A Week In Wireless Podcast g3u6z

The guys were delighted to welcome special guest Brandon Larson to this last pod before a brief break. It doesn’t take long for AI to make an appearance in the conversation, but that’s fair enough because it’s a big part of Brandon’s day job. They focus on what AI means for telcos, but there are inevitable tangents in the direction of assessing the utopian vs dystopian implications of the technology. They eventually move on to discuss BT’s latest quarterly announcement before concluding with a quick look at stories concerning OpenAI and Malaysia.

6G, GSMA and geopolitics by Telecoms.com

This special mid-week recording of the pod was scheduled so we could speak to spectrum policy consultant Dave Wright while he was in town. Scott starts by asking Dave why operators and the industry associations who represent them are constantly begging for more spectrum in frequency bands that have limited utility. That conversation goes on to cover the competing needs of the cellular and wifi worlds before they conclude with a look at evolving US trade policy towards China.

The lads are uncharacteristically smart this week ahead of an event Scott chaired immediately after recording. One of the speakers at that event was Analyst Roz Roseboro of Omdia and she was able to the pod for a bit. They start by reflecting on another recent event they all attended called FutureNet World, which covered a lot of telecoms industry hot topics. They go on to talk about AI, which was the theme of Roz’s event, before concluding by questioning the utility of higher frequency spectrum.

The guys celebrate the nicest day of the year by spending it locked in a small room with special guest Phil Mottram from HPE. They start by finding out all about Aruba, which is the bit of the company Phil runs, and soon branch off onto a bunch of other HPE-related topics. Among those is the IT security environment, which eventually leads them to talk about recent developments in the sovereign cloud, before they conclude with a look at some legal hot water Apple has landed itself in.

This second pod of the week was recorded after the lads had been out for a few the previous evening. In the absence of a guest, Iain and Scott indulge themselves by reflecting on a conversation they had about AI after a few beers. They eventually move on to the big story of the week – Nokia’s quarterly numbers – and use that as the catalyst for a broader discussion of the Finnish kit vendor. The chat is rounded off by reflections on the Open RAN market and America’s rapidly evolving with the rest of the world.

The lads return from the Easter break by welcoming special guest Dag Peak of Alianza. Pausing only to reflect on the ing of the Pope, they start by asking Dag about his company and how it fits into the great telecoms scheme of things. That leads to a broader interrogation of the operator business model and what they can do to improve their fortunes. They eventually move on to discuss the latest news from Ericsson before reflecting on the growing hostility of the US state towards its own companies.

Just the lads this week so they get to be nice and self-indulgent over subject matter. There’s no getting past the trade war declared by the US on the rest of the world, which affects all industries, so Iain and Scott spend a good chunk of time exploring the concept of tariffs and macroeconomics in general before pondering how telecoms will be affected. They eventually move on to examine Huawei’s full-year 2024 numbers before concluding with a look at the pros and cons of virtual RAN.

Producer Pierre wasn’t well this week, so we were forced to speak to special guest Neil McRae of Juniper Networks over Zoom. Broadcasting from his pinball den, Neil offered an update on his company before reflecting on the recent MWC trade show. They covered a lot of hot mobile topics, including private 5G vs wifi, but definitely not 6G. That eventually led to speculation about whether 6G will ever be a big deal, before concluding with a look at a buzzword that has already lost its lustre – Open RAN.

The guys came straight from an early lunch to welcome the pod’s first ever lawyer – David Hunt – as their special guest. David specialises in the interface between companies and governments, so the conversation covered a wide range of topics, covering all parts of the globe. The US, Europe, and China inevitably featured strongly as the implications of recent developments on global trade were also explored, before they concluded with an analysis of Nvidia’s attempts to get into telecoms.

The lads have one more assessment of the recent Mobile World Congress trade show, this time with the benefits of hindsight and special guest, analyst John Strand. Geopolitics, along with AI, dominated the chat at this year’s show, so they discuss as much of that at telecoms purist Iain can tolerate, before moving on to more sector-specific stuff. They conclude by examining the news that some EU officials are being investigated on suspicion of receiving bribes from Chinese vendor Huawei.

