue, 09 Jun 2020 18:00:28 GMT

Special guest Chris Bauschka, General Manager & AVP, Global Telecommunications, Media and Technology Industries at ServiceNow, discusses how service management platforms can help network operators retain customers, evolve their service offerings and be more competitive.

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Light Reading's Iain Morris: Stopping Huawei won't slow down China

Mon, 01 Jun 2020 09:00:37 GMT

Will stopping Huawei in the US and Europe will do much of anything to slow down China from becoming the world's dominant technology superpower in the next decade? Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Iain Morris discuss that question and provide an update on the most recent court ruling against Huawei's CFO, and what it means as she fights extradition to the US.

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Colt CEO Keri Gilder on managing during a pandemic and expanding an on-demand network

Tue, 26 May 2020 08:00:13 GMT

After 18 months as its chief commercial officer, Keri Gilder was recently named the CEO of Colt Technology Services. In this podcast, Gilder speaks with Light Reading's Phil Harvey about how Colt's network is different, how she'll manage the company during a pandemic, what opportunities SD-WAN unlocks for the carrier and her memories of being a high school mascot.

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5G Americas' Chris Pearson: On the road to standalone 5G

Wed, 20 May 2020 14:00:43 GMT

In this podcast, Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser are joined by Chris Pearson, president of 5G Americas, to discuss how COVID-19 is affecting the progress of 5G in the Americas, expectations for standalone 5G and progress on standards, and the potential impact of 5G on the IoT market.

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Light Reading's Iain Morris on the US vs. Huawei

Tue, 19 May 2020 10:00:33 GMT

The US government has moved to block Huawei's access, not only to US technology but to any technology made with US expertise. Light Reading's Iain Morris and Phil Harvey discuss this latest move and wonder at what point does the Chinese government retaliate against other, unrelated companies and industries as a way of challenging the Trump administration.

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Mike Dano: Microsoft's new telecom territory

Mon, 18 May 2020 18:00:33 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano discusses what the recent Microsoft acquisitions – especially Affirmed Networks and Metaswitch Networks – could signal for the company's cloud business and its capacity to provide a new level of cloud, communications and productivity services for businesses of all sizes.

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From our sponsor: Avast's Sean Obrey on creating value for service providers

Thu, 14 May 2020 19:00:23 GMT

Delivering a complete security solution for service providers is no easy task. A thorough security solution has to include sophisticated network protection and the ability to safeguard devices, using the best approach possible for each type of device and use case. This is especially important as service provider networks and home networks are seeing more devices, a wider variety of devices (thanks to IoT), and a surge in the amount of bandwidth used by all those connected things. Give that backdrop, Avast's Sean Obrey and Light Reading's Phil Harvey discuss how Avast's approach to security is different, how it has evolved its technology to adapt to service provider needs, and how the company's products can unlock services that consumers crave. This podcast episode is sponsored by Avast, a global leader in digital security and family safety solutions for network operators and their customers.

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Plume's Todd Grantham sees more shifts in WFH traffic

Tue, 12 May 2020 11:00:14 GMT

In this podcast, recorded May 1, we check in with Plume CMO Todd Grantham to discuss the increase in streaming media and entertainment usage and other traffic patterns emerging as some states back off COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.

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University of Chicago's Nick Feamster: Staying connected in a pandemic

Tue, 05 May 2020 13:00:14 GMT

Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser are joined by Nick Feamster, director of the Center for Data and Computing for the University of Chicago. Feamster is leading a team studying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Internet traffic. In addition, the research team is examining how changes to Internet traffic volume impacts network utilization, network performance, application performance and user experience.

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Executive Spotlight Q&A: Metaswitch's Martin Taylor on 5G Wireless Wireline Convergence

Fri, 01 May 2020 21:00:49 GMT

In this Executive Spotlight Q&A, podcast, we speak with Martin Taylor, CTO of Metaswitch Networks. Metaswitch and Vodafone recently announced a technology trial that offers service providers a path to 5G Wireless Wireline Convergence. Metaswitch is using its cloud native software components – like its 5G access gateway function (AGF) and a high-performance 5G User Plane Function (UPF) – to help create a broadband access network that serves both wireline and mobile subscribers from a single technology stack. The Executive Spotlight Q&A is a sponsored audio production of Light Reading.

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Podcast: Orange Business Services talks COVID-19 and keeping customers connected

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 08:00:28 GMT

Orange Business Services CEO Helmut Reisinger and SVP of Customer Services & Operations, Aliette Lompre, join the Light Reading crew to discuss how the carrier is working remotely, keeping customers connected and getting ready for what's next.

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From our sponsor: Avast's Sean Obrey on 5G cybersecurity for consumers

Thu, 23 Apr 2020 12:00:23 GMT

When we talk about security in 5G, we are usually talking about infrastructure and network security, and rightly so. But what about all the things that are connected to that 5G network? How does security change for those devices and services? Avast's Sean Obrey and Light Reading's Phil Harvey will discuss the downstream changes for the consumer in the 5G future. This podcast episode is sponsored by Avast, a global leader in digital security and family safety solutions for network operators and their customers.

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Economics of 5G & NYC's Connectivity Master Plan

Thu, 23 Apr 2020 12:00:23 GMT

Editors Phil Harvey, Mike Dano, Kelsey Ziser join the podcast to discuss some of the more popular recent submissions to Light Reading's The 5G Exchange. The Light Reading crew debates which industries could experience the biggest economic benefits from 5G deployments, if 5G can be considered a "green" technology, the connectivity challenges New York City faces in addressing the digital divide, and more.

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The SVoD squad assembles: What's new with OTT, SVoD and Quibi

Fri, 17 Apr 2020 12:00:33 GMT

The world of streaming video is more crowded and competitive than ever. Listen as Alan Breznick and Jeff Baumgartner discuss the implications for pay TV providers and why bundling is back and better than ever.

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COVID-19: What our WFH traffic looks like

Mon, 13 Apr 2020 14:15:05 GMT

Podcast guest Todd Grantham, CMO, Plume, talks about what his company is learning by looking at the anonymized data from more than 700 million computers, smartphones and entertainment devices on Plume's service provider customer networks.

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Omdia's Ramona Zhao: South Korea's 5G journey

Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:29:12 GMT

In this podcast, Light Reading's Phil Harvey is joined by Omdia Senior Analyst Ramona Zhao. She covers the Asian service provider market and has recently issued a report recapping South Korea's first year in 5G.

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NTT Research CEO Kazu Gomi: Creating a new network infrastructure

Tue, 07 Apr 2020 10:00:03 GMT

Kazu Gomi, the executive leading NTT Research, joins Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser on this episode to discuss the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) initiative. With Intel, Sony and others, this NTT subsidiary is looking to create advanced networks that provide a huge growth in transmission bandwidth while operating at lower power and with lower latency. This ambitious effort isn't just about building new optical networks, but it wants to create a "better world for all global citizens."

