Shows
Telco in 20Ep 118 - Telefónica Germany moves the network to the public cloud (Mallik Rao)Telecom operators worldwide need to modernize their infrastructure and reduce costs. While many have been hesitant to move critical network functions to the public cloud, a growing number of visionary operators are proving that cloud-native networks aren't just possible—they're the future.Today, I'm speaking with Mallik Rao, chief technology and enterprise business officer at Telefónica Germany, who is leading the world's first brownfield migration of a 5G core network to AWS. We dive into the technical challenges his team faced, the organizational transformation required, and why combining cloud-native architecture with Open RAN is poised to rev...2025-06-2419 minTelco in 20Ep 117 - Vodafone's new rules with open APIs, cloud-native, and AI (Lester Thomas)The telecommunications industry has reached a critical inflection point where legacy IT systems can no longer support the demands of an AI-first world. Traditional telco technology approaches are too complex, slow, and fundamentally incompatible with the speed and agility required for modern digital services.Today I'm speaking with Dr. Lester Thomas, head of new technologies and innovation at Vodafone Digital and IT, and a TM Forum Distinguished Fellow. Lester has driven some of the most ambitious cloud transformation projects in telecom, including Vodafone's groundbreaking data migration that consolidated servers across multiple countries into a unified cloud platform...2025-06-1024 minTelco in 20Ep 116 - You CAN run the network on AWS’ public cloud (Ishwar Parulkar)The debate over whether telco network workloads can run on the public cloud has raged for years. While greenfield operators like DISH Wireless have demonstrated that a cloud-native 5G network is possible, critics dismiss these examples as outliers that don’t apply to established networks. But recent developments with brownfield operators and new infrastructure options are changing the conversation about what's possible.In this episode, I'm talking with Dr. Ishwar Parulkar, Chief Technologist for Telecom at AWS. With extensive experience creating cloud solutions for telecom networks, Ishwar is at the forefront of helping operators transition their networks to...2025-05-2720 minTelco in 20Ep 114 - What’s up with Totogi: The ontology of BSS MagicIn today's telco landscape, operators are struggling with legacy BSS systems that are highly customized, expensive, and impossible to change. Rather than continuing the traditional approach of swapping out systems (ouch) or simply adding AI to siloed applications, a more revolutionary solution is emerging—one that creates a digital twin of your entire telco business and applies AI across all systems simultaneously.For this episode, I talk with Marc Breslow, Field CTO at Totogi. We're exploring how Totogi’s BSS Magic is helping telcos leverage AI without replacing their existing systems while delivering dramatic results in weeks, inst...2025-04-2919 minTelco in 20Ep 112 – AI agents are transforming telco, with Microsoft (Kevin Shatzkamer)The telecom industry is adopting AI at break speed. Unlike past innovations that demanded risky network transformations and long timelines, AI-based innovation is accelerating experimentation without disrupting core networks. For this episode, I sat down with Kevin Shatzkamer, corporate vice president of customer experience strategy and operations at Microsoft, to explore the power of agentic AI and why it represents such a transformative opportunity for telcos. Listen now to hear:Why AI could be the fastest technology adoption in telecom history [03:37];How AI agents reimagine processes instead of retrofitting existing workflows [08:16];Ways Microsoft's telecom customers are p...2025-04-0119 minTelco in 20Ep 111 – Building an AI-first telco (MWC)A few weeks ago I gave my FIFTH Mobile World Congress talk at the GSMA’s Gen AI Summit. More than 2,000 people RSVP’d for the event, and the room was packed with telco industry leaders eager to learn more about building an AI-first telco. But the big problem they have to overcome is their mountain of tech debt from their legacy BSS systems. In my talk, I explained how AI can help operators leverage their existing BSS estate and use it to drive toward an AI-first future. I’ve turned my talk into this podcast. Listen now to...2025-03-1811 minTelco in 20Ep 110 – Hyperscaler CapEx is going nuclear (Charles Fitzgerald)The Big Three hyperscalers each hit an all-time high in CapEx spending in 2024, collectively investing almost $200 billion. For this episode, I speak with Charles Fitzgerald, managing director at Platformonomics, whose annual "Follow the CAPEX" report tracks the cloud providers’ spending. He pulls back the curtain on what’s driving investments, how AI and nuclear power are coming into play, and whether telcos have what it takes to sell AI workload capacity at the edge. Listen now to hear:What happened with hyperscaler CapEx spending in 2024 [02:49];Insights into the Stargate project, which aims to boost AI infrastructure and know-how in t...2025-03-0419 minTelco in 20Ep 109 – The power of agentic AI with Appledore Research (John Abraham)The telco industry is in the midst of a GenAI revolution, with vendors and operators racing to integrate this technology into their products and services. But with all the buzz around AI capabilities, how can telcos tell which solutions can deliver real business value, and which are just marketing hype?For this episode, I sit down with John Abraham, principal analyst and leader of the digital enablement practice at Appledore Research. We dive into how operators can identify true AI innovation, trends in BSS, and how telcos can start to address vendor interoperability challenges. Listen now to...2025-02-1819 minTelco in 20Ep 108 - Wake up and smell the BSS with Ray Le Maistre from TelecomTVTelecomTV’s DSP Leaders Council is a hand-picked group of ~100 industry experts (including moi) that weighs in regularly on the state of the telco industry. A recent survey of Council members