Shows
Senza Fili Sparring PartnersCanada: Between a rock and a vast place, and the case for network sharing. With Ibrahim Gedeon, Guardian Safety NetCanada faces massive geographical challenges. As the second-largest country on Earth, with 80% of the population living along the southern border, operators must navigate a unique mix of dense urban centers and vast, rugged rural areas. How can Canadian telcos provide top-tier service without breaking the bank?
Ibrahim Gedeon, CTO Emeritus at TELUS and Executive Director at Guardian Safety Net takes us through a fascinating journey covering his career at the forefront of Canadian wireless evolution—from Nortel and Bell Northern Research to his long tenure leading technology at CTO at TELUS.
Topics covered:
The va...
2026-01-3038 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersAgentic AI: From passive assistance to active execution. With Philippe Ensarguet at OrangeIs Agentic AI the latest hype or a fundamental shift in how we run telco networks? Philippe Ensarguet, VP Software Engineering, Orange Fellow, Orange is a visionary believer of a rare lineage: he spent decades running large-scale mobile networks and knows what needs to be done and what can be done, but also has the technological insight into what AI and agentic AI can (and cannot) deliver.
In this Sparring Parters, Philippe goes beyond the vision and explains what AI agents can do today and in the long term, how they can interface with network APIs, and...
2026-01-2338 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersBackhaul and fronthaul for 5SA is transformative. With Andy Sutton, BT GroupBackhaul and fronthaul (or xhaul) don’t get the attention they deserve. It is the RAN that gets most of the limelight, even though insufficient xhaul capacity is a deadly bottleneck. As we move to 5GSA, DU/CU splits and virtual RAN, we have more xhaul choices, but also we need to manage the xhaul more effectively to give the RAN the capacity and latency it now needs.
It was a pleasure to dissect the topic and look at how xhaul is evolving with Andy Sutton, BT Fellow & Principal Network Architect at BT Group, who has an ex...
2026-01-1839 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersWhat talking drums teach us about M-MIMO. With Zhang Jiong at ZTEThe evolution of wireless networks from MIMO to M-MIMO and, finally, to GIGA MIMO is a fascinating story that tracks how a concept that initially few people believed could become a commercial reality has become a crucial technology for increasing the efficiency, performance, and availability of connectivity in cellular and Wi-Fi networks.
In this Sparring Partners with Zhang Jiong, RAN Marketing Director at ZTE, we look at this amazing story, starting not with cellular connectivity, but with an earlier form of wireless communications: the African talking drums used to send messages between villages. Listen to the conversation...
2026-01-0948 minSenza Fili Sparring Partners6G: The intelligent plumbing for shared connectivity. With Colby Harper, Pathfinder WirelessWhat do we need 6G for? In this conversation with Colby Harper, Founder and CEO at Pathfinder Wireless, we skip the argument over whether we need 6G to fix or improve on 5G, which is so boringly pervasive these days. Instead, we talk about how 6G can be a horizontal enabler for sharing connectivity across air interfaces and modalities, and for expanding connectivity options across verticals.
It helps to think of 6G as a new, intelligent plumbing for telecoms to lay the foundation for a sharing-native architecture, with timing intent, sensing, interfaces, and APIs among the critical...
2026-01-0344 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersCutting through the noise: Getting attention and credibility in marketing. With Kris Kozamchak, Chanan CommunicationsTechnology moves fast, but marketing moves fast too, and possibly at a faster pace. AI, social media, and nonstop work demands have created an audience that is overwhelmed, distracted, and quick to tune out. How can we get our message across without compromising credibility? How do we keep our content relevant and engaging while avoiding flooding our channels with easy-to-generate content?
Not easy questions, but Kris Kozamchak, Principal at Chanan Communications, took on the challenge, and brilliantly and candidly addressed them, touching on many aspects that often don’t get the attention they deserve and giving advice on...
2025-12-1541 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersBahrain: The future is here. With Philip Marnick, TRA BahrainIn the second Sparring Partners on what we can learn from a country, I spoke with Philip Marnick, General Director at the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, about Bahrain. It is a small country, but with much to learn from. It is at the forefront of innovation, but without price hikes. In Bahrain, you get top connectivity at affordable prices. What is the secret sauce to doing that?
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2025-12-0934 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersAre we improving energy efficiency fast enough? With Emanuel Kolta, GSMA IntelligenceWe all want to make wireless networks more energy efficient and sustainable. But how do we measure the progress, and how do we know we are taking the right steps? Not so easy.
Emanuel Kolta, Lead Analyst at GSMA Intelligence, has been working on the complexities of measuring and improving energy efficiency. It is a very challenging yet intellectually fascinating area that has become even more urgent due to rising energy costs and supply uncertainties.
How do we reduce energy consumption as reliability and performance requirements, and traffic grow? What's the best way to increase...
2025-11-2840 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersHow well does FWA work for subscribers? With Mike Dano, OoklaFWA is one of the bright spots of 5G, especially in the US. But how well does it work for users? What are the scenarios where FWA is most beneficial to users and cost-effective for service providers? How much competition in terms of price and performance comes from satellite? And while, other things being equal, fiber is the best fixed broadband technology for residential users, do most households really need it (or do they just think they do)?
Mike Dano, who recently moved to Ookla as a Lead Industry Analyst, has recently done extensive research on FWA...
2025-11-2240 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersWhat’s special about Argentina? With Ignacio Perrone, Frost & SullivanThis is the first episode of a Sparring Partners thread on what makes a country special and what we can learn from it. I will be speaking with someone who lives in that country and can share insights that go beyond the usual statistics and market forecasts, revealing things we do not know or expect.
Since I got the idea for this while chatting with Ignacio Perrone at Frost & Sullivan, and a Professor, School of Social Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, as we were talking about Argentina and comparing it to other countries, it is only fitting...
2025-11-1447 min
Senza Fili Sparring PartnersFrom dumb pipe to dumb space. With Rafael Junquera at TelesemanaThis is the title of a report from Telesemana that was the starting point of my conversation with Rafael Junquera, Editorial Director at Telesemana. We went back to what telecom was 20+ years ago and eventually arrived at the present, tracking the transition from explosive growth to a mature revenue environment and the impressive progress in technology and societal benefits that continues unabated.
What does this tell us about the revenue potential of the new D2D services? Will the increasing competition among satellite operators drive down revenues, as happened in cellular networks? How could satellite operators avoid...
2025-11-0745 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersFiber sensing to protect telecom assets and generate revenues. With Andres Chavarria, VIAVIWireless sensing is an emerging technology with great potential, but it is still in its early stages of development. Fiber sensing is a more mature technology that, surprisingly, has been used mostly outside of telecoms for a long time, and only recently has made its way into protecting telecom assets. Network operators may also use it to offer new revenue-generating services.
I spoke with Andres Chavarria, Fiber Sensing Market Development Manager at VIAVI Solutions, about how fiber sensing works, where it has been used in the past, how network operators can benefit from it in their operations...