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TeleGeography's Paul Brodsky: Carrier voice traffic is still going over-the-top

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 10:00:32 GMT

On this podcast, TeleGeography's Paul Brodsky joins Light Reading's Phil Harvey to talk about international voice traffic and how the mix of traffic on carrier networks has changed over the years. TeleGeography's latest estimates say that international over-the-top (OTT) voice traffic reached 1 trillion minutes in 2019, compared to just 432 billion minutes of international carrier traffic. People are still calling each other on the phone, and carriers are still moving that traffic, but how they're connecting has certainly changed, Brodsky said.

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Gluware's Mike Haugh: Network automation for enterprises

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 02:00:12 GMT

Gluware's Mike Haugh joins Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser for a discussion about enterprise network automation and how the company uses software-defined networking concepts to "treat the underlying network infrastructure as code and then interact with it programmatically." Service providers and enterprises alike rely on their networks for ecommerce, communications and much more, especially as workers are remotely connected while social distancing. Haugh notes that if a company's "critical resources are human, and you can't get something delivered, that automation becomes a lot more important."

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Friday Fun: Movies for social distancing

Fri, 20 Mar 2020 17:00:50 GMT

Here's some Friday fun for ya. We've got Light Reading's Editor-in-Chief Ray Le Maistre joining Kelsey Ziser and Phil Harvey to talk about the movies. No telecom stories. Nothing about COVID-19. Just film and fun. Take a break from the madness, fire up your streaming service, dim the lights and listen to what happens when technology journalists try to talk about real entertainment.

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5 ways COVID-19 is affecting the telecom industry

Thu, 19 Mar 2020 18:00:20 GMT

Light Reading editors Mike Dano, Kelsey Ziser and Phil Harvey convene for a brief recap of what is changing in the telecom industry now that COVID-19 is beginning to spread more quickly in the US. This episode was recorded on March 18.

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US Ignite's Mari Silbey on smart cities opportunities and O-RAN testing

Wed, 18 Mar 2020 10:00:28 GMT

Mari Silbey of US Ignite joins Kelsey and Phil from Light Reading to discuss recent developments in the world of smart cities and how carrier strategies and approaches for smart cities opportunities have changed. They also cover the need for network testing created by the government's plan to spend more on O-RAN development for 5G networks. Please wash your hands after listening.

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What sports venues will do next and the coming wave of Wi-Fi 6

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 14:00:28 GMT

Paul Kapustka from Mobile Sports Report joins the podcast to discuss the COVID-19 effect on public venues and arena networks, the reliability of 4G DAS and why Wi-Fi 6 is the future of stadium connectivity.

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CSG's Haifa El Ashkar 4 things that could lead to mobile industry disruption

Thu, 12 Mar 2020 19:00:18 GMT

CSG's Executive Director of Managed Services Haifa El Ashkar talks with Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser and Phil Harvey about the broad industry impact we can expect from the intersection of mobile identity, blockchain, eSIMs and IoT. If those four trends line up in just the right way, customers could become less dependent on traditional cellular providers. That might kick off a scenario where customers (and devices) join and leave bandwidth providers much more quickly based on their needs, not long-term contracts. Is the mobile industry ready for its own version of "cord-cutting?"

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Orange Business Services CEO Helmut Reisinger on becoming a network native service provider

Tue, 03 Mar 2020 12:00:10 GMT

In this episode, Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser are joined by Helmut Reisinger, CEO of Orange Business Services. The IT and integration side of Orange has been touting its credentials as an option for enterprises that need help managing multi-cloud environments. Reisinger weighs in on what it means to be network native, how OBS stands out from its competition and what a company that size does to prepare for the business impact of the new coronavirus, and the reality that we're all suddenly a lot less mobile.

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Analyst interview: Omdia's George Jijiashvili on cloud gaming and esports

Sun, 01 Mar 2020 11:00:10 GMT

Mobile World Congress in Barcelona was canceled, but we still have lots of MWC-related media to share. The analysts at Heavy Reading and Omdia (formerly Ovum) were nice enough to share their thoughts on the communications industry's hottest topics and companies. In this interview, George Jijiashvili, senior analyst at Omdia, explains why cloud gaming and esports are more than just fun and games. Listen to the whole interview here, and watch the video portion on www.lightreading.com.

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Analyst interview: Omdia's Pablo Tomasi on what's hot in IoT

Sat, 29 Feb 2020 11:00:20 GMT

Mobile World Congress in Barcelona was canceled, but we still have lots of MWC-related media to share. The analysts at Heavy Reading and Omdia (formerly Ovum) were nice enough to share their thoughts on the communications industry's hottest topics and companies. In this interview, Pablo Tomasi, senior analyst at Omdia, outlines the hot trends in telco IoT that he expects to talk about at MWC, including industrial IoT, private networks and more. Listen to the whole interview here, and watch the video portion on www.lightreading.com.

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Analyst interview: Omdia's Maria Rua Aguete how 5G is changing live sports and gaming

Thu, 20 Feb 2020 11:00:00 GMT

Mobile World Congress in Barcelona isn't happening next week. But the analysts at Heavy Reading and Omdia (formerly Ovum) are still tracking the communications industry's hottest topics and companies. In our scheduled coverage for MWC Barcelona, Light Reading's Editor-in-Chief Ray Le Maistre sat down Omdia analyst Maria Rua Aguete to discuss new developments in the media and entertainment market. She said that there's some potential for mobile operators to generate new revenues from 5G-based live sports services and partnerships between the media giants and the telcos. The number of 5G-capable smartphones will jump from 29 million at the end of 2019 to 231 million a the end of this year, Aguete said. A huge portion of 5G phones will be AI-enabled in the next five years, she said, and that means broadcasters will be able to deliver low latency streaming, gaming, AI and VR applications, and more, to fans inside stadiums and anywhere there is 5G connectivity. Listen to the whole interview here and watch the video portion on www.lightreading.com.

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Analyst interview: Heavy Reading's Gabriel Brown on 5G market changes

Wed, 19 Feb 2020 11:00:10 GMT

Mobile World Congress in Barcelona isn't happening next week. But the analysts at Heavy Reading and Omdia (formerly Ovum) are still tracking the communications industry's hottest topics and companies. In our scheduled coverage for MWC Barcelona, Light Reading's Editor-in-Chief Ray Le Maistre sat down with Heavy Reading Principal Analyst Gabriel Brown to discuss the state of the 5G market. Brown said that scaling the technology to meet demand will be among the biggest challenges that network operators face as they roll out 5G services. Service providers around the world are keen to show that they can operate standalone 5G and that kind of network change "impacts devices, radios, core networks, transport and so forth. There's lots of moving parts," Brown explains. Listen to the whole interview here and watch the video portion on www.lightreading.com.