on the topic of Digital Support Systems (DSS) revealed that operators are grappling with mixed feelings about AI, with some dragging their feet on AI adoption, and others racing toward an AI-driven future. Today, I’m talking about the survey findings with TelecomTV Editorial Director Ray LeMaitre. We dig into where telcos are making progress, what’s holding them back, and what needs to happen to spark industry-wide AI tra...2025-02-0419 minTelco in 20Ep 107 - Wrapping your head around Responsible AI (Ferry Grijpink)As artificial intelligence (AI) adoption accelerates across the telco industry, operators are grappling with a big challenge: how to empower employees with transformative AI tools while ensuring responsible use. For this episode, I’m talking with McKinsey & Company Partner Ferry Grijpink who leads the global consulting firm’s Center for Advanced Connectivity within the Technology, Media & Telecommunications Practice. As one of the authors of a recent report, Responsible AI: A Business Imperative for Telcos, he has ideas on how telcos can find the right balance between innovation and managing risk. Listen now to hear:The definition of Responsible AI a...2025-01-2119 minTelco in 20Ep 106 – Alianza rescues Metaswitch (Brian Beutler)The telecom industry got a jolt of excitement in December 2024 when Alianza, a nimble cloud communications company, swooped in to buy Metaswitch from Microsoft. The deal promises to breathe new life into Metaswitch's legacy soft-switch technology while giving telcos a clear path to cloud modernization. For this episode, I’m talking with Brian Beutler, founder and CEO of Alianza, about why Alianza made this bold move and what’s next for Metaswitch customers. Listen now to hear:Three reasons why Alianza pursued the MetaSwitch acquisition [03:00];How it plans to create stability for customers and let them define their own...2025-01-0718 minTelco in 20Ep 105 – NVIDIA’s vision for AI and the RAN (Chris Penrose)Most telcos use only a small portion of their available network capacity on an average day, but what if telcos could turn this underutilized asset into a new revenue stream? For this episode, I talk with Chris Penrose, NVIDIA’s global vice president of business development for telco, about how the company’s AI-RAN concept is poised to help telcos build efficiency and boost the bottom line. Listen now to hear:The goals of NVIDIA’s collaboration on the AI-RAN Alliance [04:25];The astonishing results of a NVIDIA-SoftBank AI-RAN field trial—including estimated profit margins of 220% for every AI-RAN server a...2024-12-1021 minTelco in 20Ep 104 – Get ready for re:Invent with AWS (Jillian Forde)I recently sat down with Jillian Forde on “The Official AWS Podcast” to talk about how Totogi’s AWS-first charging-as-a-service solution helped restore mobile connectivity to 23 million subscribers in Sudan during a crisis. For this episode, I’m bringing a condensed version of our conversation to listeners to spread the word on how having a cloud-native solution can mean the difference between complete service disruption and business continuity. Listen now to hear:How Totogi's AWS-first architecture helped us restore mobile connectivity in 18 days [03:32];Why choosing AWS services like DynamoDB and Lambda over cloud-agnostic solutions was crucial for our success...2024-11-2619 minTelco in 20Ep 103 – How to build an AI-first organization (Jim Abolt)Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to transform telco, but many operators are struggling to fully embrace its potential. This episode’s guest, strategic HR veteran Jim Abolt, believes they need a critical shift in thinking to reach their goal to become AI-first organizations. He shares insight into what most companies are getting wrong about AI transformation, and offers a practical framework for using AI to achieve breakthrough business results. Listen now to hear:Why starting with "let's go do AI" is the wrong approach [04:34];A framework for successfully rolling out AI across your organization [06:59]Jim's refreshingly honest take on...2024-11-1220 minTelco in 20Ep 102 – 3 ways to maximize hyperscaler discounts (Brandon Pizzacalla)A recent Infosys report found that telcos use only 48% of the cloud services they commit to. Fortunately, the Big 3 hyperscalers offer significant discounts to enterprises that commit to spending targets, helping operators reel in cloud costs. A great example is Amazon Web Service’s (AWS) Enterprise Discount Program (EDP). But many telcos leave millions on the table by not using the right strategies and tools to capture these savings.For this episode, I talk with Brandon Pizzacalla, CEO of CloudFix, to talk about how operators can maximize the benefits they get from AWS’s Enterprise Discount Program (EDP...2024-10-2919 minTelco in 20Ep 101 – Anthropic’s BIG PLANS for telco (Neerav Kingsland)Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries at breakneck speed, with new capabilities emerging almost daily. As telcos race to harness its potential, questions around ethical use, safety, and practical implementation loom large. In this episode, I dive deep into the world of AI with Neerav Kingsland, head of business development at Anthropic, makers of the AI model Claude. The company is known for its use of "constitutional AI”—an approach that builds ethical guardrails into its AI systems. Listen now to hear:Why Anthropic's approach is centered on ethical AI behavior [04:04];The company’s work with SK Tele...2024-10-1520 minTelco in 20Ep 100 - The SPECIAL 100th episode of Telco in 20This podcast has hit a major milestone—the 100th episode! Can you believe it? Did you know that only 7% of all podcasts make it to this number?We've talked cloud, crushed myths, and pushed boundaries for 100 straight. But we're just getting started. I’ve dropped an episode every two weeks over the last four years, and during that time I've witnessed a dramatic shift in telcos’ attitude towards public cloud adoption. This special episode revisits key moments on the journey that highlight just how far we've come. Let’s celebrate the progress we've