Telco in 20
Telco in 20 explores the radical transformation of the telecom industry over the next two decades, focusing on the shift to public cloud and the adoption of AI. Host Danielle Rios discusses with high-profile guests from telecom how executives can drive transformative change. The podcast covers the impact of artificial intelligence and what telcos need to do to thrive in the future.
Episodes
Ep 151 - TL;DR: Telecoms.com (Scott Bicheno/Iain Morris)
I’ve been a guest on the Telecoms.com podcast three times, and the dynamic never changes: hosts Scott Bicheno and Iain Morris see doom, I see upside. This year, Scott admitted he’s bored of his own dystopia and wanted someone to argue the other side. So he brought me in to talk AI.We get into why one number can mean two completely different things inside the same telco, why the SaaSpocalypse is r
Ep 150 - 6G is different. AI is why.
Every ten years, telcos have to decide whether to move to the next G. The business case has always been based on usage, capacity, and a revenue forecast. That’s because the one number that should drive the decision—what each cell actually earns—has been out of reach… until now.In this special What’s Up with Totogi episode, I share the keynote I delivered at TelecomTV’s AI-Native Telco Forum in Düs
Ep 149 - Microsoft deploys the FDEs (Kevin Shatzkamer)
Every telco has hundreds of AI use cases, dozens of pilots, thousands of agents. So why can’t they get to production at scale?I sat down with Kevin Shatzkamer, corporate vice president of the Telco and Media Engineering Studio at Microsoft Frontier Company, the hyperscaler’s new operating unit. His team embeds forward-deployed engineers (FDEs) at enterprise customers to build and run AI at scale.L
Ep 148 - To G, or not to G (Stefan Pongratz)
To G, or not to G. That is the question every telco faces, and the 6G noise is getting louder. So how does that decision actually get made?
Stefan Pongratz, vice president of RAN and telecom CapEx research at Dell’Oro Group, has watched operators wrestle with it through 16 years and three G cycles. He knows what it really costs, what’s on the boardroom chart, and why waiting has a price of its own
Ep 147 - ANTA: TelecomTV’s AI-Native Telco Accelerator (Guy Daniels)
Everyone has an opinion about how telcos are doing with AI. Almost nobody has evidence—until now. Guy Daniels, chief strategy officer and content director at TelecomTV, spent the year compiling the AI-Native Telco Index—the first 100% evidence-based report on telco AI adoption. It’s one piece of TelecomTV’s new AI-Native Telco Accelerator (ANTA), a community built to bring operators, vendors, and
Ep 146 - Eutelsat’s AI in the sky (Dr. Mariam Kaynia)
It’s hard to manage a network in space. That constraint shapes everything Dr. Mariam Kaynia thinks about as chief data and information officer at Eutelsat, Europe’s only LEO alternative to Starlink in orbit today. The company runs more than 600 satellites at 1,200 kilometers alongside a geostationary fleet parked even higher. When Eutelsat launches a satellite, the intelligence running it has to b
Ep 145 - Swisscom is building the AI-first telco (Mark Düsener)
What does it actually take to become an AI-first telco? Swisscom is finding out. It has launched the biggest transformation program in its history: a ground-up rebuild of the software core behind its consumer and enterprise business units.
In this episode, I sit down with Mark Düsener, chief technology and information officer at Swisscom, to unpack how the operator is doing it. We get into why sta
Ep 144 - TDC’s dragon in the basement (Carlos Moreno Alonso)
Every telco has a system it can’t get rid of—a mainframe, a billing platform, a vendor with hooks in everything. The transformation math is brutal: years of work, massive investment, and a failure rate that makes every next attempt harder to sell internally.
Carlos Moreno Alonso is CTIO at TDC Brands, Denmark’s largest telecom provider. Nine months into the job, he’s leading the next phase of one
Ep 143 - Norlys bets big on Telia (Daniel Askeroth)
Telcos love mergers. In 2025 alone, the industry spent nearly $70 billion on M&A, and every single deal brought its own baggage. New systems, new cultures, new tech debt—all bolted onto everything that came before. Everyone celebrates the deal. No one celebrates the hard work of bringing two organizations together.
For this episode, I sit down with Daniel Askeroth, senior vice president of telco a
Ep 142 - AT&T bets on the last mile (Shawn Hakl)
Every major telco is racing to claim a piece of the AI infrastructure stack. Operators like Telefónica, Orange, Deutsche Telekom, SoftBank, and TELUS are betting on sovereign clouds, AI factories, and GPU-as-a-service to deliver local data, national compute, and a seat at the AI table.