An attempt to feature five guests resulted in possibly the most chaotic version of the podcast ever. The first two guests were analyst Paolo Pescatore and Danielle Rios, CEO of Totogi, who brought along a cocktail crew to make sure things go smoothly. They eventually made way for Sylwia Kechiche of Opensignal and Mark Giles from Ookla and we even managed to fit in pod favourite Mary Clark of Numeracle at the end. They tried, and failed, to avoid talking about geopolitics and the AI dystopia, but plenty of telecoms was covered too.

The pod is delighted to welcome back special guest, analyst Dean Bubley, for his now traditional preview of an event he prefers not to attend. They tackle the likely themes of Mobile World Congress 2025 and you don’t need to be Nostradamus to know AI will dominate. But what does that mean? The guys take the time to pick it apart and sort the wheat from the chaff. The other main themes covered are 5/6G, network APIs and geopolitics and this is published early to get you in the mood ahead of next week’s event.

The guys are delighted to welcome Pablo Tomasi of analyst firm Omdia this week, whose appearance is so well timed as to create the impression of planning. All three of them attended Ericsson’s big pre-MWC media and analyst presentation in London, so they start off by reviewing that, specifically Ericsson’s bets on the future of the mobile industry and the likelihood of them paying off. That leads to conversation about enterprise telecoms in general, before they conclude with a robust debate about the implications of Nokia’s new CEO appointment.

Just the core crew again this week as they brave the foul weather to bring you your weekly fix of telecoms banter. Chinese vendor Huawei snuck out a singly financial data point last week but Ian and Scott still managed to bang on about it, and the inevitable tangents, for an hour or so. They eventually moved on to look at the current state of US chip firm Intel before briefly questioning Google’s principles when it comes to AI.

No guest this week as the lads planned in advance to be hungover and Scott wanted to catch up on the Long Drink action. Pausing only to reflect on the pros and cons of falling off the wagon, they get straight into the big story of the week – DeepSeek – and analyse the implications of China suddenly catching up with the US on AI. After the obligatory Terminator references they eventually get on to discuss Nokia’s recent quarterly numbers before laughing at Meta’s continued attempts to repair its relationship with Donald Trump.

In the last relatively sober pod of the month, the lads are delighted to welcome special guest Jussi from Hamina Wireless. Pausing only to introduce Iain to the Finnish drink lonkero, Jussi introduces his company’s focus on the optimisation of wifi. That leads to plenty of tangents around indoor connectivity, private 5G, etc, before they eventually move on to discuss Ericsson’s latest quarterly numbers and conclude with a look at America’s big Stargate AI infrastructure announcement.

Finally back in the studio, the lads are ed by Paul from CC Group PR and his colleague Rich, who ensures an extra long recording by his constant interruptions. They start by talking about an imminent webinar, hosted by CC and featuring elite telecoms hacks, that aims to set the scene for the Mobile World Congress trade show, leading to plenty of tangents around the show, journalism, and PR in general. They eventually move on to cover a couple telecoms moans about how rubbish the EU is, before concluding with a review of a new book about Huawei.

Iain and Scott are forced to do the first pod of the year over Zoom because their office was broken. Pausing only to reflect on Christmas and the misery glory of sobriety, they start by reflecting on a busy start to the year for the US versus China cold war, with Huawei playing a central part as ever. The lads then settle back immediately into their respective pet topics, with Iain having written comprehensively on Open RAN and Meta giving Scott an excuse to bang on about censorship.

The podcast year culminates in its traditional Christmas quiz, hosted by Elena from Liberty Communications. Pausing only to reflect on a big day out for Iain and Scott the day before and a farcical attempt to use a beer hat just before recording, they eventually get into the quiz. Expect rabid competitiveness, buzzer drama, and unbridled tangents, but you’ll have to listen to the end to find out who wins. Have a great Christmas and see you in the (sober for a bit) new year.