made together! Listen now to hear:2024-10-0118 minTelco in 20Ep 99 - Will TM Forum’s idea of interoperability really work? (Caroline Chappell)TM Forum's Open Digital Architecture (ODA) and open APIs are aimed at revolutionizing telco BSS/OSS systems, and with successful adoption, they promise to enhance vendor interoperability. But implementing them comes with significant challenges for operators and vendors alike.In this episode, I sit down with Caroline Chappell, founder and director of ccsquared and a former partner at Analysys Mason. We dive into the history and goals of ODA and open APIs, explore the real-world challenges operators face in putting them to work, and discuss why the data layer is crucial for true vendor interoperability. Listen now...2024-09-1720 minTelco in 20Ep 98 – Safaricom: On the hunt for revenue (Fawzia Ali)In 2007, Safaricom PLC (Safaricom) and Vodafone invented M-PESA, a mobile payment system that has transformed financial services in Kenya and beyond by bringing banking capabilities to unbanked populations. M-PESA has become a cornerstone of the Kenyan economy and helped Safaricom build a reputation for innovation. In this episode, I'm talking with Fawzia Ali, chief consumer business officer at Safaricom. We discuss the success of M-PESA, the company’s efforts to use AI and machine learning for continued innovation, and how it’s preparing its workforce for an AI-driven future. Listen now to hear:How M-PESA simplicity and w...2024-09-0320 minTelco in 20Ep 97 – The big trends in BSS with Appledore Research (John Abraham)The telco industry is in the midst of a generative AI (GenAI) revolution, with vendors and operators racing to integrate this technology into their products and services. In this episode, I sit down with John Abraham, principal analyst and leader of the digital enablement practice at Appledore Research. We dive into how vendors are applying GenAI to their products, major trends in BSS, how the costs of implementing AI can be justified by real business results, and more. Listen now to hear:The biggest trends in BSS that are driving telco transformation [02:34];How vendors are trying to use...2024-08-2020 minTelco in 20Ep 96 – How TELUS turned its data swamp into an AI oasis (Jaime Tatis)From streamlining network operations to boosting customer experiences, artificial intelligence (AI) is helping trailblazing telcos stay competitive in a rapidly changing landscape. For this episode, I explore Canadian telco TELUS’ AI transformation with its Chief Insights Officer, Jaime Tatis. We talk about how the operator is already using AI to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and get its workforce ready for the future. Listen now to hear:How TELUS's AI-driven Fuel iX platform is transforming internal IT support [03:53];Why now may not be the time to build telco-specific LLMs [07:29];Why clean, well-organized data is crucial for AI suc...2024-08-0619 minTelco in 20Ep 95 – African telcos: forge a new path! (Ali Hussein Kassim)It's no secret that telcos across the globe are grappling with how to monetize their 5G networks. But in Africa, only 1% of operators have implemented 5G, which puts them in a unique position to take advantage of new technology like AI and the public cloud, and apply them to old 2G and 3G networks.I recently appeared as a guest on the Ali Talks Tech podcast, which focuses on Africa's changing technical landscape. Host Ali Hussein Kassim and I explored how African telcos can capitalize on using the public cloud with mobile networks and how AI and...2024-07-0921 minTelco in 20Ep 94 – Are you ready for Singtel? (Anna Yip)Singtel is a leading mobile network operator (MNO) in the Asia-Pacific region with a reputation for innovation. Its pioneering culture is one of the reasons why Anna Yip, the operator’s CEO of business development and deputy CEO for Singapore, is constantly on the lookout for creative ways to build new revenue streams, customer satisfaction, and subscriber loyalty. Anna recently toured the United States to scope out happenings in the industry, and we caught up for an in-person conversation in… (wait for it)… New York City! Listen now to hear:How Singtel is leveraging its 5G Standal...2024-06-2518 minTelco in 20Ep 92 - The state of cloud in telco with Iain Morris from Light ReadingI've spent the last four years championing the game-changing benefits of the public cloud for telcos, from cost savings to faster innovation. While some operators are embracing the cloud (like the O2 Telefonica Germany deal that was announced last week to run their 5G network 100% on AWS), others are doubling down on building their own private cloud—but all signs point to a turning tide. To get an honest take on where telcos stand, I’m talking with Iain Morris, international editor at Light Reading. He connects regularly with the industry’s top leaders to talk about their s...2024-05-2821 minTelco in 20Ep 91 – Exploring AIOps with Microsoft Azure (Jason Hogg)Microsoft has been quick to pick up the GenAI reins, making huge investments in OpenAI and strategic acquisitions like Inflection AI. Now, the hyperscaler wants to help telcos bring AI into their organizations in meaningful ways. For this episode, I spoke with Jason Hogg, GM for AIOps within Azure for Operators, about where telcos are on their AI journey, how Microsoft is helping them prepare data for AI workloads, and how CSPs can steer their organizations to make the most of the AI revolution. Listen now to hear:How Microsoft is helping telcos manage siloed data t...2024-05-1420 minTelco in 20Ep 90 - Ali Talks Tech with Totogi and Zain on Sudan's telecom crisisLast week at the NOVACOM 1-to-1 Telco Summit in Kenya, I connected with fellow podcaster Ali Hussein Kassim, host of Ali Talks Tech, which focuses on Africa’s changing tech landscape. We decided to record a joint episode about Totogi’s recent work with Zain to restore critical mobile services in Sudan after they were knocked out due to the ongoing civil war. Abdalla Hamid, Director of IT at Zain Sudan, joined us to talk about how Totogi got Zain back up and running in