Light Reading Podcasts

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

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

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

07 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Brian Comiskey, senior director and futurist at the Consumer Technology Association, discusses the top tech themes expected at CES 2025 and offers som...

How Downdetector tracks network outages during natural disasters

18 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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. St...

SoftBank's plans for AI-RAN expansion

18 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In Telecom East this week, Light Reading contributing editor Robert Clark and Ross O'Brien, analyst-in-chief at Delta Analysis, discuss Huawei’s And...

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

13 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

ACA Connects CEO Grant Spellmeyer discusses how he and his base of independent broadband operators are preparing for an expected wave of regulatory sh...

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

13 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

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

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week: Gigi Sohn, executive director, American Association for Public Broadband, joins the podcast to discuss the rise of public broadband network...

LR Extra: Gengis Khan and the elephant in the room

06 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

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

05 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 tra...

6G may be forked, Vocus focuses on fiber expansion

02 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 rar...

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

27 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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.'...

How Cleeng is keeping streaming subscription churn in check

22 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The subscription streaming model allows customers to come and go as they please. Managing churn is a major challenge for providers of the services, pa...

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

22 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

No one buys AI

20 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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, orchestratio...

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

15 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 eq...

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

15 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of the Telecom East podcast, Light Reading contributing editor Robert Clark and Ross O'Brien, analyst-in-chief at Delta Analysis, disc...

Space WAN: MetTel taps Starlink for space-based network

14 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 sate...

What's the Story? The trouble with telco APIs

07 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Telecom East: How AI is changing bandwidth needs in Asia

07 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Will AI on smartphones fade the way of the Metaverse?

06 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Runar Bjorhovde, analyst for Canalys, joined the podcast to explain why smartphone vendors are banking on AI. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy f...

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

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week: Cabot Mayor Ken Kincade, Connect2First's Candace Looper, DZS' Geoff Burke and Irby Utilities' Josh Collver on their partnership to launch t...

LR Extra: Halloween hijinks and gadget ghosts

31 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 g...

Telecom East: Rebooting mobile's fortunes

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ca...

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

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week: Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, joins to discuss legal uncertainty around the Universal Service Fund (US...

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

25 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

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

24 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 opposin...

The Divide: How NextLight helped ignite municipal broadband in Colorado

22 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week: Officials from Longmont, Colorado, and NextLight – the state's first municipal broadband network – on NextLight's ten-year anniversary,...

LR Extra: Next stop, Jupiter's moon

18 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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. Hos...

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

15 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week: Bhuvnesh Sachdeva, senior vice president at HFCL, and Devadas Pai, CEO of Nanocell Networks, on the challenges and lessons learned from del...

Asisat Oshoala minds the usage gap

12 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

LR Extra: CBRS proposal met with sour grapes

11 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 d...

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

11 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Charter is working on its latest pay-TV strategy to hold onto and hopefully expand its subscriber count. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mo...

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

10 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 Ale...

TechExpo 2024: It's a wrap!

08 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 need for fast, reliable fiber network deployment

08 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nir Hollander, Amdocs' GM of Mobile Networks, joins the podcast to talk about the state of fiber deployments worldwide and how Amodcs views fiber netw...

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

08 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week: Jake Varn, associate manager with Pew's Broadband Access Initiative, discusses the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and the...

CableLabs CEO on what's next for DOCSIS

07 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

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

04 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Light Reading editors recap the Dish and DirecTV merger, ongoing outages from Hurricane Helene and why French climbing ropes are best. We also explain...

GenAI sparks a data center shakeup

26 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Corning's Brian Rhoney and Bob Whitman explained how fiber infrastructure and computing requirements in and across data centers need ...

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

24 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

The ugly underbelly of falling telco opex

20 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Prof. Feamster puts network performance under the microscope

18 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

University of Chicago Professor Nick Feamster and his teams at the Internet Equity Initiative and NetMicroscope are using data analytics to provide in...

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

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 th...

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

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

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

12 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 suc...

Unraveling the 'spaghetti' mess of cybersecurity

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Security vendors and enterprise executives might want a more consolidated approach, but the reality is that integrating multiple products is the most ...

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

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 t...

DataBee CEO on the evolving role of data in cybersecurity

05 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

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

29 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Travel embedded SIMs (eSIMs) are one avenue for travelers to maintain wireless network performance. Now, organizations outside the telecom industry ar...