2025-10-3144 minSenza Fili Sparring Partners6G standards: A balancing act in innovation, market reality and geopolitics. With Adrian Scrase at EA Consult ServicesAdrian Scrase, independent consultant at EA Consult Services, has been deeply involved in the evolution of wireless standards throughout many Gs at ETSI and, as you may expect, is now working on the evolution to 6G. What can we learn from 3G, 4G and 5G, to avoid the mistakes of the past? How can we find a sustainable innovation trajectory that is grounded in realistic expectations for what new technology can deliver, how much operators can invest, and how much subscribers are willing to pay? Will we be able to avoid the inflated expectations that plagued 5G?
...
2025-10-2540 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersBonus episode: Drones and low-altitude networks: the view from China. With Claudia Bacco, Global Airspace RadarThis is a podcast I recorded with Claudia Bacco Editor-in-Chief at Global Airspace Radar on what I learned about drones during a recent trip to China for the Huawei analyst event.
This is the description of the podcast, “Telecommunications supporting drones, with a twist”:
Monica Paolini, Principal, Senza Fili, joined our editor-in-chief Claudia Bacco to discuss telecommunications supporting drones. A twist is mentioned in the title and the twist is the view from China. Having just returned from a trip to China, Monica shares insights from visiting China Telecom including their drone program. The twist goes...
2025-10-2526 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersThe insider view on wireless security. With Silke Holtmanns at Blue Hour Consulting OyWireless security is becoming increasingly challenging to manage due to growing geopolitical tensions, the rise of sophisticated tools and profitable targets, and the potential for AI to make attacks easier and more effective.
In this conversation with Silke Holtmanns, Telecommunication Security Expert at Blue Hour Consulting Oy, we delve beyond the stats to discuss how operators manage wireless security and how they can enhance their effectiveness in preventing or dealing with attacks. Silke has hands-on experience from her work with operators and gives us the insider perspective. We covered the fake small cells from South Korea’s KT...
2025-10-1935 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersHow is AI changing transport? With Kristian Toivo at TIPAI will have a transformative impact across all elements in telecom networks, and that includes transport. Yet, most of the attention these days is on the RAN, the core and data center infrastructure.
In this conversation with Kristian Toivo, Executive Director at TIP, we tried to remedy this and focused on how AI is changing the transport requirements and how the ecosystem and infrastructure will have to evolve to meet them. As AI gets integrated into our networks, data center distribution and data transfer requirements will have a major impact on the transport infrastructure, as well as...
2025-10-1039 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersHow transformative is AI RAN? With Nirlay Kundu, IMDEA NetworksAI is everywhere, RAN included. But many questions remain. What role does it take within the RAN? Where can it help and how? How do we transition from an initial, limited use of AI, to reach L4 automation with a native-AI RAN?
Nirlay Kundu, Head of Technology Standards, IMDEA Networks Institute, explores all these topics and more, combining the experience from his work at Verizon in the US and the research he is currently doing at IMDEA in Spain. Plus, we discussed the implications of AI in accountability, the evolving role of humans and agents in refining...
2025-10-0347 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersWhat’s up with CBRS? With Dave Wright, Salt Point Strategies and Spectrum for the FutureCBRS is gaining traction in industrial and, a bit more slowly, in enterprise networks and some of the complexity and limitations of the initial CBRS have been addressed. Yet, recently, we have seen attempts to turn CBRS into another full-power licensed band. This would give mobile operators exclusive access to the spectrum, as they do with other cellular licensed bands, and enterprises would no longer be able to use the spectrum without arrangements with mobile operators.
Dave Wright has been working on CBRS from the very beginning and was at the helm of the OnGo Alliance for...
2025-09-2939 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersNon-linear career paths in telecoms. With Linda Ligios, Digital CatapultNot everybody working in telecom is an engineer. For one, I am not (my college degree is in Philosophy, and my PhD is in Cognitive Science/Neuroscience), and I believe that this was an advantage as it allowed me initially to look at the technology from the outside.
In this discussion with Linda Ligios, Principal Innovation Solutions Consultant at Digital Catapult (spoiler: she is also not an engineer), we talked about how a non-telecom background may be an asset, especially in the age of AI and especially for women (who are more likely to come from a...
2025-09-2031 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersIs Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band at risk? With Kevin Robinson, Wi-Fi AllianceWi-Fi in the 6 GHz band is rapidly expanding through increased adoption (where allowed) and availability (in countries that have now opened or are opening the band to unlicensed use). Yet, there has been speculation that the US may roll back Wi-Fi availability and allocate part of the band to cellular.
Who else could be better to guide us through all this than Kevin Robinson, the CEO at the Wi-Fi Alliance? We discuss what could possibly happen and what we are fairly certain will not happen in the 6 GHz band in the US, while also providing an update...
2025-09-1538 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersIs AI taking over telecoms? Or is it just a tool? With Azita ArvaniAI is here to stay and will become more pervasive with time. But how will it penetrate telecom networks and organizations?
Azita Arvani and I explored this question along multiple dimensions. Is it going to be centralized or at the edge? Do we need GPUs at the edge? How quick should the transition from AI as a tool to AI-native networks be? How will sovereignty shape the adoption of AI? How aggressively should we push AI adoption? Should we wait until it gets to a more mature stage? Are we over-investing in it?
We don’t...
2025-09-0534 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersWhy does sovereign AI matter in telecoms? With Chris Jefferson at AdvaiAI carries profound implications for national, infrastructure, and personal security, with today’s geopolitical tensions adding further complexity. AI poses new challenges not only to governments and society, but also to telecom regulators, vendors, service providers, and the broader ecosystem.
In this episode, I speak with Chris Jefferson from Advai, where he works to make AI safe and reliable, and to identify and mitigate potential biases and misuse. We discuss what it means to build sovereign AI and its impact on national and infrastructure security. We explore how to balance sovereignty with the need for cross-border collaboration an...
2025-08-2837 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersWhy not have 5G on laptops? With Giovanni Severini at MicrosoftAll laptops have Wi-Fi, and yet not many have 5G connectivity. Why is it so? Giovanni Severini, Principal Group Program Manager at Microsoft, told us how and why this happened, and how this may be changing, especially in the enterprise space.
Tethering to the phone is a common workaround, but it limits performance. This may change with the increased adoption of eSIM, which makes it easier to connect to cellular networks. But Giovanni argues that there is more to this and that the conditions are ripe for a surge in cellular connectivity in laptops.
More...
2025-08-2235 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersWi-Fi in the enterprise. With Bart Giordano, Ruckus NetworksHow many connected enterprises do not have Wi-Fi? Hardly any. Yet, there are many different ways to use Wi-Fi within the enterprise. And to decide whether Wi-Fi is sufficient or if in-building cellular networks, such as CBRS, are also needed.
I talked with Bart Giordano, President at Ruckus Networks, about how the role of Wi-Fi in the enterprise keeps evolving, with the evolution of Wi-Fi technology and access to the 6GHz band.
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2025-08-1537 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersAre global standards under threat from geopolitical tensions? With Sebastian Barros, CirclesComplain as much as you want about 3GPP or IEEE — they’ve given us global standards that have been essential to the adoption, low cost, and ease of use of cellular and Wi-Fi.
I spoke with Sebastian Barros, Managing Director at Circles, about the future of global standards and shared access to new technologies. Are we on the verge of losing this? Geopolitical divisions are pushing us toward building barriers, making it harder to sustain the collaborative work that underpins global standards, openness, interoperability — and, more broadly, robust and safe technological innovation.