just 18 days thanks to the power of the public cloud. Listen now to he...2024-04-3030 minTelco in 20Ep 88 – Cloud CAPEX: Not for the faint of wallet (Charles Fitzgerald)If you’re partnering with one or more of the hyperscalers, their roadmap is your roadmap. It’s important to know where they’re steering their ships, and a great way to gain insight into this is to follow their CAPEX spending. For this episode, I talk with Charles Fitzgerald, managing director at Platformonomics. His annual Follow the CAPEX report tracks spending by the Big 3 hyperscalers—Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud—and includes crystal-ball insights into their strategic plans and priorities. Listen now to hear: How the hyperscalers spent money in 2023 and how their pa...2024-04-0221 minTelco in 20Ep 87 – Scaling telcos’ cloud mountain with Alianza (Brian Buetler)Despite having "as a service" in its name, traditional Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) deployments often fail to deliver on the promise of a true SaaS platform. One company, Alianza, has figured out a way to move UCaaS to AWS, offering a genuine SaaS solution that leverages the scalability and resilience of the public cloud.I sat down with Brian Beutler, founder and CEO of Alianza, to discuss how his company is working to revolutionize the UCaaS landscape. Listen now to hear:The challenges Alianza faced in moving UCaaS to the public cloud and how it overcame them [05:14...2024-03-1921 minTelco in 20Ep 86 – Reinventing BSS (MWC)Last week I gave my FOURTH keynote talk at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024 when I opened the second annual MVNO Summit to a standing-room-only crowd of industry leaders. Most were from MNOs, MVNOs, and digital brands that want to be at the forefront of an AI-powered revolution in telco business support systems (BSS). In my talk, I introduced a new AI-first, fully customized BSS solution that blends speed, scalability, and affordability to deliver a next-gen experience that streamlines operations and lowers costs. In the middle of it, I chatted with an avatar and created a BSS right o...2024-03-0518 minTelco in 20Ep 85 - What’s up with Totogi: 2degrees, a modern telcoNew Zealand Mobile Network Operator (MNO) 2degrees is taking a fresh approach to its wholesale business and relationships with MVNOs. Instead of struggling with sharing its tech stack or setting up expensive separate stacks for MVNOs, the company is tapping Totogi's multi-tenant charger to streamline their onboarding and support, and to capture additional revenue. In this episode, 2degrees Head of Architecture Chris Bradley joins me to talk about why the company selected Totogi and how Totogi’s AI- and public cloud-driven vision is helping it prepare for the future. Listen now to hear: How Totogi is help...2024-02-2022 minTelco in 20Ep 84 – MobileX's AI-driven approach (Peter Adderton)Startup MVNO MobileX is going after the US market with the belief that most mobile subscribers don’t know how much data they need. Instead of pushing unlimited plans, the company offers an AI-based tool that analyzes each subscriber’s usage and creates personalized plans for them. I spoke with MobileX CEO Peter Adderton last year, and now he’s spilling the beans on what’s been happening with MobileX, its plans for 2024, and the company’s exciting new deal with Walmart. Listen now to hear: How MobileX's AI-based data forecaster tool debunks the idea that consumers under...2024-02-0618 minTelco in 20Ep 83 – Monetizing Network APIs (Ferry Grijpink)It’s been a year since the GSMA announced its Open Gateway initiative and the telco industry is working to figure out how to monetize network APIs to their full advantage. For this episode, I talk with McKinsey & Company Partner Ferry Grijpink about the API economy and what operators need to do to capture revenue and build their strategic position. Listen now to hear: Ferry’s advice for telecoms that want to monetize network APIs [03:18];How telcos can leverage established relationships with enterprise customers to attract developers [06:58]; Ferry’s opinion on whether it’s important for telcos to own the de...2024-01-2320 minTelco in 20Ep 82 – Beam me up, BT (Josie Smith)BT Group started its journey to the public cloud years ago, which has put the company in a strong position to take advantage of the strategic capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI). For this episode, I talk with Josie Smith, chief architect, digital, at BT Group, about the company's efforts to reduce its applications from thousands to hundreds, bring AI into the organization, and drive monumental change across its employee base. Listen now to hear:How BT Group’s transformation program, Simplify, is poised save the company £3 billion by 2025 [02:53]; The details of its massive effort to slash technical debt and...2024-01-0920 minTelco in 20Ep 81 - Best of 2023: The cloud-first mindset, with Mobi CEO Justen BurdetteIt’s time to announce our top episode of 2023! It’s been an incredible journey for the Telco in 20 podcast—now clocking in with well over 100,000 total listens. We’ve had some great guests this year, like Mats Granryd from the GSMA, McKinsey & Company Partner Ferry Grijpink, and Microsoft’s Rick Lievano. There were tons of popular episodes, which made it a race to the finish line to name our Best of 2023. In the end, none topped my conversation with Mobi CEO Justen Burdette. He joined me in April to talk about the Hawaiian MVNO’s public-cloud-native mobile core...2023-12-1221 minTelco in 20Ep 80 - What’s up with Totogi? How Totogi is bringing AI to chargingToday’s telcos have all but given up on monetizing the insatiable growth of mobile data usage, instead settling for one-size-fits-all pricing plans. But rather than give up the fight, Totogi is using the public cloud, AI, and data-driven algorithms to help the industry adopt dynamic, personalized pricing that maximizes the bottom line.In this episode, Totogi’s Chief Operating Officer Cyrus Mistry joins me to talk about how Totogi’s AI-powered charging is revolutionizing the industry, how