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Analyst interview: Omdia's Dario Talmesio on the 5G core

Tue, 18 Feb 2020 11:00:10 GMT

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Analyst interview: Heavy Reading's James Crawshaw on Industry X.0

Mon, 17 Feb 2020 11:00:40 GMT

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Windstream's Mike Frane & Scott Yelton: How Telcos are Transforming Managed Services

Thu, 06 Feb 2020 13:00:00 GMT

Scott Yelton and Mike Frane from Windstream Enterprise join Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser on the podcast to discuss how Windstream's approach to managed services, unified communications and SD-WAN continues to change as the enterprise workforce becomes more mobile. The Windstream execs explain how their company is revamping its communications and SD-WAN services portfolio and evolving from being a traditional telco to a true managed services provider.

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MNJ Technologies EVP Ben Niernberg: Workplace Collaboration & SD-WAN

Tue, 28 Jan 2020 11:00:30 GMT

MNJ Technologies EVP Ben Niernberg joins the podcast to offer a managed service provider's view of workplace collaboration and SD-WAN, two hot markets where enterprise spending is up and where several different kinds of companies are competing. Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser and Phil Harvey get Niernberg's thoughts on SD-WAN consolidation, the differences between major SD-WAN vendors and why he thinks workplace collaboration seems like a perfect fit for social media giants like Facebook.

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Cato Networks: Don't Call Us an SD-WAN Provider!

Fri, 24 Jan 2020 11:00:20 GMT

Cato used to be a leader in SD-WAN, but now it says it's not an SD-WAN company anymore. Instead, it's delivering a new kind of service -- Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) -- a category comprising SD-WAN and also security, delivered over the cloud. Dave Greenfield, secure network evangelist for Cato Networks, joins Light Reading editor Mitch Wagner to discuss what the transition means, why SD-WAN alone is no longer a fit for the industry, and whether gelato is better than Ben & Jerry's.

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The Right Way to Fight Huawei

Mon, 20 Jan 2020 20:00:10 GMT

Light Reading editors Ray Le Maistre and Mike Dano join Phil Harvey for a discussion about whether the US government needs to fund 5G tech development to help create alternatives Huawei in the wireless equipment market. Has that ship already sailed? Is $1 billion the right amount (for everything)? The editors weigh in and consider Light Reading's recent coverage on the US government's attempts to fight Huawei, now that the Chinese vendor has become the largest supplier of telecom equipment in the world.

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NTT CTO Ettienne Reinecke: 2020 Tech Trends

Thu, 16 Jan 2020 21:00:10 GMT

NTT's CTO Ettienne Reinecke joins the podcast to shine a light on the most disruptive tech trends he sees for enterprises in the coming year. Many of them are closely linked to a surge in computing capacity and tech development at the network's edge.

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CTA's Danielle Cassagnol: AI, 5G Are Big at CES 2020

Thu, 09 Jan 2020 22:00:16 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner interviews Danielle Cassagnol, the senior manager of industry communications for the Consumer Technology Association. Light Reading tends to focus on telecom-related developments but Cassagnol helps us see the bigger picture by providing an update on what's growing and gaining momentum across #CES2020 and the consumer electronics landscape. Not surprisingly, 5G and AI are major discussion points as devices not only get smarter but blend in more to connectivity-related services to offer more features and flexibility.

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CES 2020 Update: Quibi Modernizes Mobile Video

Thu, 09 Jan 2020 22:00:16 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner is covering #CES2020 this week and on his last day in town, we caught him just in time to get a recap of the much-hyped Quibi keynote and some thoughts on how over-the-air TV look and behave a lot differently in the future.

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CES 2020 Update: TiVo, Amazon and More Ways to Stream TV

Wed, 08 Jan 2020 23:00:26 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner is covering #CES2020 this week and he's got the scoop on the latest move by TiVo to making streaming video viewing easier via yet another new device you need to plug in to your TV. Baumgartner and Light Reading's Phil Harvey also discuss Amazon's plans to offer a streaming platform for cable operators, telcos and other types of video service providers as a way of getting more consumers to use it as the entry point before they wade into a stormy sea of entertainment choices.

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Pay TV, The SVoD Squad & CES 2020

Tue, 07 Jan 2020 09:00:13 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner and Kelsey Ziser join Phil Harvey to discuss Jeff's coverage plans at CES 2020, new SVoD services launching this year, the challenges service providers have when partnering with online video giants, and the best cold remedies for Phil's persistent sniffles.

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Nuage Networks CEO Sunil Khandekar: SD-WAN in the Year 2020

Tue, 24 Dec 2019 11:00:33 GMT

Nuage Networks CEO Sunil Khandekar returns to the pod to debrief Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser and Mitch Wagner about developments that will influence SD-WAN in the new year. These include increased opportunities for service providers as enterprises move from DIY to managed services and SD-WAN's transition from a cost-savings tool to the foundation for digital transformation. There's also some discussion of the Secure Access Service Edge -- SASE -- and its potential to replace SD-WAN. Finally, Kelsey and Mitch nerd out on coffee.

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Orange's Samir El Rashidy: The MSI Difference

Tue, 17 Dec 2019 11:00:03 GMT

In this episode, recorded in October, Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser and Phil Harvey are joined by Samir El Rashidy, the director of enterprise services at Orange Business Services. The Light Reading podcast has covered Orange Business Services (OBS) before -- in late July we interviewed John Isch about the carrier's SD-WAN services. This podcast episode picks up from that earlier discussion and gets deeper into enterprise services. El Rashidy discusses the OBS approach to Multisourcing Service Integration (MSI) and talks about how OBS positions itself to help enterprises choose the right network services and technology suppliers. Ziser, Harvey and El Rashidy also discuss the challenges and opportunities for Orange Business Services as it acts as both a service provider and a service integrator. El Rashidy cites examples of big multinational enterprise customers like Sony and Siemens and elaborates on how the OBS MSI approach is working for them.

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The Big Cisco Announcement

Fri, 13 Dec 2019 11:00:43 GMT

In this episode, Light Reading's Mitch Wagner has two big news interviews and a summary report from the Cisco Systems press conference in San Francisco this week. Skip right ahead to the 03:40 mark for the coverage. The Cisco news event featured some major new networking portfolio announcements. The networking giant launched its new Silicon One chip, an entirely new family of routers, some new enhanced operating system software, and new optical components to help service providers and webscale companies bring down the cost of moving bits around the Internet.