Then there's AT&T. In March, it announced AWS Interconnect - last mile: fiber and fixed wireless plugged directl
Ep 141 - Tele2 goes back to the future (Ove Wik)
Every operator made the same bet—go digital, close stores, turn over distribution to the resellers. Somewhere along the way, they gave away the customer relationship. In the first half of 2025, data usage grew in 92% of markets while ARPU grew in only 50%. Operators are delivering more yet earning less.
Tele2 is fighting back. It’s opening physical stores while everyone else is closing them, cons
Ep 140 - Will telco let AI write its code? (Roy Chua)
Anthropic's latest model, Mythos, recently scored 94% on a benchmark for solving real software engineering problems—up from single digits just two and a half years ago. It also found a 27-year-old security flaw in OpenBSD that decades of human testing missed. AI's capabilities are exploding, and many operators are struggling to keep up.
For this episode, I'm talking with Roy Chua, founder and prin
Ep 139 - Can telco build an AI grid? (NVIDIA’s Kanika Atri)
AI is reshaping telco. At NVIDIA’s GTC conference, AT&T, T-Mobile, Comcast, and Spectrum announced they’re building AI grids, turning millions of existing cell sites and central offices into distributed AI compute infrastructure. NVIDIA's survey of 1,000 telco professionals found more than 90% reporting that AI is already delivering cost savings or revenue growth, with the biggest ROI coming from
Ep 138 - From programmable networks to agentic AI (Chris Wade)
Telcos have spent years automating their networks, but most of that automation is rigid. It makes the same decision every time—whether the device is offline, whether it's a maintenance window, whether there's a weather event. Adding AI agents sounds like progress, but if those agents aren't built on a deterministic foundation, you're not removing risk, you're accelerating it. The real challenge is
Ep 137 - Hyperscalers' $2T bet (Charles Fitzgerald)
Hyperscaler CAPEX investments are staggering: Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta spent more than $400 billion on infrastructure in 2025 and are expected to reach over $600 billion in 2026. They’re on pace to surpass $2 trillion in cumulative CAPEX spend before the year is over. Meanwhile, U.S. telco CAPEX sits at $50 billion for 2025—and it's shrinking.
For this episode, Charles Fitzgerald, Manag
Ep 136 - MWC26 Wrap Up (Mobile World Live)
MWC 26 is a wrap, and one thing is clear: the telco industry has moved past asking whether AI will transform the business. The new question is who's moving fast enough to capture value, and who's still playing catch up.
Before I left Barcelona, I stopped by the Mobile World Live Podcast to debrief with host Justin Springham, Managing News Editor Kavit Majithia, and analyst Carolina Milanesi from C
Ep 135 - Telco has a context problem (John Abraham)
Every telco exec is talking about AI agents. Almost nobody is talking about what those agents actually need to work: context.
Not just data — the logic, rules, and decision-making processes that define how your business actually operates. That knowledge currently lives in two places: buried in vendor code nobody fully understands, and inside people's heads. No agentic system, no matter how shiny,
Ep 134 - Show me the money (MWC)
At MWC, vendors will flood the floor with AI demos that look impressive but can’t prove their actual value. Telcos have spent billions connecting systems, but connection isn’t comprehension. Most AI initiatives are blind—unable to see across the fragmented landscape of BSS, OSS, and network systems that speak different languages and live in isolated realities.The Totogi Ontology is a semantic laye
Ep 133 - What’s up with Totogi: The biggest AI use case for telco
The telecom industry is full of AI projects that fail. Most operators think it’s a data problem—connect the systems, feed AI the information. But data doesn't tell AI how to decide. Your processes do. Your rules do.In this special “What's Up with Totogi” episode, I flip the script and have my friend David Haselwood interview me about BSS Magic. We dig into what a breakthrough biology project from
Ep 132 - Microsoft's framework for autonomous networks (Rick Lievano)
The telecommunications industry is heading to MWC Barcelona with a strong desire to skip AI hype in favor of AI proof. Telco executives aren’t looking for more possibilities—they’re demanding real deployments, measurable outcomes, and P&L impact. For this episode, I’m joined by Rick Lievano, Microsoft’s CTO for the Worldwide Telecommunications Industry. We dive into Microsoft’s vision for network
Ep 131 - Two takes on telco’s biggest bets for 2026 (Dean Bubley)