it stands out from the other legacy chargers, and why Totogi’s optimized approach presents a huge opportunity for telcos...2023-11-2820 minTelco in 20Ep 79 – Weaving through the public cloud with Ribbon (Bruce McClelland)When innovative new tech comes along, established software vendors face a balancing act between maintaining existing solutions for current customers and adopting disruptive new tools to stay competitive. For this episode, I talk with Bruce McClelland, President and CEO of Ribbon Communications, about his billion-dollar company’s efforts to juggle both priorities, its adoption of cloud-native software, and what it sees happening with telcos’ public cloud deployments. Listen now to hear:The mix of hardware and software in the business [04:26];Where Ribbon sees demand for the public cloud in telco and what’s driving it [08:17];Why the company choose...2023-11-1420 minTelco in 20Ep 78 – Visionary telcos use the public cloud (Andrew Walker)Telcos are finally heading to the public cloud and industry leaders are excited about its potential. But at the same time, old-fashioned thinking and technology are slowing them down. For this episode, I talk with Andrew Walker, communications and media industry lead at Accenture, about why the move is challenging, the transformative power of GenAI, and what telcos can do to get the right talent in place to help with the journey. Listen now to hear:How Accenture advises clients to start their move to the public cloud [03:46];Why legacy vendors spread FUD—fear, uncertainly, and dou...2023-10-3120 minTelco in 20Ep 77 – Why do subscribers churn: network coverage or price? (Stetson Doggett)There are more than 30,000 mobile phone plans available globally. That’s a staggering number, and one that at least partially explains why up to 90% of consumers are on plans that aren’t a good fit for their needs. For this episode, I sit down with Stetson Doggett, founder of BestPhonePlans.net and co-founder of CoverageMap.com. His mission is to help U.S. consumers cut through the noise to find the best cell phone plans and network coverage for their location and budget. He’s got insights into why subscribers churn that telco execs need to know. Listen...2023-10-1720 minTelco in 20Ep 76 – Into the Nexus of GenAI with Microsoft (Rick Lievano)Over the last few years, Microsoft has been working overtime to become a carrier-grade hyperscaler for the industry. For this episode, I talk with Microsoft Chief Technology Officer for the Worldwide Telecommunications Industry Rick Lievano about the recent general availability of Azure Operator Nexus, its work with AT&T, and Microsoft’s $13 billion investment in OpenAI. Listen now to hear:Where telcos are today with their move to the public cloud [02:33];How Azure Operator Nexus is poised to change the game [04:02];The latest on Microsoft’s network cloudification work with AT&T [7:17]; andThe company’s big bet on...2023-10-0322 minTelco in 20Ep 75 – Nokia’s journey to becoming cloud native (Azfar Aslam)Nokia revealed a significant rebrand at Mobile World Congress 2023, signally a shift in the company’s focus to enterprise and B2B, which it sees as the future of telecom. For this episode, I talk with Nokia Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Europe Azfar Aslam about Nokia’s new direction, the challenge of refactoring legacy products, and what’s in store as the hyperscalers work to become carrier-grade cloud providers. Listen now to hear about:The balance of hardware and software in Nokia’s portfolio [04:34];How the company is adapting products for a public-cloud-driven future [0...2023-09-1921 minTelco in 20Ep 74 – It’s time to take on Twilio! (TMF DTW)The telecom industry agrees that the future of 5G and enterprise telco lies in monetizing network APIs. But communications platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) company Twilio has been eating telco’s lunch by not only capturing messaging revenue, but also dominating enterprise IT departments. For this episode, I’m sharing my recent TelecomTV talk about how telcos can beat Twilio and take back what’s theirs. I share a three-step plan for regaining a strategic position within enterprise IT departments, and give a sneak peek at a new Totogi CPaaS product that can help. Click play to hear: What’s...2023-09-0510 minTelco in 20Ep 73 – Can telco compete in CPaaS? (Yesmean Luk)The Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) market is expected to hit $60 billion by 2030. Telcos deserve a big piece of this revenue—after all, their networks power CPaaS. But up until now, they’ve lost customers and revenue to companies like Twilio that make it easy for developers to add capabilities to products without having to navigate complicated telco organizations. But the landscape is shifting. With the cloud native capabilities of 5G and initiatives like the GSMA’s Open Gateway, there are signs that telcos can take back the CPaaS reins. For this episode, I talk with Yesmean...2023-08-2222 minTelco in 20Ep 72 - Mats Granryd talks Open GatewayDuring this year’s Mobile World Congress, the GSMA announced a game-changing initiative called Open Gateway. It aims to revolutionize how operators collaborate with developers and each other, with the goal of opening up new revenue streams beyond traditional rate plans through the use of network APIs. For this episode, I sat down to talk with GSMA Director General Mats Granryd about the Open Gateway initiative and how network APIs may be the future of enterprise telco. Click play to hear our conversation about: How opening networks will help telcos monetize 5G capabilities [03:29];Why telcos are exci...2023-08-0820 minTelco in 20Ep 71 – Save bookoo bucks with CloudFix (Rahul Subramaniam)Cloud migration is on every telco's roadmap these days, but a lot of leaders worry about runaway costs. Today’s guest, Rahul Subramaniam, is the founder and CEO of CloudFix, a cool SaaS platform that automatically optimizes AWS spend. It identifies savings, and after you approve them, implements them automatically without manual effort from your team. Listen now to hear:How CloudFix