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2025-08-0935 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersBlockchain and DePIN for building and sharing infrastructure. With Sarah Aberg, HeliumWireless infrastructure can be expensive to build, and the business case is difficult to make in indoor and digital divide environments. Sharing the infrastructure is a powerful and efficient way to reduce costs and encourage deployments, but so far, it has been difficult to do because the business models and incentives were not there.
I talked with Sarah Aberg, Chief Legal Officer at Helium, about how decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePINs) use blockchain technology to enable a new way to share telecom infrastructure, where both infrastructure owners and service providers can make a large number of transactions...
2025-08-0137 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersHome Wi-Fi gets better and more secure. With Tiago Rodrigues, WBAWe all use Wi-Fi at home. It is so pervasive that people no longer think of having a broadband connection at home; instead, they will tell you they “have Wi-Fi.”
What is talked about less is that the Wi-Fi connection is getting better and more secure. I covered this gap with Tiago Rodrigues, President and CEO at the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA). As the number of devices and the traffic loads increase, we need more capabilities and security assurance from our home Wi-Fi networks. Wi-Fi technology has evolved to meet our needs, but we need to do a be...
2025-07-2534 min
Senza Fili Sparring PartnersTaking new technology to the market. With Alex Lawrence, TelcoForgeA recurring challenge in wireless is how to get new technology to the market and generate revenue. We are good at deploying new technologies, but struggle to monetize them sufficiently to profit from the investment made to deploy them.
This has happened with 4G, is happening with 5G and is likely to happen with AI and 6G, and it is not because the technology is not good enough. What creates the disconnect? Do we need to find new ways to bring technologies to the market?
Alex Lawrence, Managing Director at TelcoForge, and I ponder this...
2025-07-1837 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersTaking new technology to the market. With Alex Lawrence, TelcoForgeA recurring challenge in wireless is how to get new technology to the market and generate revenue. We are good at deploying new technologies, but struggle to monetize them sufficiently to profit from the investment made to deploy them.
This has happened with 4G, is happening with 5G and is likely to happen with AI and 6G, and it is not because the technology is not good enough. What creates the disconnect? Do we need to find new ways to bring technologies to the market?
Alex Lawrence, Managing Director at TelcoForge, and I ponder this...
2025-07-1848 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersReaching out to the enterprise. With Caroline Chan, IntelWhy is it taking so long for telecom service providers to get enterprises into the fold and deliver the connectivity and services they need? Caroline Chan, VP and GM of Telco AI, Network, and Edge Group at Intel, has worked closely with enterprises across various verticals for a long time, and shares her insights on the challenges of reaching the enterprise and how to address them.
We talked about the need for a rich and well-synched ecosystem, to understand what enterprises need, and to develop the right frameworks and services. We need more than technology to bring...
2025-07-1135 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersDiveIn | Network APIs and digital twins as the next frontier in digital innovation, with Sameh Yamani, CTO at VIAVIAs the world moves towards hyper-connectivity, network APIs are emerging as critical enablers of innovation across industries. In this Sparring Partners, Sameh Yamani, CTO at VIAVI Solutions, will explore the driving forces behind network APIs and how they are transforming the telecommunications landscape.
- The driving forces behind network APIs: core technological, software-defined networking (SDN), automation, and the emerging 5G and 6G ecosystems.
- The role of digital twins in the evolution of network APIs in automation, resource allocation, root cause analysis, predictive maintenance, optimization, verticals integration, and monetization.
- How digital twins en...
2025-07-041h 00Senza Fili Sparring PartnersSerendipity is not an accident. With David CleevelyThis episode is a special one for me. David Cleevely – serial entrepreneur, investor, policy adviser, and founder of Analysys and Cambridge Wireless (just to name a couple) – was the person who hired me straight out of school, with no telecoms experience whatsoever, and gave me the opportunity to pursue my passion for the industry. It’s the kind of serendipity he explores in his new book.
But this podcast isn’t about me – it’s about not just letting serendipity happen, but actively encourage it. David and I talk about how serendipity creates the right environment for innovation a...
2025-06-2848 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersNetwork APIs: A path for enterprise transformation and CSP monetization. With Harpreet Geekee at ShabodiNetwork APIs are a critical cornerstone to establishing a deep connection between CSPs and enterprises that is mutually beneficial. Enterprises can make their networks and services more agile, automated and secure, and improve the customer experience. CSPs can make their networks more efficient and monetize their network assets.
In this Sparring Partners with Harpreet Geekee, Co-Founder and CTO at Shabodi, we will talk about the transformative potential of network APIs, their architectural foundations, and use cases for both enterprises and CSPs.
Read the report "Taking telco APIs to the market. The API ecosystem c...
2025-06-131h 04Senza Fili Sparring PartnersCommercializing APIs – Taking them to the next level. With Ron Porter and Enri-k Salazar at AmdocsA conversation with Ron Porter, Head of 5G, Network & OSS Product Marketing at Amdocs and Enri-k Salazar, API Commercialization Platform at Amdocs
As networks need to establish a closer integration within a growing ecosystem of connected consumers and industries, APIs are back as a crucial tool to enable improved services and user experience to unlock new revenue opportunities.
Monetizing APIs requires more than exposure of network functionality. In this conversation with Ron Porter, Head of 5G, Network & OSS Product Marketing at Amdocs and Enri-k Salazar, Product Line Management Lead API Commercialization Platform at Amdocs, we...
2025-06-071h 06Senza Fili Sparring PartnersThe life of a digital twin. With Chris Murphy, VIAVI SolutionsDigital twins give us the unprecedented opportunity to explore alternative worlds or scenarios where things are similar to the real ones, but differ from them in subtle ways, so we can see how things look like if only we make a few changes. It is a fascinating way to explore the possible but also to avoid failures, assess the impact and benefits of network changes or new technologies, and compare different decisions before implementing one.
How does this work in practice, in real networks? I talked to Chris Murphy, Regional CTO for EMEA, VIAVI Solutions, who has...
2025-05-3034 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersHow should we test for user experience? With Irina CotanisIn the past, we used to test networks, not user experience. What really matters today, however, is user experience, and that requires a different approach to testing. Network tests may fail to uncover problems with user experience.
I spoke with Irina Cotanis, an Independent Technical Consultant I have known for a long time, while she was at Infovista, about how user experience testing is evolving to cover both human and non-human users, as well as a wider range of applications and services that must coexist on the network and have diverse requirements. All this has to be...
2025-05-2341 min
Inclusively TelecomAn inquisitive physicist view of audio accessibility and inclusionNick Hunn, a physicist with extensive experience in Bluetooth technology, discusses audio accessibility and inclusion. He highlights the shift from traditional telecoil-based hearing aids to advanced technologies that benefit everyone, not just those with hearing impairments. The new Bluetooth Auracast standard is a game-changer, enabling easy access to audio broadcasts and enhancing experiences in venues such as theaters and concerts.
Hunn emphasizes the importance of optimizing audio quality for all hearing levels and environments. He notes the trend of integrating hearing aid capabilities into consumer electronics, making them more accessible and reducing stigma. The discussion touches on...