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Telco Media Ownership, Clever Plans & A Trip To The Edge

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 11:00:33 GMT

Crossover Pod Alert! Following Light Reading's 2020 Vision Executive Summit at the Ritz Carlton in Vienna, Austria, Telecoms.com's Editorial Director Scott Bicheno joins Light Reading's Iain Morris and Phil Harvey for a wine-fueled recap of one of the most exclusive gatherings of senior global executives from the communications networking sector. Iain discusses recent the restructuring and corporate realignment activities of Orange, Telefonica and MTS. Scott muses about how dangerous (and smart) it is for telcos to collaborate with cloud providers at the edge. Before they get going, Phil chips in with some thoughts on why the perception of telcos owning media companies has changed so much in the past 12 months.

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Cisco's Collaboration Vision with Amy Chang

Fri, 22 Nov 2019 09:00:13 GMT

Cisco's Collaboration Vision: Cisco collaboration EVP & GM Amy Chang and Light Reading's Mitch Wagner share stories about videoconferencing facepalms, and Chang then discusses Cisco's collaboration vision.

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Alan and Jeff: Cable's Urge to Converge

Thu, 21 Nov 2019 15:59:12 GMT

Network convergence was a primary theme at Cable Congress and Cable-Next Gen Europe in Berlin as cable operators in the region push ahead with plans to stitch together fixed, wireless and mobile networks into one common service platform. Cable operators in Europe are well ahead of their North American counterparts with regarding new distributed access architectures and they are showing very little interest in a Generic Access Platform initiative for standardized nodes that is getting underway in the US.

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Nuage Networks CEO: Big Plans for SD-WAN

Mon, 18 Nov 2019 11:00:13 GMT

Nuage Networks CEO Sunil Khandekar joins Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser to discuss the value of having standards for an emerging market like SD-WAN and how Nuage is working with organizations like MEF to make carrier-offered SD-WAN a more valuable service.

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Juniper CEO Rami Rahim on 400G, AI and the Future of Networking

Tue, 12 Nov 2019 12:00:23 GMT

Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser interview Juniper Networks CEO Rami Rahim about what's next for Juniper. The conversation covered Juniper's big bet on 400G, how the vendor can stand out in the market against competitors like Arista and Cisco, and where Juniper's next wave of telecom momentum will come from.

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HBO Max Delights and Confuses Us

Sat, 02 Nov 2019 00:00:02 GMT

In a special news podcast, Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner, Dan Jones and Phil Harvey gather around the microphones to talk about the launch of HBO Max. AT&T and WarnerMedia expect to have 50 million (HBO and) HBO Max subscribers in the US in about five years. But how will the carrier navigate the choppy waters of negotiating with HBO's pay-TV provider distributors while simultaneously trying to put them out of business? Once we discuss that elephant-in-the-room service provider angle, we put our consumer hats on and discuss how we consume HBO services currently, and what questions we hope to have answered by the time HBO Max launches. We're probably not like other consumers in that it doesn't take much to confuse all three of us at once, but please do listen because you might have a lot of the same questions in your home.

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The MWC Los Angeles 2019 Recap Episode

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 09:00:32 GMT

It's been a week since we left California and wrapped up at MWC Los Angeles 2019. What did our analyst colleagues and fellow editors think of all the big booths, meetings and crowded corridors? In this episode, Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser and Phil Harvey dig through the podcast studio voicemail to listen to insights from Ovum's Daryl Schoolar and Mike Sapien, Heavy Reading's Jennifer Clarke and Light Reading's Mike Dano. To kick things off, Phil recalls his meeting with the GSMA's Ana Tavares Lattibeaudiere. She seemed to connect the dots between a lot of carrier businesses heading from device-driven transactions to connectivity-fed managed services. Then, as expected, Phil griped about trade show coffee and heaped praise on the local gin distillery. As each of Phil's and Kelsey's colleagues called in, they were asked to relay their favorite thing about the show, their least favorite thing and to name at least one good meal or beverage they consumed while in town. Listen and learn which OSS/BSS category suddenly seems hot again, which analyst is hot on the trail of IoT developments and which carrier's cocktail hour punch tasted the worst.

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The Light Reading Halloween Special

Thu, 31 Oct 2019 09:00:22 GMT

The ghosts, geeks and goblins of telecom tech come out to play in this very foolish and ghoulish episode of the Light Reading Podcast. Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser and her spooky pals -- Light Reading behead-itor Phil Harvey and US Ignite firestarter Mari Silbey -- discuss some of the technologies that still haunt them to this day. Phil opines on why consumers were so scared of the Facebook phone. Kelsey is creeped out all over again by Google Glass. Mari throws her hands up to the heavens and asks, "Why, WiMax, Why?!!" We dance all over the graves of a few other tech ideas and products, too. (R.I.P. home networking before the cloud.) And Mari shares a surprising bit of news about a videophone network that may actually be back from the dead. Happy Halloween, you silly souls.

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Windstream's Layne Levine: SD-WAN Is Transformational

Fri, 25 Oct 2019 08:00:12 GMT

Layne Levine, president of the Enterprise & Wholesale business unit at Windstream, isn't confused about SD-WAN's potential. "This is the next big technology transformation in the communications world and I think it's going to completely upend some companies' business models," he told Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser. Listen to the entire interview here and check out the show notes on www.lightreading.com.

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Will Barkis, Orange Silicon Valley, on Smart Cities & Privacy

Mon, 21 Oct 2019 08:00:12 GMT

Will Barkis leads the smart cities portfolio at Orange Silicon Valley's innovation lab and he spoke to Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser and Phil Harvey about the potential and privacy worries surrounding computer vision and what happens when municipalities begin using AI to do things like facial recognition. Also, Barkis discusses what market advantage service providers might have when pursuing smart cities opportunities.

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Recapping Light Reading's 5G Transport and Edge Event

Mon, 14 Oct 2019 23:00:14 GMT

Light Reading Editors Ray Le Maistre and Mike Dano discuss the key takeaways from Light Reading's 5G Transport & the Edge event in New York City. This is a really short interview, only 5 minutes, recorded just after the sessions wrapped up on Thursday, Oct. 10. Enjoy!

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Cable-Tec Expo Wrap Up Show in New Orleans

Fri, 11 Oct 2019 10:00:34 GMT

Light Reading's Alan Breznick, Jeff Baumgartner and Phil Harveydiscuss the stuff they've presented, seen and overheard at SCTE's Cable-Tec Expo 2019 in New Orleans last week. This podcast, recorded on Thursday, Oct. 3, is a tad noisy because it was recorded right smack in the middle of the Expo floor, following Jeff's panel during the Smart Cities track. The trio discusses cable's relationship to 5G, the impact of virtualization on cable networks and the mystery behind why giant venues like convention centers think that boiling coffee is a good idea.