works and what makes it fast and secure [05:15];The profile of the AWS customer that can benefit the most [07:41];Real-world savings success stories [08:25];Why AWS wants to help customers save money [13:05]; andThe special discount telcos can ge...2023-07-2519 minTelco in 20Ep 70 – Unleashing telco potential with AWS (Chivas Nambiar)Almost every telco I talk to is doing some kind of work with Amazon Web Services (AWS). It has the biggest market share of all of the hyperscalers, operates tons of data centers across the globe, and keeps churning out powerful software and custom-built chips that are perfect for operators.For this episode, Chivas Nambiar, director of worldwide solution architecture, AWS for telecom, joins me to talk about how AWS is working with our industry, how cloud software is changing the landscape, and the future of telco in an AI-driven world. Click play to hear o...2023-07-1123 minTelco in 20Ep 69 – Appledore Research sits down with Totogi (Robert Curran/John Abraham )Hey, look at that—I’m a guest on a podcast! I recently joined host Robert Curran and principal analyst John Abraham on the Appledore Research Podcast, and now I’m bringing that episode to you here. We talk about everything from the state of charging in telecom to CLOUD CITY’s rockstar takeover of Ericsson’s space at MWC21—a takeover that included an ACTUAL rock star. Click play to hear our conversation about: How and when I became a public cloud convert [04:54];The birth of Totogi and what it’s doing today [09:13];The mission behind the $1 billion Telco T...2023-06-2740 minTelco in 20Ep 68 – giffgaff is 1,000 times faster with AWS (Steve McDonald)In 2020, award-winning British MVNO giffgaff decided to go all-in on the public cloud with AWS. The bold move sped its software release process by 1000x, allowing it to focus on what matters: its members. Now the company is an all-star player in customer service and cloud innovation. In this episode, giffgaff’s Chief Operating and Technology Officer Steve McDonald shares the inside story about how the courageous move happened, the challenges giffgaff faced along the way, and lessons learned that other telcos should know. Click play to hear our conversation about: How technical debt was strangling the...2023-06-1320 minTelco in 20Ep 67 – How to create shareholder value (Aaron Chan)Telco stocks used to be Wall Street darlings, but in recent years have become stable dividend plays for grandpa investors. Can they return to their former glory? Today’s guest, Recurve Capital Founder Aaron Chan, has well-informed thoughts on what the industry needs to do to restore its shine. He’s at the forefront of investment strategies and market trends in telecom, and not surprisingly, he sees its future linked to the public cloud. Before you listen, it’s important to note that the thoughts Aaron shares in this podcast are his opinion, and do not cons...2023-05-3021 minTelco in 20Ep 66 – Anyone can be an MVNO with Gigs (Hermann Frank)Telcos make it hard for enterprise customers to negotiate deals for affordable connectivity. A few innovative tech firms are building their businesses around making things easier. One of them is Gigs, which buys pre-negotiated connectivity and offers easy APIs to allow enterprise software developers to create and sell their own voice and data plans. In this episode, Hermann Frank, co-founder and CEO of Gigs, tells us how the idea for the company was born, why customers love it, and how the public cloud makes it all possible.How GIGS simplifies the process of buying and selling data plans [04:09...2023-05-1615 minTelco in 20Ep 65 – The new guard in telco tech (Erlend Pretgard)Forward thinking, innovative companies are using the public cloud to deliver easy-to-use telco software that reduces costs and speeds deployments. Today’s guest, Erlend Prestgard, is the CEO and co-founder of one of these visionary businesses, Working Group Two. His team has built a multi-tenant, public-cloud-native, mobile core running on AWS—something naysayers have said today’s tech couldn’t support. Click play to hear our conversation about: Why building a mobile core network on AWS is revolutionary [03:03];What business value it delivers [04:11];How the telco industry is responding, and the outdated perceptions some leaders are still hanging onto [11...2023-05-0221 minTelco in 20Ep 64 – The cloud-first mindset (Justen Burdette)In 2015, Hawaii-based MVNO Mobi decided to give up managing the radio components of its network in favor of focusing on creating awesome services for subscribers. To accomplish this, it needed to become a thick MVNO with its own mobile core, so it started working with Working Group Two to implement a public-cloud-native, mobile core running on AWS.For this episode, Mobi CEO Justen Burdette joins me to talk about why the MVNO chose this path, the benefits it gained by teaming with Working Group Two, and why it’s so great to work with the public cloud. 2023-04-1820 minTelco in 20Ep 63 – Ante up to be a public cloud contender (Charles Fitzgerald)The amount the hyperscalers spend on the public cloud is staggering. It requires a $100-billion+ buy-in to be considered a serious player. Today’s guest, Charles Fitzgerald, tracks hyperscaler CapEx spending each quarter on his Platformonomics blog. He parses earning reports to gain insight into who’s putting their money where their mouth is. Charles recently published his annual 2022 retrospective on the cloud players. In this episode, we get his thoughts on the Big Three, the other guys, and the telco clouds. Click play to hear our conversation about: Why he started tracking the hyperscaler CapEx [01:57];How the...2023-04-0423 minTelco in 20Ep 62 – Running your network on the public cloud with Juniper Networks (Ben Baker)So much has changed with the public cloud and telco since I created CLOUD CITY at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2021. Back then, most industry folks said that the public cloud might be a good fit for enterprise IT and BSS workloads, but considering it for network workloads was an entirely different matter. Fast-forward two years, and now my question for the industry is, “are there any telco workloads that can't move?”In this episode, I talk with Ben Baker from Juniper Networks about where we are in telco's network journey to the public cloud and which workloads the...2023-03-2121 minTelco in 20Ep 61 – SUPERCHARGE your MVNO with personalization (MWC)On March 1, I presented a keynote— my third in a row!