2025-05-2336 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersWill AI increase traffic? With Sean Kinney, RCR Wireless NewsEverybody seems to think that AI will create a massive increase in traffic. The prediction sounds eerily similar to what we heard about 5G, before it got deployed. Sean Kinney, Editor in Chief at RCR Wireless News, and I beg to differ. We agree through most of the discussion, which is great because our view is definitely not in line with the industry consensus. Listen to the podcast if you want to hear something different.
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2025-05-1633 minInclusively TelecomCaptioning and other accessibility features going mainstream. With Larry GoldbergLarry Goldberg, a media and technology accessibility consultant, shares his journey from public broadcasting to consulting, focusing on accessibility and inclusion. He introduced captioning and audio description at WGBH in Boston and later worked on accessibility initiatives at Yahoo. Larry emphasizes the importance of captions and audio descriptions, noting their widespread adoption and benefits for broader audiences.
He discusses the evolution of technologies, such as Auracast, that offers low-cost, high-quality audio solutions for venues. Larry highlights the potential of AI in accessibility, though he acknowledges the challenges of regulating AI due to its complexity. He advocates for...
2025-05-1633 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersThe long-term view on automation. With Mansoor HanifWe usually look at the present or the future of technologies. In this podcast with Mansoor Hanif, Independent Executive Advisor, we took a look at the past. What were the challenges for network automation six years ago? What did we expect? In one of the first Sparring Partners on automation included in this report, I talked to Mansoor while he was at BT about zero-touch automation, AI and much more. He then moved to Ofcom and Neom, continuing to follow the progress of automation.
Here, we revisit the initial interview in light of the progress made and...
2025-05-0948 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersData sharing to optimize AI performance. With Paul Patras, Net AI and the University of EdinburghTraining data determines how good AI models are. As with any type of learning, you need good teachers and content. In telecoms, there is more data than we need, but not all is good or relevant. One way to get AI models trained on the right data is to share data across sources—operators, vendors and others.
I talked to Paul Patras, Co-founder and CEO at Net AI, and Professor of Mobile Intelligence at the University of Edinburgh, about how to share data in telecoms and how that improves the performance of AI models, for instance in in...
2025-05-0230 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersGetting UnLinkedIn the hard way. With Frazer McKimm, New Way NetworksOur identity, who we are, is increasingly becoming defined by our online self. For many of us, our LinkedIn presence has become the main or a major channel for professional social media. What happens if that disappears overnight? Literally during the night. You no longer have access to it, and someone else with a different gender, name and nationality takes over.
This is what happened to Frazer McKimm, Director at New Way Networks, who told us his story and how he managed to get himself back. I don’t want to spoil the story for you, but th...
2025-04-2431 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersAgeism and talent in telecoms. With Nirlay Kundu, IMDEA NetworksIt seems fitting to have a podcast on ageism after a popular one with Simona Marinova on attracting young talent in telecoms.
Ageism is not only hard on the people affected by it, but also limits the ability of the industry to benefit from the experience of the senior workforce. At the same time, letting older people run the show may also slow down innovation and make telecoms less appealing to the younger generations.
I talked to Nirlay Kundu, Head of Technology Standards at IMDEA Networks. I have known Nirlay for a long time since...
2025-04-2132 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersThe latest on APIs: Wi-Fi and adoption. With Markus Kümmerle, CAMARA and Deutsche TelekomIt was after the Sparring Partners with Markus Kümmerle, Chair of Marketing at CAMARA and Magenta API Exposure Tribe Leader, Deutsche Telekom, that I decided to write my report on APIs, and so we came full circle in getting an update on APIs and getting Markus' feedback on the report.
We started talking about how Wi-Fi and cellular APIs need to coexist and then went further into fixed APIs and non-telco APIs—those provided by Google, Apple, vendors, and those distributed by hyperscalers in their marketplaces.
Have a look at the report (it is fre...
2025-04-1137 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersTelco APIs from the TM Forum. With Andy Tiller, TMFMost of the talk today is on network APIs, but the universe of APIs is much bigger, and it is not only proprietary, non-telco, and Wi-Fi APIs. The TM Forum APIs have been around for a long time and have been widely adopted by service providers.
I talked with Andy Tiller, EVP Products and Services at TMF, about what the TMF APIs do, what different role and functionality they have compared to network APIs (the CAMARA and GSMA Open Gateway), how they help operators, and what spurred their adoption. We discussed APIs within the Open Digital Architecture...
2025-04-0436 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersGrowing pains in telecoms. With Joel Brand, MarvellTelecoms has become a mature industry after decades of explosive growth. How do we manage innovation, the introduction of new technologies, and the growth expectations in this new environment?
I talked with Joel Brand, at AVP Product Management at Marvell, about how we can adjust to the new environment and what changes we need to make. Telecoms has been and still is an astounding success, even though we often complain about not meeting our expectations. We spanned many topics, including dumb pipes, utilities, replacement rates, power efficiency and sustainability, network capacity and efficiency, 5G, learning from other...
2025-03-2932 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersBetter indoor Wi-Fi connectivity with Passpoint and Wi-DAS. With Howard Buzick, American BandwidthMost indoor connectivity already goes through Wi-Fi. Why do we need Passpoint to improve access to Wi-Fi networks? How can a Wi-DAS deployment help? Howard Buzick, Co-Founder at American Bandwidth, told us how Passpoint makes our Wi-Fi connections more seamless and secure and how American Bandwidth helps retail, healthcare, education and government organizations use Passpoint and a Wi-DAS architecture to make it easier to connect to their networks and to improve coverage.
Check out American Bandwith at https://ameriband.com
2025-03-2138 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersWireless ticketing on trains in the US: Why is it so hard? With Jim Allison, CCJPAIf you use public transportation across countries, you probably noticed how much easier it is to pay with your phone in Europe or Asia than in the US. In part, this may be due to the more limited public transportation infrastructure and use and lower use of contactless payments for non-cash payments (half that of Europe).
But what I learned from talking to Jim Allison, Manager of Planning, Capitol Corridor Joint Power Authority (CCJPA), is that setting up wireless ticketing in the US is extremely complex – more so that, say, in the UK. Jim managed to pull it...
2025-03-1636 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersReal-life, revenue-generating network APIs at TIM Brazil. With Leonardo Siqueira, TIM BrazilCommercial adoption of APIs is still in the early days in most markets, but there are a few exceptions. Brazil is one of them, with operators offering them to app developers and getting revenues from them, supported by market demand and a facilitating regulatory environment. I talked with Leonardo Siqueira, Data Monetization and Mobile Ads Director at TIM Brazil, about the API rollout from 2023, the use cases, business models and what lies ahead.
If you want to read the transcript or watch us on video go here.
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2025-02-2142 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersOpen DAS: Open RAN and DAS converge. With Upendra Pingle, ANDREWIt is hard to overstate the need for more indoor capacity and better coverage when you think that over 80% of traffic comes from indoor locations. And to address this need, we need more indoor infrastructure. But what’s the best way to get there? DAS or small cells? Or is Wi-Fi enough?
I talked to Upendra Pingle, General Manager, Indoor Cellular Networks at ANDREW, an Ampehnol company, one of the most passionate advocates of indoor coverage, and we talked about what could be a third way: Open DAS. It is different from the expensive and complex traditional DA...