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Optiva CEO Danielle Royston: Telcos Need A Clear View of The Cloud

Thu, 10 Oct 2019 10:00:24 GMT

Optiva CEO Danielle Royston is a hellraiser. But she's also a savvy CEO, taking Optiva -- formerly Redknee, a troubled BSS provider -- and giving it a new focus. Her message to service providers is that they should really examine how and where they can embrace the public cloud. In order to help right the ship at Optiva, Royston partnered with Google Cloud and now offers Optiva customers a BSS solution that she claims is 10 times the speed and scale at one-tenth the cost of Oracle databases. "The advantages of moving to the public cloud -- the cost savings, namely, I think, is the biggest -- are too big to ignore; it's too big to not do it. [Telcos need] to work through their fears… I think the guys who figure out how to move to public cloud are going to be the winners in the end," Royston told Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser and Phil Harvey.

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Pizza and the Potential of 5G and Edge Computing

Mon, 07 Oct 2019 10:00:14 GMT

In the lead up to Light Reading's 5G Transport & the Edge event in NY on Oct. 10, Not-Phil Harvey (aka Kelsey Ziser) and Mike Dano discuss their favorite types of pizza plus the importance of the transport network and traffic routing to support telcos' efforts around edge computing.

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What Will 5G Look Look Like in 5 Years?

Tue, 01 Oct 2019 14:00:24 GMT

With SCTE kicking off in New Orleans -- and talk of 5G heating up with cable operators -- it's a great time to look back and go over what 5G looks like for consumers and what analysts really expect from 5G in the next 5 years. In this interview, Ovum Chief Analyst Ed Barton talks with Light Reading's Editor-in-Chief Ray Le Maistre about some of the findings from his report, "5G: Key Opportunities and Challenges in Consumer and Entertainment." The report looks at what 5G promises, and what it will deliver, during the next five years.

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The NV & SDN Americas 2019 Recap

Tue, 24 Sep 2019 08:00:16 GMT

Light Reading's event series on network functions virtualization (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN) stopped in Dallas this time around. As usual, we talked about the opportunities and obstacles facing telecom service providers as they move more network functions to the cloud and aim to more easily create new products and services, shorten innovation cycles and bring in new revenue. On Sept. 19, just before happy hour, Light Reading editors Mitch Wagner, Kelsey Ziser and Phil Harvey gathered to empty their notebooks and recap the event in an echoey, unused conference room at the Dallas Marriott Las Colinas. They discussed AT&T's presentation about edge computing and how the technology, driven by the arrival of 5G and the proliferation of connected devices, is going to be a critical proving ground for NFV, SDN and new telecom infrastructure. The trio also recapped the Women in Comms program, where we were reminded how technologies like 5G can be a catalyst and an obstacle to women in tech and telecom companies. Finally, the podcast wrapped up with some observations about how the carriers themselves have changed in the way they sell to enterprises. And, yes, there were some well-placed complaints about the conference coffee, as you might expect with this crew.

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Network Virtualization, SDN & Protein Bars

Mon, 16 Sep 2019 09:00:16 GMT

We're packing our bags for Dallas, for our cleverly named Network Virtualization and SDN Americas conference, and Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser talks with host Mitch Wagner about the current state of software-defined networking. Also: Kelsey explains why she always wants to talk about protein bars.

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Apple's iPhone 11 & TV+ Announcement: The Telco Angle

Wed, 11 Sep 2019 00:52:44 GMT

Taking a service provider lens to Apple's announcement of the iPhone 11, Apple TV+ and more, with Light Reading editors Mitch Wagner, Jeff Baumgartner and Mike Dano. Will the iPhone 11 be a big business opportunity for carriers? Will Apple TV+ be able to compete in a crowded OTT market? And what's with the upcoming Apple TV+ sci-fi series "See" – civilization has collapsed because everybody is blind, so why do they all have fabulous hair?

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Ciena CEO Gary Smith: We're in a Web-Scale World

Tue, 10 Sep 2019 10:00:46 GMT

Ciena CEO Gary Smith and Light Reading's Phil Harvey discuss the optical transport & network software firm's webscale business demand, its Blue Planet software growth, the stock market reactions to its forecasts, as well as competitive concerns about Cisco and Huawei.

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Orange Silicon Valley CEO Mireille Helou: Tech Can Bring Social, Economic Progress

Mon, 02 Sep 2019 09:00:16 GMT

Orange Silicon Valley CEO Mireille Helou talks to Light Reading's Mitch Wagner about how she intends to help bring California innovation to the European service provider and its customers around the world. Helou said Orange SV is charged with tracking innovation, and we talk what that means, how Orange measures its results and creates value for its business.

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More Things You Need to Know About SD-WAN

Mon, 26 Aug 2019 15:00:36 GMT

This is the third in our series of podcasts covering the state of SD-WAN. Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser and Phil Harvey (with research help from Ovum and Heavy Reading) are looking at several issues influencing the overall growth and progress of the SD-WAN market for service providers. Please check out the previous episodes in this series, including the interview with SD-WAN expert, John Isch from Orange Business Services.

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Jio, Guavus Work on Big Carrier Analytics

Thu, 22 Aug 2019 08:30:06 GMT

Raghuram "Raghu" Velega, VP of big data and analytics at Jio in India, provides an update on how that carrier's growth and scale has created some unique data challenges and competitive opportunities. Jio and Guavus announced a partnership this week to help take the 4 to 5 petabytes of data per day that carrier generates into some context, giving it a better understanding of its network needs and customer demands.

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SES Takes ONAP Over the Moon

Tue, 20 Aug 2019 08:00:16 GMT

Light Reading's Mitch Wagner talks with SES CEO JP Hemingway about his company's sky-high ambitions. SES's satellite network provides connectivity for mobile operators (who use the service for backhaul and enterprise VPN); maritime and aviation companies; and government customers (who use SES for drone surveillance, environmental controls). SES wants network operators to be able to connect to its satellite networks using existing management and orchestration tools, so it's implementing the Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP) on Microsoft Azure, with the assistance of Amdocs. Listen up to find out why and what's at stake.

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Where Does OTT TV Go Now?

Fri, 16 Aug 2019 15:00:46 GMT

What's going on with over-the-top TV (and why are all the names so confusing)? Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner, Alan Breznick and Kelsey Ziser join Phil Harvey to dig in and decode the silliness. In segment one, we recap what we TV services we all buy at home to make a larger point about how fragmented the market is becoming. In segment two, we discuss all the names for TV and video services that AT&T has trademarked over the years -- and we look back in amusement on AT&T's Mlife campaign from nearly 20 years ago. Segment three concludes with Jeff and Alan doing some public service broadcasting and explaining the differences between HBO, HBO Now, HBO Go and HBO Max. Then Kelsey tries her own version of a Mlife-style voiceover touting today's OTT TV services and as many old AT&T trademarks as she can remember. Yes, it's exactly as silly as it sounds. Enjoy!