— at MWC’s inaugural MVNO Summit. It was standing-room-only with leaders from digital brands, MVNOs, and MVNEs who were eager to learn how intelligent, SaaS software (like Totogi!) can help them delight customers and grow ARPU. We captured the talk on video, and I’ve turned it into this podcast. Listen now to hear about: Why MVNOs need to start acting like internet companies [04:02];How Totogi’s multi-tenant SaaS software is changing the game [05:29];Why MVNOs should stop using pricing to win subscribers, and start using their crown jewel...2023-03-0718 minTelco in 20Ep 60 – The American dream: Building a killer MVNO (Ahmed Khattak)I spend a lot of time talking to telcos about how public cloud technology can help them delight subscribers and boost ARPU. Ahmed Khattak, founder and CEO of US Mobile, knows exactly what I’m talking about. He built the Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) natively on the public cloud from day one. In this episode, we talk about his vision for the company and how it benefits from its public-cloud-first design. Click play to hear our conversation about: How Ahmed’s experience coming to the United States from Pakistan shaped his vision for US Mobile [01:50];What sets the c...2023-02-2119 minTelco in 20Ep 59 – Get ready for MWC 2023! (Lara Dewar)Mobile World Congress 2023 is right around the corner, running from February 27 through March 2. This is the biggest event of the year for the telco industry, a place where the movers and shakers come together to discuss policy, see innovative ideas from exhibitors, and get deals done.In this episode, I talk with Lara Dewar, chief marketing officer for the GSMA, which puts together MWC each year. Click play to hear our conversation about: What’s in store for this year’s event [01:58];The inside scoop on the GSMA’s ministerial program, which gathers policy makers from more th...2023-02-0718 minTelco in 20Ep 58 - Live and Learn: A new MVNO approach with Peter AddertonTelcos have a ton of subscriber data at their fingertips, yet most never tap its value. MobileX is ready to show them the way. It’s using AI and subscriber usage insights to price personalized plans with transparency, and hoping to build trust between telco and customers in the process.In this episode, I talk to MobileX CEO and serial entrepreneur, Peter Adderton. He’s going to tell us what MobileX is up to and how it’s filling an unmet need. Click play to hear our conversation about: Why Peter started MobileX [03:10]; Why customer trust is key t...2023-01-2421 minTelco in 20Ep 57 – Catch the public cloud train with TELUS (Hesham Fahmy)Telcos around the world are signing strategic deals with hyperscalers, setting big goals for public cloud transformation, and finding ways to cross the finish line. A great example is TELUS, which signed a 10-year strategic agreement with Google Cloud and is on a path to become a cloud-native organization. For this episode, I talk with Hesham Fahmy, chief information officer at TELUS, about how the telecom built momentum for its cloud journey, what happened along the way, and what it learned that other telcos should know. Hit play to hear our conversation about: TELUS’ plan to move...2023-01-1021 minTelco in 20Ep 56 – Best of 2022 – DISH: The Telco Pioneer (Marc Rouanne)I had some amazing conversations this year, but none grabbed more ears than my in-person interview with DISH Wireless Executive Vice President and Chief Network Officer Marc Rouanne. He offered a behind-the-scenes look at DISH’s new 5G network, its work with AWS, and more. The original episode went live in June, and since then it’s been listened to thousands of times. Hit play to hear: How hyperscaler investments made DISH’s project possible [02:34];What Marc would change about the AWS platform [04:20]; His experience working with software vendors’ cloud-native solutions [05:46]; How building on AWS changed the economics of network...2022-12-1315 minTelco in 20Ep 55 – Supercharge your MVNO (and your ARPU) by delivering a personalized subscriber experience (MVNO Nation Live)Last week I gave a keynote at the first-ever in-person MVNO Nation Live conference in beautiful Valencia, Spain. It was thrilling to talk to all of the entrepreneurial leaders at this event. They clearly see the huge upside of embracing public cloud technology and are poised to use it to become some of the world’s greatest brands. I’ve turned my keynote into this podcast episode. Listen now to hear: Examples of how telcos and MVNOs are benefiting from public cloud technology [02:48];How cloud-native telco tools (like Totogi!) can help MVNOs streamline work, increase speed to market, and l...2022-11-2919 minTelco in 20Ep 54 – Bye-bye, private cloud; hello, public cloud (Davide Bellini)Every telco leader, consultant, and analyst I talk to these days says the telecom industry’s move to the public cloud is in full swing. Today’s guest, Davide Bellini, agrees. As Accenture Applied Intelligence lead for the communications and media industry, he has his finger on the pulse of telcos around the world—what they’re thinking about, how they’re navigating challenges, and their vision for a future powered by the public cloud. Click play to hear Davide’s thoughts on: Public cloud adoption trends around the globe [03:40];What’s changed to make telcos more open to cloud transf...2022-11-1525 minTelco in 20Ep 53 – I scream, you scream, we all scream for MVNOs (Scott Venuti)The signs are everywhere—the MVNO segment of telco is picking up steam. On November 16-17, 2022, MVNO leaders from around the world will gather at the inaugural MVNO Nation Live conference in Valencia, Spain, while 800-pound gorilla GSMA has plans to host its first MVNO Summit as part of the big show at next year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This makes it a great time to explore the ins and outs of launching a successful MVNO or digital brand. In this episode, I’m talking with Scott Venuti, General Manager at Plum, a mobile virtual network aggregator (MVNA...2022-11-0121 minTelco in 20Ep 52 – Born to run (in the cloud) with Nathan Bell (Nathan Bell)A couple of years ago, I learned that M1, a Singapore-based MNO, was doing exactly what I had been evangelizing about—going ALL IN on the public cloud. Leading the charge was then-Chief Digital Officer Nathan Bell. I’ve been hoping to have him on the podcast ever since I heard about what he was doing. Today, my wish comes true. In this episode, he joins me to talk about: How Nathan and M1 got the idea—in 2019!