Ookla on the competitive advantage of 5G standalone

29 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 co...

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

27 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Conexon's Jonathan Chambers joins Washington EMC's Wendy Sellers and Tri-County Electric's Julius Hackett to discuss the rural co-ops' partnerships wi...

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

24 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Grant Spellmeyer, president and CEO of ACA Connects, joins the podcast from The Independent Show in Nashville to dig into the top regulatory issues fa...

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

23 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Light Reading's editors explore the Waymo honkfest, ponder the fear of contrary opinions, dish on affordable broadband orders and try to remember any ...

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

20 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week: Tarana CEO Basil Alwan, and Choice Broadband General Manager Velena Tsosie, discuss their partnership to deliver next-generation fixed wire...

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

16 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

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

15 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner discusses how fixed wireless company Starry plans to move from bankruptcy to profitability. Hosted on Acast. See acas...

LR Extra: Olympic dreams and vacation screams

09 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 vac...

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

30 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

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

24 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

EchoStar's Ravinder Jarral explains why the open RAN testing and development initiative, ORCID, was launched and how things are progressing both in th...

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

16 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

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

10 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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. H...

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

03 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

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

02 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 decisi...

What's the Story? Telecom code red

27 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

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

25 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week: Brandy Reitter, executive director for Colorado's broadband office, on Internet access and adoption challenges, and next steps for the stat...

For digital inclusion, broadband access is just the beginning

21 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Omdia on the infiltration of AI into telecom services and infrastructure

20 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 C...

Making sense of the messy private 5G market

13 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

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

11 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

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

07 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Fixed wireless or fiber? Why not both?

06 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

NextLink CSO Claude Aiken discusses the rise of fixed wireless access, the need to automate and simplify broadband provisioning, and how state broadba...

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

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The SSIA's Zachary Smith explains hardware interoperability, sustainability and energy use challenges within data centers. He also discusses interest ...

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

04 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week: Digital equity advocates Shayna Englin (California Community Foundation) and Kevin Miller (Fresno Coalition for Digital Inclusion) on digit...

MVNO platform looks to add connectivity, not complexity

31 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 networ...

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

29 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week: Jessica Dine, ITIF policy analyst, on her report evaluating and grading state proposals for the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEA...

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

21 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week: Officials from Navajo County, Arizona, and eX² Technology, on solving the region's digital divide with an open access, middle mile fiber n...

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

16 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 as...

5G network timing and synchronization

15 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Network timing and synchronization has become critical to deliver service performance and resiliency in 5G networks and beyond. In this podcast, Heavy...

Gigs CEO on the business of building a multitude of MVNOs

15 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The CEO of Gigs, Hermann Frank, says the company provides the components for organizations to launch their own mobile virtual network operator (MVNO)....

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

14 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week: Amy Huffman, policy director, National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), joins to discuss the government's $2.75 billion Digital Equity Ac...

Viavi on the pressure of pacing optical testing with AI demands

13 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

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

10 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

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

09 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ookla's Brennen Smith explains that the organization's 'North Star' or main objective is to support quality of experience of network performance for I...

ThinkAnalytics gets a fix on FAST

08 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

ThinkAnalytics CEO Marc Aldrich discusses how the company is using metadata and generative AI to help its content partners rapidly schedule and optimi...

AI boom breathes new life into optics for the data center

07 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 cent...

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

07 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

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

03 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

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

02 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

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

30 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

DC Blox sheds light on dark fiber, landing station buildouts

29 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ro...

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

25 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Verizon joins the podcast to explain how the service provider is deploying both permanent and temporary network assets to provide New Orleans Jazz Fes...

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

25 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 t...

Quantum Loophole's data center dominion

24 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 hypersca...

Great Plains CIO: Acquisitions ease operations transformation

24 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

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

23 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week: Kerry Haughan, SVP, commercial strategy at Calix, on why Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) funds should go to local providers, ...

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

22 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

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

19 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

John Sasser, CTO, Sabey Data Centers, discusses the power, cooling and capacity requirements of AI and cloud computing clients. Sabey is expanding to ...

Precision OT EVP on saving customers from optical 'landmines'

18 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Keith Habberfield, EVP for Precision Optical Technologies (OT), joins the podcast with a behind-the-scenes look at the effort required to participate ...

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

16 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 broa...

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

11 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...