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The Orange Approach to SD-WAN with John Isch

Thu, 15 Aug 2019 10:00:36 GMT

John Isch from Orange Business Services joins Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser to talk all things SD-WAN. He's not just waving his arms and doing the usual marketing stuff, though. Isch discusses examples of specific deployments at companies you've heard of and how each one's network, preferences and technology choices influenced the service that Orange provided. We'll get back to discussing market trends and forecasts in a later podcast. For now, here's a real service provider with real customers talking about the market realities of SD-WAN. Enjoy!

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Where Telcos Can Use Machine Learning

Tue, 13 Aug 2019 17:00:26 GMT

Data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence may help service providers speed up service provisioning, provide better network performance and more comprehensive security. But none of that matters if the models used in research labs don't work in the real work, according to researcher Nick Feamster. Feamster is just starting his new gig as director of the Center for Data and Computing (CDAC) at the University of Chicago. He was previously a professor in the Computer Science Department at Princeton University. One of his jobs now is to find out what kinds of machine learning and data science can be applied in real networks today, at scale. In this podcast, Feamster speaks with Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser about his upcoming work with CDAC, his observations on how machine learning can help telcos now and where we, as consumers, might see a difference when networks become more intelligent.

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Dishing on Dish Network

Wed, 07 Aug 2019 10:00:15 GMT

Who is the satellite company that's suddenly in the middle of the Sprint/T-Mobile merger discussions? Light Reading editors Mike Dano and Jeff Baumgartner join hosts Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser to discuss the past, present and future of Dish Network, the 22-year-old, $15 billion company that said it will build a 5G network and become a viable competitor to AT&T and Verizon.

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What's New in SD-WAN w/ Kelsey Ziser

Tue, 30 Jul 2019 10:00:25 GMT

How many SD-WAN vendors are there, anyway? In this week's podcast, Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser discusses the ever-evolving world of SD-WAN. We discuss why there are so many vendors, what might happen if the market consolidates and whether some of the bigger acquisitions in the space by Cisco and VMware have started to pay off. The conversation also veers down the road of what SD-WAN is supposed to be replacing (MPLS) and whether that initial, straightforward goal has been subsumed into something larger and infinitely more complex. Does the white glove version of an SD-WAN service come with its own butler? We'll talk about that, and all things SD-WAN on this episode.

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AT&T Earnings Recap with Alan Breznick

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 21:17:31 GMT

AT&T lost video and broadband subscribers during its second quarter, but the telco still reported revenue and profit forecasts in line with Wall Street's expectations. Indeed, the carrier is making truckloads of money every quarter, but its ability to pinpoint where the culture is going is not as sharp as its competitors. In this quick, five-minute podcast, Light Reading's Alan Breznick talks about what AT&T announced and why it's not showing more growth in video and broadband, at a time when there is so much activity and interest in both areas. Our producer is on vacation this week, so we kept this recording really short and didn't do any fancy editing. We'll be back with another full-strength Light Reading podcast episode next week.

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Ovum's Key Trends Shaping the Global 5G Market

Thu, 18 Jul 2019 14:00:14 GMT

5G is here, but where's it going? That's the simple and surprisingly nuanced question that Light Reading's Ray Le Maistre and Ovum's Dario Talmesio help answer in this podcast. Le Maistre is Light Reading's Editor-in-Chief and Talmesio is the principal analyst and practice leader for 5G Accelerator and European TMT Research at research house Ovum. The role of the network operator in the 5G world will suddenly seem very clear once you hear this interview.

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Edge Computing & Data Storage with ClearSky Data CEO Ellen Rubin

Tue, 16 Jul 2019 15:00:14 GMT

Ellen Rubin joins the Light Reading podcast to discuss edge computing and the new need for data management in more places as the world goes from static storage to mobile, multicloud madness.

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Sharing Could Make Cities Smarter

Tue, 09 Jul 2019 05:01:04 GMT

Cities are huge consumers of telecom connectivity and services but the path to becoming "smart" cities looks a lot different now than it did even a year ago. US Ignite's Mari Silbey joins Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser and Phil Harvey to help dig into two areas: data analytics and infrastructure sharing. Both topics are on the minds of city leaders and telecom providers as cities work to become more connected and better places to live, work and play.

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The Bill Waker Interview: IT, Telcos & Pro Bowling

Fri, 28 Jun 2019 15:00:24 GMT

Bill Walker, former senior director of strategy & advancement at CenturyLink, joins the podcast to offer his thoughts on what telcos are good at, what needs to change in telco culture and what kinds of companies he sees becoming bigger competitors to the traditional network operators. As a former engineer at Oracle and Sun Microsystems, Bill has a background in the IT side of things and understands the challenges of working in a big telco. Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser and Phil Harvey interview Bill about tech stuff and we get some bowling tips, too.

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What Telcos are Doing at The Edge

Tue, 25 Jun 2019 12:00:19 GMT

In this episode, Ray, Kelsey and Phil talk about why so many believe that innovation at The Edge will unlock a lot of promises of next-generation networks. It will be a challenge -- getting those boundaries between the physical and digital worlds to blur will require some things that telcos can do well and some things they'll need a lot of help to accomplish.

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What Will You Pay for 5G?

Thu, 13 Jun 2019 11:00:16 GMT

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss how are all the major US telcos handling 5G pricing, which carriers seem to have the most practical pricing strategies so far, and how what we pay for 5G services could change over time.

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Taking on Tall Poppy Syndrome

Mon, 10 Jun 2019 16:00:05 GMT

Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser joins the podcast to discuss some of the insights and helpful advice she's heard while doing interviews for Light Reading's Women In Comms content series. Light Reading's Women In Comms page, in case you haven't been watching, includes frequent interviews and articles by Ziser, as well as the weekly WiCipedia roundup of news items. WiCipedia, compiled by Eryn Leavens, has been running nearly non-stop for three years. Today we're talking about "tall poppy syndrome." Ziser defines this phenomena and shares what she's reported about how women stay out of their own (and one another's) way, while working to change people's inaccurate perceptions of their work, their motivations, etc., in the telecom industry. Before getting into the main topic, we quickly review what Kelsey's working on over at The 5G Exchange -- a vetted educational resource for industry info about 5G technologies, case studies, opinions and other resources.