2025-02-1438 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersDoes 6G need private networks? Do private networks need 6G? With Dean Bubley, Disruptive AnalysisDean Bubley at Disruptive Analysis and I had a broad and deep discussion on the future of private networks as we move to 6G. We talked about indoor coverage, Wi-Fi networks, standardization, 3GPP and future adoption. But I do not want to spoil your experience, so you have to listen to know what our answers are.
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2025-02-0746 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersDeepSeek, Agentic AI: Moving forward with AI. With Siavash Alamouti, mimikWhat do DeepSeek and agentic AI have in common? They show how AI and GenAI are evolving. They are not just getting better. They are spreading out in multiple directions to better meet our needs, to be more efficient, and, ultimately, to make the adoption of AI easier and more compelling.
Siavash Alamouti, Co-Founder and Chairman at mimik, presents a fascinating and compelling vision of how AI is evolving, and a precise and insightful assessment of DeepSeek. No panic, no hype, but a realistic and positive outlook of what the future may bring us.
Highly r...
2025-01-3140 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersAI-RAN: All you need to know. With Alex Jinsung Choi, SoftBank and the AI-RAN AllianceEverybody talks about AI-RAN, but it is often unclear what they mean by it, how it relates to Open RAN, how AI will change the RAN evolution, and what AI in the RAN will help operators support new services or improve current ones.
Alex Jinsung Choi, Principal Fellow at SoftBank Corp. and Chair at the AI-RAN Alliance, explains it all with great clarity and a clear vision for what RAN evolution is about, drawing from his previous work at Deutsche Telekom, O-RAN ALLIANCE and TIP.
If you want to dig deeper, check out...
2025-01-2429 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersAttracting talent in telecom. With Simona Marinova, Bell CanadaTelecom is no longer the magnet for talent that it was when I joined. Talented people entering the job market now often prefer to work for hyperscalers or other high-tech companies. Why is it so? And how can we make telecom more attractive to the younger generations?
I talked to one of the super-talented young people, Simona Marinova, Solution Architect at Bell Canada, who bucked the trend and joined Bell Canada while doing her Ph.D. at the University of Toronto to see what motivated her to get into telecom and to talk about what we can...
2025-01-1621 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersCatching up with Yago Tenorio, Verizon: A new job and 2025 predictionsYago Tenorio just moved to Verizon as SVP and CTO from Vodafone—and from Europe to the US. We talked about how Europe and the US compare, what he will do at Verizon, what the future holds for Open RAN and what 2025 looks like for telecom.
As always, Yago has deep and unique insights into the technology and the market, and in this conversation, we went off the beaten path to explore new perspectives on technology evolution – how we got here and where we are going.
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2025-01-1037 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersHow will quantum computing change telecoms? With Sapphire Lally and Amit Nagpal, Aetha ConsultingQuantum technology promises massive increases in computing speed and efficiency. What will this mean for telecoms? Sapphire Lally, Consultant, and Amit Nagpal, Partner at Aetha Consulting took us on a fascinating overview of what quantum technology is and the role it can play in telecoms (spoiler: security is the low-hanging fruit, network efficiency is next).
While vendors and operators have started exploring quantum, we are still in an early development phase. What are the opportunities and challenges? What will the timeline be? Who will be part of the ecosystem? How should we get ready for quantum computing...
2025-01-0338 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersIs RCS finally taking off? With Mario Betti, Mobile Ecosystem ForumIt has taken some time, but finally RCS is becoming ubiquitous in mobile devices. No longer confined to the Android world, it is now supported by Apple devices. In this conversation with Dario Betti, CEO at Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF), we talked about what the adoption of RCS means for subscribers, operators, enterprises and everybody else in a widening ecosystem. Is RCS going to replace SMS? Can RCS expand WhatsApp services or compete with it? Will revenues shift from SMS to RCS? And will they grow?
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2024-12-1333 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersBlockchain enables new offload and sharing models. With Mario Di Dio, Nova LabsOffload can improve subscriber experience and reduce operators’ costs, but it is still limited because we do not have the right economic incentives and transparency on the quality of the offload. Can blockchain help create new business models that combine transparency and incentives and that will get offload off the ground? Mario Di Dio, GM of Network at Nova Labs/Helium, presents a new offload model that uses blockchain to share KPIs and the real-estate value of Wi-Fi offload connections and to create a market for Wi-Fi hotspot owners and operators to manage offload.
More on Helium at h...
2024-12-0737 minInclusively TelecomInclusively with Rupert Baines | AI and mental healthHow should we make the workplace more inclusive for mentally ill and neurodiverse people? How will AI help in diagnosing, treating and helping mental illness? Will AI help disabled people to socialize or cause isolation? We explored these issues and more with Rupert Baines, Chair of the UKTIN Semiconductor Expert Working Group, who has been dealing with mentally ill and neurodiverse people working in his teams and trying to understand their needs and make the needed accommodations so that they could flourish in their job.
You can find out more about Inclusively Telecom and the live Inclusively...
2024-11-2933 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersTrump Administration: What should we expect? With Monica Alleven, Fierce WirelessWe don’t yet know for sure what will change in January with the second Trump term, but a picture is coming together on what may happen with anticipated nominations (Brendan Carr to head the FCC, and more) and with the expected influence of Elon Musk. Monica Alleven has explored this topic and written extensively about it at Fierce Wireless and shared her insight in this episode – and as always, it was a pleasure to talk to Monica. We covered BEAD, USF, satellite, fair share, net neutrality, FCC, regulation in the US in comparison to other countries, and more.
2024-11-2934 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersFYUZ24 behind the scenes. With Eugina Jordan, TIPFYUZ is the yearly event where the TIP community congregates. This year, it was last week (November 11-13) in Dublin. I talked with Eugina Jordan, CMO at TIP, who worked hard to make it a success, about what happened at FYUZ, what we like about it, what has changed, and what the trends are for next year in OpenRAN, OpenWiFi, and Open Optical, and how AI is going to impact them.
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Send us feedback, questions...
2024-11-2329 minSenza Fili Sparring Partners5G lessons learned. With Azita ArvaniWe are midway in our 5G journey. It may not have been as game-changing as many expected, but it did improve connectivity, and it is an impressive new technology. There is ample room for improvement, this much is clear.
What can we learn from the beginnings of 5G to continue the innovation? What should we do differently? Azita Arvani, ex-CEO at Rakuten Symphony North America, and I agree that we should not give up on 5G and wait until 6G arrives. But how aggressive should we be in pushing technological innovation in an affordable way?
S...
2024-11-1537 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersWireless/Wireline: Is the contraposition still relevant? With Mark Gilmour, ConnectiviTreeWe usually think about wireline and wireless as alternative, complementary and at times competing ways to provide connectivity. But increasingly connectivity to any device requires the combination of wireline and wireless components. Access is mostly wireless through cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or other interfaces, and, eventually, the connection is transported to fiber. What is variable is where the wireless signal moves into the wireline realm. For instance, backhaul can be wireless or wireline.
Does it still make sense to think of wireless and wireline as separate? Or are they both inherently necessary components of connectivity? I debated these...