— to go all-in on the public cloud [03:47];The moment they knew they were going to be successful [14:41];How they brought the team...2022-10-1824 minTelco in 20Ep 51 – Catching up with Azure and AT&T (Shawn Hakl)For the last year and a half, I’ve been obsessed with one of the biggest collaborations worldwide between a telco and a hyperscaler: AT&T and Microsoft Azure. In 2021, the CSP sold its network cloud to Azure. Since then, people in the industry have been wondering what’s been going on, who’s doing what, and how things are going. For this episode, Shawn Hakl, Microsoft VP of 5G Strategy, joins me to answer these questions and talk about: Why the partnership made sense for both sides [02:37];The benefit of handing over infrastructure management to a hyperscaler [04:22];How Azu...2022-10-0416 minTelco in 20Ep 50 – The public cloud is PERFECT for India (Voice & Data Conference)India is a fascinating place for telco operators. It’s home to more than a billion subscribers, while also having some of the lowest ARPU on the planet. This means mobile operators there not only need carrier-grade software products, they need to get them for a low, low price. Last week I delivered a keynote at Voice & Data’s “5G and the future of mobile data” conference in Delhi, India. I’ve turned that talk into this podcast episode to share why the public cloud is perfect for India’s unique telco market and how to unlock its full pote...2022-09-2011 minTelco in 20Ep 49 - What’s up with Totogi? What it takes to deploy a telco charging systemWhen it comes to rolling out enterprise software, no one takes one for the team like the guys and gals in charge of delivery. They’re always on the front line, ready to battle any obstacle to get the system up and providing value to customers. Up until now, rolling out a telco charging engine has been a huge, heavy lift for the delivery folks. But not anymore, because the public cloud-based Totogi Charging System is delivered in a completely different way. For this episode, I’m joined by Totogi’s global head of delivery, Damon Wheaton, to talk...2022-09-0619 minTelco in 20Ep 48 – Tips for a successful cloud transformation (Teena Piccione)Moving to the public cloud is a major transformation for most telcos. There’s a lot at stake, and failure can spell disaster for an organization and its leaders. But the hard truth is that 70% of big transformation projects fail according to research from McKinsey & Company. In this episode, I sit down with Teena Piccione, a change management expert at Google, to dig into what telcos can do to keep their public cloud journey on track. Click play to hear our conversation about:The reasons big projects fail [03:15]; How to build support for change in your organization [04:14];What to...2022-08-2317 minTelco in 20Ep 47 – Half measures (Shaun Whalon)Let’s be real: shifting workloads to the public cloud is no easy task. I’ve met a bunch of telecom leaders who debate about what is the best approach - should we go in one giant leap, or a series of steps? Their hesitancy to go all-in has left telco vendors designing and supporting multiple solutions—including private and hybrid cloud offerings—to meet them where they are, wherever that may be.If the shortest path between two points is a straight line, and if we all agree that the destination is the public cloud, why take a h...2022-08-0922 minTelco in 20Ep 46 – The nitty gritty about public cloud security (Amy Zwarico)One thing I’ve learned from talking to telco execs across the globe about the public cloud is that security is top of mind. Another thing I’ve learned is that many of them don’t know a lot about just how secure the public cloud is. So for this episode, I’m joined by Amy Zwarico, director of cybersecurity at AT&T, one of the world's largest and oldest telcos. She’s here to explain why the public cloud is more secure than the way many telcos are doing business today, and how AT&T has been preparing for its tr...2022-07-2619 minTelco in 20Ep 45 – Drumming up ways to increase ARPU with McKinsey (Ferry Grijpink)Telco leaders have been scratching their heads about how to monetize their 5G network. One of the world’s top think tanks, McKinsey & Company, has opinions on this topic—and research to back them up. For this episode, I’m joined by McKinsey Partner Ferry Grijpink, founder of the McKinsey Center for Advanced Connectivity. He’s got great insights into how data analytics can help telcos personalize the subscriber experience and boost ARPU. Listen now to hear our conversation about:What McKinsey’s research reveals about monetizing 5G investments [03:19];Why telcos need to un-commoditize their products [04:36];How deliver...2022-07-1224 minTelco in 20Ep 27 – Talking public cloud with Telecoms.com (Scott Bicheno/Iain Morris )Telco in 20 sits down with Scott Bicheno and Iain Morris of the Telecoms.com podcast to have an awesome conversation about the public cloud and telco.
2021-10-041h 21Telco in 20Telco in 20 – Subscribe now!You’ve found my podcast! Telco in 20 presents my vision for where the telco industry will be in 20 years and how savvy leaders will get there. New episodes, specifically for telco executives, drop every two weeks. Get the latest insights and best practices – and enjoy a few laughs!
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