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Apple Makes Itself at Home

Tue, 04 Jun 2019 14:00:15 GMT

What happened for telcos and cable operators to keep an eye on at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC)? Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner and Phil Harvey sort it all out for you on the podcast. Apple took some big steps toward protecting the privacy of its users and distancing itself from Facebook, Google and other companies that sell ads using a consumer's personal details or device location. The company also started supporting home security cameras and routers with HomeKit, Apple's smart home platform. The new security feature caught our attention since Apple noted it would enable local devices to process video before sending it to the cloud for storage. Like mesh home WiFi and smart home management, it sounds like one of those things cablecos and telcos should have done years ago. While those companies watch Apple's moves interest, we wonder when they'll use their status as trusted utilities to really put consumers at ease with home networking, smart home setups, and cybersecurity. Is Apple really more trustworthy than a telco? The Light Reading Podcast is available on SoundCloud, Google Play, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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Huawei's Guilty of Something, Right?

Wed, 29 May 2019 11:00:17 GMT

Light Reading's Mitch Wagner and Phil Harvey conclude that the government's rhetoric around Huawei as a national security threat sure would sound more reassuring if someone, somewhere actually presented proof. They also discuss when to expect 5G's benefits to come to a neighborhood near you.

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Huawei's Smartphone Business at Risk

Thu, 23 May 2019 09:00:17 GMT

As the US ramps its trade war with China, Google became one of several companies that said it would limit the software services it provides to Huawei. The aftershocks of that decision could be severe, said Daniel Gleeson, Principal Analyst, Consumer Technology at Ovum. In this podcast episode, recorded May 21, Gleeson discusses Huawei's device business, which shipped about 207 million smartphones outside of China last year. The loss of support from Google for its Android OS and apps means that Huawei "effectively means that it cannot sell any new [Android OS-based] handsets outside of China." That puts a $25 billion business at risk and it had implications for carriers in the US and Europe launching 5G services, too.

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SVOD & 5G Challenge Pay TV

Wed, 22 May 2019 10:00:27 GMT

In this podcast, recorded on May 17, Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner discusses why Disney's control of Hulu could change things for the SVOD (subscription video on demand) portion of the service. He also weighs in on whether Disney's ownership makes Hulu more competitive to AT&T, Comcast and the other traditional pay TV service providers. Meanwhile, as 5G networks are being built, almost every telco offering 5G services has a different approach to video. Light Reading's Mike Dano discusses T-Mobile's video strategy and why TVision is such a disappointment.

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The Big 5G Question: Are We There Yet?

Mon, 13 May 2019 18:47:11 GMT

This "live" episode was recorded on Tuesday, May 7 at the Big 5G Event event in Denver, Colorado. After a few happy-hour refreshments, Light Reading's Ray Le Maistre and Phil Harvey were joined by two guests -- Light Reading's Mike Dano and US Ignite's Mari Silbey -- to sum up the state of 5G, why US cities are closely watching 5G deployments, and what we can look forward to as 2019 rolls on.

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Merger Madness & Pay TV Problems

Thu, 25 Apr 2019 15:54:55 GMT

Light Reading Senior Editor Jeff Baumgartner joins us to revisit the saga of Omniverse One World Television, an over-the-top (OTT) distributor of live pay TV channels to all kinds of competitive players. Some of those companies have decided to back away from the pay-TV market. Jeff explains what's going on as the saga continues. Also, Light Reading's Mike Dano reviews what T-Mobile's options are if it is not allowed by merge with Sprint. And we quickly review Sprint's rather long list of strategic misses. Cringe right along with us, won't you?

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Mobile 5G, NFV at AWS and Disney Plus

Fri, 05 Apr 2019 21:00:12 GMT

From a sunny conference room in NYC, Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Ray Le Maistre talk about Verizon's mobile 5G launch in Chicago and Minneapolis, what's behind the recent AWS hire of noted SDN and NFV expert Tetsuya Nakamura and they share a few notes from the front as the Internet video streaming market just gets crazier and more crowded with choices.

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Cable Goes Into The Omniverse

Fri, 29 Mar 2019 03:25:34 GMT

Forget Apple TV and Apple TV Plus. There's no wilder story in the world of pay TV than the controversy surrounding Omniverse One World Television. In this podcast, Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner and Phil Harvey discuss how Omniverse turned up on the cable industry's radar, why it is upsetting content owners and whether the company's claim of a 100-year contract to distribute pay-TV channels is genuinely over the top.

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What Will Make Cities Smarter?

Fri, 22 Mar 2019 19:21:34 GMT

Recorded at last week's CNG2019 event in Denver, Light Reading's Alan Breznick interviews Mari Silbey, the director of communications for US Ignite. Silbey, a former Light Reading editor, is also director of the US Ignite Forum, a program that brings local government officials and their partners together to share smart city challenges, strategies and best practices. Breznick quizzes Silbey on what makes a city smarter, what opportunities there are for network operators in this effort and what examples we can look at to find out how city governments and service providers have gone from squabbling about TV franchise rights to building cities of the future. Before that discussion, Light Reading's Phil Harvey kicks off the podcast with a quick rant about why he doesn't live in a smart city (and neither do you).

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CNG2019: 10G vs. 5G and a Cheesecake Debate

Fri, 15 Mar 2019 14:56:15 GMT

Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser, Alan Breznick and Jeff Baumgartner join Phil Harvey for a round of drinks and a chat after the opening day of CNG2019 in Denver. The "bomb cyclone" did its worst, but it couldn't stop us from debating 10G vs. 5G and, also, how the cable providers are now talking about including and integrating Internet streaming services, like Netflix, instead of competing with them. Later in the podcast, Phil poses the question: "Would you ever buy your Internet video or pay-TV services from Exxon or Walmart?" It's not as silly a question as you might think. In non-conference topics, we debate what kinds of desserts and sweets really need to be served after lunch during a business conference.

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AI, 5G & IoT with Kelsey, Mike & Ray

Fri, 08 Mar 2019 21:48:08 GMT

Light Reading editors Kelsey Ziser, Ray Le Maistre and Mike Dano discussed all the important 5G topics from the InterDigital booth on the show floor at MWC19 in Barcelona. They covered millimeter wave spectrum, the thrills and danger of flying taxis and what the hell we're going to do with all the data that IoT devices will be throwing off as they get connected to faster and faster networks.

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The Light Reading Interview: Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm

Fri, 08 Mar 2019 21:24:43 GMT

In this special episode of the Light Reading podcast, Editor-in-Chief Ray Le Maistre interviewed Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm on the show floor at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Ekholm discussed a wide variety of topics, including 5G, 4G, antenna tech, the Kathrein acquisition and why Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen is better than Duran Duran. We're not sure that last point was ever up for debate but, when you're talking to Light Reading, you'd better have a definitive cultural opinion at the ready. We caught Ekholm just after he finished speaking to analysts and reporters at the opening press conference at MWC19. There, he was echoing his worries that post-development 5G testing -- testing proposed to address concerns about network security -- would run the risk of being of harming competition for 5G services in industrial markets. For more coverage of his remarks and the rest of Light Reading's MWC19 coverage, please visit https://www.lightreading.com/mobile-world-congress.asp.