2024-11-0134 minInclusively TelecomInclusively with Mansoor Hanif | The cities of the futureWe were joined on Inclusively by Mansoor Hanif, recently of Neom, previously with BT/EE and Ofcom. Mansoor is currently enjoying himself as an angel investor (for instance in Darabase) and strategic advisor after his recent stint in the desert. He brings vast experience to the discussion about how we build more inclusive cities in the future. His ideas will make you think differently about how we live our urban lives going forward.
You can find out more about Inclusively Telecom and the live Inclusively events at
https://senzafili.com/inclusively_in_telecom/
...
2024-10-2933 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersQuickFire | Was 5G a failure? With Geoff Hollingworth at Rakuten SymphonyGeoff Hollingworth, CMO at Rakuten Symphony, and I agree on many things, but we have sharply different views on the success of 5G. I think 5G did just fine; Geoff thinks it was a failure. So we set to debate this, and we had quite a revealing conversation (I don’t want to spoil it) on technology, standardization, 3GPP, monetization and, of all things, communism.
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Send us feedback, questions, and suggestions for guests and topics at...
2024-10-2534 minInclusively TelecomInclusively with Giovanni Severini, Microsoft | Better sound quality for assistive hearing devicesCurrent Classic Audio Bluetooth connectivity to assistive hearing devices does not deliver a good quality of experience and requires too much power. Bluetooth Low Energy Audio (LE Audio) is a new technology for audio streaming over Bluetooth that allows audio devices to run longer on a charge, with increased audio quality and reduced latency.
We talked to Giovanni Severini, Principal Group Program Manager at Microsoft, about how LE Audio can help people with hearing impairment and how Microsoft supports the technology and has partnered with the hearing device ecosystem to ensure the new technology is rapidly adopted...
2024-10-2233 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersQuickFire | Why does it take so long to innovate? With Sumit Roy, University of WashingtonWe often may feel that much of technology innovation in wireless either does not get deployed in commercial networks or that the process is very slow. Is that the case? And what sets the pace of innovation? Are there areas where we should be innovating at a faster rate to meet our connectivity needs, especially those of enterprises and other verticals?
Sumit Roy, a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, shared his perspective gained in work in the private sector, government and academia.
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2024-10-1831 min
Senza Fili Sparring PartnersQuickFire | How do analysts learn about the industry? With Emmy Johnson and Daryl SchoolarThree analysts got together to talk about what we think works and does not work at in-person and virtual analyst events and other industry events. My guests were fellow analysts and friends Emmy Johnson, Founder & Principal Analyst at Sky Light Research and Daryl Schoolar, Director at Recon Analytics.
We compared notes of what we find useful and what our suggestions are to make our interactions with vendors and operators more effective for us and for the companies hosting them.
Sign up for the mailing list at https://senzafili.com/senza-fili-mailing-list/ to receive invitations to the...
2024-10-1129 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersQuickFire | What should 6G do for us? Part 2 With Preston Marshall, GoogleThis is the second part of the discussion I had with Preston Marshall, Director of Wireless Standards and Policy at Google Internet Evangelism, Co-Chair of Spectrum Sharing Committee at WInnForum, and Chairman, OnGo (CBRS) Alliance.
At the end of the first episode, we realized we did not cover many of the topics we had on our list, so we recorded a second episode. We still did not cover all of them, but we made some progress. In this episode, we talked about 3GPP, spectrum, private networks, CBRS, phone numbers and SIM cards.
Again, our discussion...
2024-10-0435 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersQuickFire | Why monetization is harder to find than loveEverybody pursues monetization, yet it appears to be increasingly elusive. Just as love can be. Yet, I argue that finding love in life is easier than finding monetization in wireless.
Not everything is lost, as long as we think of monetization not primarily in terms of new or larger revenue streams but in terms of profitability—which takes us to selective adoption of technology to increase efficiency rather than get a few dollars from unwilling subscribers.
It may help to think of direct and indirect monetization and how they both address the opportunity for additional rev...
2024-09-2724 min
Inclusively TelecomVIAVI: Automation at an inflection point: Are you ready to go? With Per KangruAutomation is at an inflection point. It is no longer a future aspiration, it is something that operators have started to implement, both in their new and legacy networks. They see the opportunity for cost savings and increased efficiency, but also the risks and challenges automation brings.
In this Sparring Partners, Per Kangru at VIAVI shares how the experience with operators shaped VIAVI’s approach to automation and provides guidance for operators evaluating what are the most fruitful steps in their automation journey.
• Is there an in...
2024-09-241h 01
Inclusively TelecomKeysight: Getting open RAN up and running. With Kalyan SundharOperators are getting ready to deploy open RAN in commercial, live networks. Each operator is defining its strategy and flavor of open RAN, its pace, and its vendor ecosystem.
Yet, they all need to ensure that the open RAN architecture and topology they choose work as expected. Are the equipment, the software, the platforms and the applications interoperable? How can they optimize the end-to-end network performance to meet subscribers’ needs and expectations? Open RAN requires a new approach to deploy and operate the RAN – from operators and vendors alike.
2024-09-241h 01
Inclusively TelecomMavenir, Rakuten, Nokia: Vendor perspectives on open RANRecent announcements by AT&T, 1&1 and Deutsche Telekom indicate an inflection point in the readiness for open RAN commercial deployments, but also an emerging new approach in vendor selection.
In this Sparring Partners, I talked to John Baker at Mavenir, Geoff Hollingworth at Rakuten Symphony and Aji Ed at Nokia about how vendors approach disaggregation in the open RAN market today and how they expect that vendor selection will evolve in the future in the overall RAN market.
You can watch the video...
2024-09-241h 01
Inclusively TelecomTareq Amin, Aramco Digital: Driving innovation in the Middle EastThe Middle East is emerging as a hot area for digital transformation, driven by R&D funding, limited resistance from legacy infrastructure and organizational culture, and a desire to get a more prominent role in the global market.
Tareq Amin, CEO at Aramco Digital, was our Sparring Partner and talked about his recent move from Japan, where he was the CEO of Rakuten Mobile, to Saudi Arabia. He told us how his job has changed, and about the pace of innovation he found in the Middle East. What are the opportunities...
2024-09-241h 00
Inclusively TelecomVIAVI: GenAI: Network autonomy or network automation? With Anbu GaneshThere is much talk about how GenAI will change how we operate and automate telco networks, but there is also much uncertainty about GenAI’s potential, challenges, opportunities and adoption models.
We talked with Anbu Ganesh, Business Director of Innovation & Business Development at VIAVI, to get the insider’s view on what GenAI has started to deliver, how it will evolve, and how to implement it in networks to maximize its promised benefits.
Anbu shared his experience developing network automation solutions that leverage AI t...
2024-09-241h 01
Senza Fili Sparring PartnersQuickFire | What should 6G do for us? With Preston Marshall, GoogleWe still do not know what 6G is going to be, but it is the right time to decide what we want it to do. I talked to Preston Marshall, Director of Wireless Standards and Policy at Google Internet Evangelism, CoChair of Spectrum Sharing Committee at WInnForum, and Chairman, OnGo (CBRS) Alliance, about what users, the operators and the rest of the wireless ecosystem need 6G to do differently, and not just better, than 5G.
Pres and I talked about how to think about monetization in 5G and 6G, the crucial role of the core in the...