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Let's Not Talk About 5G at MWC19

Fri, 01 Mar 2019 22:20:44 GMT

Late in the day on Tuesday, Feb. 26, Light Reading's Phil "Captain Jetlag" Harvey and Ray Le Maistre attempted to fight through hunger, sleeplessness and coffee jitters to do a live podcast from the InterDigital booth in Hall 7 of the sprawling, soulless Fira Gran Via in Barcelona. Topics covered during the live chat included the new role of edge computing or, if you like, localized cloud computing in manufacturing. Phil thinks that making industrial equipment more mobile and agile is perhaps more exciting than anything 5G-related. Meanwhile, Ray adds that telco business models, as both connectivity providers and technology enablers, are sure to change as telcos begin to properly use AI and react to the trends that their customer data reveals about their businesses. Finally, the two wrap up with some general show observations and Ray continues his decades-long streak of abusing Duran Duran and anyone who likes their music.

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AT&T, 5G and The Mirantis Incident

Thu, 14 Feb 2019 20:50:35 GMT

Light Reading's Mitch Wagner and Phil Harvey discuss the recently reported deal between AT&T and Mirantis. A week ago, Mirantis announced that it was joining Airship , an open source infrastructure project that aims to help telcos use on-premises Kubernetes infrastructure to support their efforts to modernize, cloudify and otherwise make their networks more efficient (and less dependent on a single vendor). We discuss Wagner's reporting on the subject and how it led to an even bigger story about AT&T's use of OpenStack and Kubernetes and what those technology choices say about AT&T's evolving 4G network (the one that it calls "5G"). Wagner talks about the strategic importance of open source to AT&T and, during the last 7 minutes of the podcast, he even gives public relations pros some useful advice on getting his -- or any other editor's -- attention. At the 30-minute mark, Phil's cat Rosie decides she's not going to wait for theme music before bringing the whole show to a screeching halt, as only a professional office cat can.

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Telcos, Tacos and More Huawei Trouble

Wed, 06 Feb 2019 23:20:04 GMT

Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Ray Le Maistre chew on the latest offers from T-Mobile, Verizon, and Orange while discussing the broader theme of how traditional carriers can become (and be perceived as) something more than connectivity providers. When should a telco become a media company? Or a lifestyle brand? Or a bank? The answer depends on the company, but each company, as it changes and modernizes to keep up with competitors, should always be looking for places that it can disrupt others. Later in the show, we ponder then unintended consequences of Huawei's troubles in the U.S. Could we someday miss out on innovation in the U.S. and Europe because we were all too quick to demonize a world-beating Chinese rival in the telecom space?

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Top Trends in Pay TV with Jeff Baumgartner

Thu, 31 Jan 2019 14:56:06 GMT

The world of pay TV is an unholy mess, and no one is better at keeping up with the players, plans, and problems than Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner. In this podcast, Jeff joins Phil Harvey for a chat about how cable providers are using mobile, why adding Netflix to your set-top isn't a bad idea and what kind of subscribers aren't worth chasing.

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CES 2019: What in the 5G World Happened Out There?

Wed, 16 Jan 2019 15:36:57 GMT

Mike Dano, Light Reading's Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, joins Phil Harvey for the podcast this week to discuss the big carrier moves at CES 2019. The annual consumer electronics confab last week featured all kinds of advanced tech for homes and, especially, automobiles. Underpinning it all, though is 5G, the next generation of the mobile and communications network. Dano flips through his notebook and offers his updates from the show, assesses each national carrier's progress in the 5G race. We also test just how good-natured a guy he really is by asking questions scientifically engineered to get journalists to complain about trade shows and casinos.

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Apple's iPhone Warning

Tue, 08 Jan 2019 22:10:43 GMT

The first big telecom story of 2019 was an earnings miss by Apple. But why was this sales warning more significant than just a cyclical, seasonal slowdown? Light Reading's Executive Editor Mitch Wagner joins Phil Harvey to parse the Apple madness and to talk about how well the company can adjust to a world that doesn’t buy a new iPhone every 12 months. Also, we run down our roster of office pets and discuss the proper ways to use one of those fancy Apple watches. Hey, Siri, you really don't want to miss this podcast.

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Interview: Ciena CEO Gary Smith

Wed, 19 Dec 2018 21:34:35 GMT

Following the company's earnings call, Ciena CEO Gary Smith told Light Reading's Phil Harvey that competitor Huawei's troubles with governments and telecom carriers around the world aren't much of a catalyst right now. Big carriers have already been eager to balance their equipment portfolios and avoid being beholden to one single, dominant vendor, Smith said. He also noted that Ray Le Maistre was right about telecom RFPs. Yeah, we're pretty shocked, too.

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The Heat is On Huawei

Wed, 12 Dec 2018 02:20:06 GMT

Huawei's troubles with Western governments are more than just a setback for telco equipment sales. The vendor's problems could result in a delay and the slowed development of 5G networks around the world. Huawei has shipped more than 10,000 5G base stations outside of China, so it's reach and influence is formidable. Light Reading's Ray Le Maistre ponders whether those companies carrying Huawei gear will now put everything on ice and wait to see what happens next. Also on the podcast, with so many advanced technologies making their way into the communications landscape, it is becoming more apparent that case studies -- use cases of any size and scope -- are increasingly valuable as news. Light Reading's Phil Harvey insists that your industry colleagues want to know what's going on and he explains why now is the perfect time to start sharing.

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CenturyLink's CxO Moves & Do We Really Need RFPs?

Tue, 20 Nov 2018 22:19:00 GMT

On this podcast, we discussed CenturyLink new CTO, why Dull But Critical (DBC) is our favorite category of telecom infrastructure, how cable companies are warming up to the cloud, and we ask a critical question: Does the telecom industry need RFPs? Recorded on Nov. 12, 2018.

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CommScope and Arris: Why This Merger Matters

Mon, 19 Nov 2018 16:57:26 GMT

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner and Phil Harvey discuss why CommScope is buying Arris and whether the combination will rejuvenate both businesses and make the new company a player in 5G. Recorded Nov. 8, 2018.

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Verizon Restructures for 5G

Fri, 09 Nov 2018 19:57:12 GMT

Le Maistre and Harvey discuss the upside of Verizon’s recent restructuring under new CEO Hans Vestberg, as the carrier prepares to bring 5G to the nation. These things always sound good in theory and this probably is a good thing for Verizon, but it’s going to be tough to pull off. Later on, the two discuss the new Freddie Mercury biopic and why even a critically panned movie is okay if it reminds us of great concerts and excellent music. Recorded on Nov. 5, 2018.

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