2024-09-2033 minInclusively TelecomInclusively with Salesforce | Building accessibility into products from scratchSalesforce has built accessibility and inclusive design into its processes, products and services and established an accessibility group at the heart of the business. Its multi-pronged approach benefits from executive buy-in and builds up from the bottom with a specialist accessibility team spreading the word throughout the organization.
In this Inclusively conversation, Jacqui Tolisano Senior Director, Product Accessibility and Adam Rodenbeck, Senior Digital Accessibility Engineer at Salesforce, joined Chris Lewis and Monica Paolini to explore how this inclusive approach works within the Salesforce model and how their lessons learned can be applied to the telecoms industry.
2024-09-1651 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersQuickFire | The software developer view on telco APIs, with Magnus Olden, DomosMagnus Olden, CTO at Domos, comes to telco API from an IT and Wi-Fi background and works to make API less complex, more easily usable and valuable to application developers.
We talked about what app developers need, and how their perspective can be very different from that of operators and the telco ecosystem. How could we get telcos and app developers to both benefit from API? How can we get APIs to also cover Wi-Fi access? What are the implications for API adoption and monetization? We squeezed a lot in our half-hour conversation.
I highly...
2024-09-1328 minInclusively TelecomInclusively with BeMyEyes | Creating a more accessible world with AI for blind peopleBe My Eyes is a fantastic example of how human volunteers and, now, AI, leveraging the power of smart phones, can help blind people interact with the world around them. From a simple start using the phone camera to help guide someone around their home, it has now evolved into a global business helping blind people, as well as businesses serving their blind and vision impaired customers.
Chris and Monica talked to Hans Jørgen Wiberg, Founder, and Jesper Hvirring Henriksen, CTO at Be My Eyes.
Read Chris' summary of the podcast at
https...
2024-09-0947 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersQuick Fire | Open networks, open RAN, with John Baker, MavenirJohn Baker is the SVP of Business Development at Mavenir and one of the strongest proponents of Open RAN, since the very beginnings. We have talked about Open RAN in a previous Sparring Partners, and this is an update on the progress of Open RAN and the market outlook.
How are we moving from Open RAN to end-to-end open networks? How is the concept of Open RAN evolving? Open RAN deployments are taking longer than some initially expected: Does it mean that Open RAN is not working as expected, or that it simply takes time to get a...
2024-09-0730 minInclusively TelecomInclusively Telecom: IntroductionChris Lewis and Lewis Insight, and Monica Paolini at Senza Fili, the hosts of Inclusively Telecom introduce the new podcast. They talk about the format, goals, topic and approach.
You can find out more about Inclusively Telecom and the live Inclusively events at
https://senzafili.com/inclusively_in_telecom/
Send us feedback, questions, and suggestions for guests and topics at inclusively@senzafili.com
You can subscribe to the podcast on the platform of your choice, including Apple and Spotify
2024-09-0612 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersQuickFire | Introduction: What Sparring Partners is aboutThis is an introduction to the podcast version of Sparring Partners from Monica Paolini, the podcast host on what Sparring Partners is about, its approach and its format.
I talk about the reasons why I am starting a weekly podcast, QuickFire, which will coexist with the longer DiveIn Sparring Partners that you may be familiar with.
I have uploaded recent Sparring Partners, but this is the inaugural podcast-from-scratch QuickFire one. More will come soon.
More on Senza Fili at https://senzafili.com
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2024-08-3013 minSenza Fili Sparring PartnersAPIs: the good, the bad, the debatable, with Markus Kümmerle, Deutsche Telekom and CAMARA, and Daryl Schoolar at Recon AnalyticsA conversation with Markus Kümmerle, Deutsche Telekom and CAMARA, Daryl Schoolar at Recon Analytics and Monica Paolini at Senza Fili on the value, benefits and challenges of APIs
APIs have been around for a long time, but in the last couple of years have become one of the brightest beacons of monetization, even though their role is much wider than that. With the GSMA launch of the Open Gateway, there are signs of growth and adoption, but also questions about adoption paths, use cases and business models.
In this Sparring Partners, Markus Kümmerle, De...
2024-07-271h 01Senza Fili Sparring PartnersAI-driven automation at AT&T, with Jennifer YatesIn this final Sparring Partners on AI and automation, we heard the operator's perspective from Jennifer Yates about AT&T's experience to date, ongoing activities, and future roadmap to adopt AI-driven automation and eventually move to autonomous networks.
Jennifer shared her deep, first-hand experience in running highly innovative projects to manage and optimize the AT&T network using AI and ML, and discussed the challenges and opportunities of these new technologies:
What are the most promising use cases?
How do you assess the costs and benefits of AI models and automation?
Will you build your own...
2024-07-201h 02Senza Fili Sparring PartnersNETSCOUT: Rethinking AIOps – It’s all about the data, with Rick FulwilerIn network operations, we are always looking for areas for improvement. How should we manage applications to best serve end customers? How can we use end-to-end visibility of application and service performance to end customers, anomaly detection for automated pattern discovery and prediction to improve quality of experience? How should we utilize software-driven networks to deliver new services and support monetization strategies?
In this Sparring Partners with Rick Fulwiler, Chief Solutions Architect at NETSCOUT, we discussed how AIOps is becoming the focal point driving the transformation to improve network operations across all lines of business—IT, enterprise, ca...
2024-06-211h 01Senza Fili Sparring PartnersVIAVI: The decomposable AI landscape. With Per Kangru and Takai Eddine KennoucheAI will change the way we operate telecom networks. But what’s the best way to get there? How should we introduce AI to get the benefits it promises but avoid duplication, conflicts among different AI models, and undesired outcomes? How do we know AI models will deliver what we expect?
In this Sparring Partners, Per Kangru and Takai Eddine Kennouche at VIAVI Solutions shared their AIOps practical experience and vision for integrating AI and ML in network operations in an efficient and streamlined way and preserving the reliability and quality of experience that are non-negotiable.
AI...
2024-05-241h 06Senza Fili Sparring PartnersWill AI change how humans operate in telecoms? With Paul Patras and Azita ArvaniMost of the time, we talk about how AI, ML and GenAI change the way we run and operate networks, enable automation, tame complexity, and improve efficiency. They also change the way we – the humans in telecoms – operate, the skills we need, and how we deal with AI-based platforms. This will require profound changes and our ability to meet the cultural and technological challenges is going to be crucial to benefit from AI.
In this Sparring Partners, we talked with Azita Arvani, formerly at Rakuten Symphony, and Paul Patras at Net AI and the University of Edinburgh abou...
2024-05-101h 04Senza Fili Sparring PartnersIntel: AI everywhere, from the edge to the cloud with Cristina RodriguezAI-driven automation is going to change the way we run our networks end-to-end, from the access in the RAN all the way to the core, from the edge infrastructure to the cloud. To get there, we need the right silicon and platforms. Are we there yet?
In this Sparring Partners, we talked with Cristina Rodriguez at Intel about the network transformation that AI and automation enable and about the role that Intel plays in the industry ecosystem.
Are we ready to fully embark on AI-driven automation?
Do we need automation more or less as we move...
2024-05-031h 03Senza Fili Sparring PartnersMavenir: The future network is open and autonomous. With Brandon LarsonIt is not coincidental that networks are evolving towards openness and automation at the same time. Openness brings flexibility and choice, but also increased complexity. Automation, aided by cloudification and AI, enables operators to manage complexity and benefit from the flexibility in the network. Together, openness and automation change the way we operate networks and deliver services.
In this Sparring Partners with Brandon Larson, SVP, GM, Cloud, AI & IMS at Mavenir, we talked about how openness and automation work together to
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2024-04-261h 01Senza Fili Sparring PartnersFujitsu: How AI, ML and GenAI can increase network efficiency today. With Blake HlavatyIntelligent applications and generative AI will help operators increase the value of their already installed and new networks. By using network-specific knowledge, they can empower operators with trusted solutions that increase network efficiency.
In this Sparring Partners with Blake Hlavaty, Director of Global Network Software Offers at Fujitsu, we discussed the practical adoption of automation powered by
Sign up for the mailing list at https://senzafili.com/senza-fili-mailing-list/to receive invitations to the live Sparring Partners events
Send us feedback, questions, and suggestions for guests and topics at podcast@senzafili.com
Y...
2024-04-121h 02Senza Fili Sparring PartnersTareq Amin, Aramco Digital: Driving innovation in the Middle EastThe Middle East is emerging as a hot area for digital transformation, driven by R&D funding, limited resistance from legacy infrastructure and organizational culture, and a desire to get a more prominent role in the global market.
Tareq Amin, CEO at Aramco Digital, was our Sparring Partner and talked about his recent move from Japan, where he was the CEO of Rakuten Mobile, to Saudi Arabia. He told us how his job has changed, and about the pace of innovation he found in the Middle East. What are the opportunities? What are the challenges? What is...
2024-03-151h 00Senza Fili Sparring PartnersVIAVI: GenAI: Network autonomy or network automation? With Anbu GaneshThere is much talk about how GenAI will change how we operate and automate telco networks, but there is also much uncertainty about GenAI’s potential, challenges, opportunities and adoption models.
We talked with Anbu Ganesh, Business Director of Innovation & Business Development at VIAVI, to get the insider’s view on what GenAI has started to deliver, how it will evolve, and how to implement it in networks to maximize its promised benefits.
Anbu shared his experience developing network automation solutions that leverage AI technologies, and helping operators roll them out in their networks to tran...
2024-02-141h 01Senza Fili Sparring PartnersMavenir, Rakuten, Nokia: Vendor perspectives on open RANRecent announcements by AT&T, 1&1 and Deutsche Telekom indicate an inflection point in the readiness for open RAN commercial deployments, but also an emerging new approach in vendor selection.
In this Sparring Partners, I talked to John Baker at Mavenir, Geoff Hollingworth at Rakuten Symphony and Aji Ed at Nokia about how vendors approach disaggregation in the open RAN market today and how they expect that vendor selection will evolve in the future in the overall RAN market.
You can watch the video at https://senzafili.com/videos/sparring-partners-vendor-perspectives-on-open-ran/
Sign up f...
2024-01-191h 01Senza Fili Sparring PartnersKeysight: Getting open RAN up and running. With Kalyan SundharOperators are getting ready to deploy open RAN in commercial, live networks. Each operator is defining its strategy and flavor of open RAN, its pace, and its vendor ecosystem.
Yet, they all need to ensure that the open RAN architecture and topology they choose work as expected. Are the equipment, the software, the platforms and the applications interoperable? How can they optimize the end-to-end network performance to meet subscribers’ needs and expectations? Open RAN requires a new approach to deploy and operate the RAN – from operators and vendors alike.
In this conversation, Kalyan Sundhar, VP and G...
2023-12-151h 01Senza Fili Sparring PartnersVIAVI: Automation at an inflection point: Are you ready to go? With Per KangruAutomation is at an inflection point. It is no longer a future aspiration, it is something that operators have started to implement, both in their new and legacy networks. They see the opportunity for cost savings and increased efficiency, but also the risks and challenges automation brings.
In this Sparring Partners, Per Kangru at VIAVI shares how the experience with operators shaped VIAVI’s approach to automation and provides guidance for operators evaluating what are the most fruitful steps in their automation journey.
Is there an inflection point in the adoption of automation? Why now?
What are...
2023-12-081h 01Senza Fili Sparring PartnersBell Canada: How will RIC make open RAN more efficient? With Simona MarinovaRIC promises to make open RAN (and traditional RAN too) more efficient. But when? Are we ready to deploy RIC? And what RIC functionality is available now and what should we expect over the next few years? How dependent are open RAN deployments on RIC?
In this Sparring Partners, Simona Marinova at Bell Canada and Monica Paolini at Senza Fili gave an update on RIC availability and maturity, and talked about how beneficial RIC will be in the evolution of the RAN:
How are we doing on non-real-time and real-time RIC?
Is RIC crucial to open...
2023-11-241h 01Senza Fili Sparring PartnersGetting RIS off the ground with AI and ML. With Melike Erol-Kantarci at the University of OttawaReconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) open the way to one of the most fascinating technological advances: passive transmission. RIS turns reflection from a source of interference to an entirely new way to transmit the wireless signal that is well suited to the dense, high-traffic, high-obstruction areas where the need for capacity is the highest and connectivity often disappointing.
In this Sparring Partners with Melike Erol-Kantarci at the University of Ottawa, we talked about her research on how RIS can improve capacity and coverage by creating a sublayer of elements that are small, inexpensive and energy-efficient (passive transmission does...
2023-10-271h 01Senza Fili Sparring PartnersWhat’s the best way to share the 6 GHz spectrum? With Pasquale CataldiThe 6GHz band has become prime estate: a large amount of spectrum that can be safely shared with incumbents and used for indoor connectivity and densification in high-traffic areas.
Understandably, everybody wants to use it and protect their access to it: mobile operators, other service providers, enterprises, public entities, and everybody in their homes.
Who should have access to it? How should we ensure coexistence with incumbents? And how should we protect the right to access the spectrum?
Pasquale Cataldi at Innovation Lamba and Monica Paolini at Senza Fili examined different approaches to...
2023-09-291h 01Senza Fili Sparring PartnersOpen RAN: The path to 6G. With Ravi Sinha, O-RAN ALLIANCEWe are still in the 5G and 5G Advanced phase, but it is good to take a peek at where 6G may take us in the evolution towards an open RAN – and possibly beyond what we now call Open RAN.
In this Sparring Partner, I talked with Ravi Sinha at O-RAN ALLIANCE about multiple RAN evolution paths from 5G/5G-A to 6G that will open the RAN beyond the fronthaul interface.
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Sen...
2023-09-221h 03Senza Fili Sparring PartnersIs Wi-Fi more energy efficient than 5G? With Claus Hetting at Wi-Fi NOWWe had many Sparring Partners on energy efficiency in wireless, but none was on Wi-Fi. This is a glaring omission since Wi-Fi accounts for the majority of wireless traffic – in most countries, it hovers at around 80% of wireless traffic. Yet, there is much less data (and debate) on Wi-Fi energy efficiency than on 5G or LTE – and there are reasons for this.
Claus Hetting at Wi-Fi NOW helped us fill this gap in the next Sparring Partners. We debated on the energy efficiency of Wi-Fi, and on how it compares to that of 5G and LTE. We also...
2023-09-021h 01