MWC26 in Barcelona is right around the corner, and the telco industry is already buzzing about what will unfold at the Fira. Four big themes will dominate this year’s event: AI-driven networks, network APIs, AI data centers, and regulation. But which of these present real opportunities for telecom, and which are expensive distractions or even potential minefields? For this episode, I’m joined by D
Ep 130 - Best of 2025: AI for networks and networks for AI (Gabriela Styf Sjöman)
What an incredible year for telco, AI, and the public cloud. Hyperscalers shattered CapEx records, the first brownfield 5G cores migrated to the public cloud, and we had phenomenal conversations with telco heavyweights worldwide. One of our episodes really stood out this year: my conversation with Gabriela Styf Sjöman, Managing Director of Research and Network Strategy at BT Group. We’re bringing
Ep 129 - Goji Mobile: The Expedia of mobile phones (Thad Hwang)
Most consumers can't tell the difference between Wi-Fi and cellular networks, yet our industry expects them to navigate over 200 confusing plan options. This complexity leaves no easy way for customers to compare networks, compare coverage at specific locations, or recognize if they’re on the right plan for their usage patterns.For this episode, I'm talking with Thad Hwang, CEO and founder of Goji
Ep 128 - Talking AI with Telecoms.com (Scott Bicheno/Iain Morris)
The telco industry has been buzzing about AI transformation, but few operators have seen tangible results beyond pilot projects. The challenge isn't just adopting new technology—it's fundamentally changing how telcos build and maintain their business support systems (BSS).For this special episode, I join Scott Bicheno and Iain Morris on the Telecoms.com podcast to discuss Totogi's recent AI demons
Ep 127 - The courage to change (Jim Abolt)
If AI is so awesome, why isn't it having a bigger impact on your bottom line? I hate to break it to you, but the problem isn't with AI—it's with your leadership. Look no further than the quality of your ideas and capability of your execution to figure out why your team is not getting better results with AI.In this episode, I sit down with strategic HR and transformation leader Jim Abolt. He has de
Ep 126 - AI for networks and networks for AI (Gabriela Styf Sjöman)
The telco industry loves to differentiate on technical specs—five nines of reliability, fastest 5G, most coverage. But Gabriela Styf Sjöman, Managing Director of Research and Network Strategy at BT Group, has a radically simple framework that cuts through the noise: every technology decision comes down to two questions—does it help us make money or does it help us save money?In this episode, Gabri
Ep 125 - What’s up with Totogi: The power of vertical AI (Michael Walker)
MIT research shows that 95% of enterprise AI projects fail, and the culprit is likely the daunting task of managing business context. When AI doesn't understand the full picture of your business, it makes poor decisions and delivers disappointing results that leave operators questioning whether AI can deliver real value.In this "What's Up with Totogi?" episode, I'm talking with Michael Walker, who
Ep 124 - The innovation inertia of MVNOs (Allan Rasmussen)
MVNOs are having their moment. From Ryan Reynolds with Mint Mobile to the Trumps launching Trump Mobile, everyone wants in.But the truth is it’s tough to be an MVNO. MVNOs who pay millions in licensing fees struggle to actually go live because incumbent MNOs work overtime to squash them. Take Nigeria - regulators handed out 46 MVNx licenses and collected serious cash from hopeful startups. The res
Ep 123 - Talking telco transformation with Tech Mahindra (Amol Phadke)
Telco transformation projects are legendary for their complexity. Operators must maintain 99.999% uptime while ripping out decades-old legacy systems that are deeply intertwined with every aspect of their business. They involve massive technical debt, vendor lock-in, regulatory compliance requirements, and the challenge of modernizing infrastructure—all of which need to be managed while serving mi
Ep 122 - Microsoft’s hypervelocity engineering for hypervelocity telcos (Robin Cole)
The telco industry has long been plagued by sluggish software development cycles that stretch across months and years. But operators are now building and deploying AI-powered solutions in weeks using what Microsoft calls "hypervelocity engineering."In this episode, I'm talking with Robin Cole, vice president of engineering at Microsoft, who works with telcos on their biggest technical challenges.
Ep 121 - Building AI-driven autonomous networks with Google Cloud (Angelo Libertucci)
Google Cloud runs the largest private network on the planet, managing billions of users with a fraction of the staff that regional telcos need. Now it’s opening up its playbook to share this AI-driven approach with telecommunications operators.In this episode, I'm talking with Angelo Libertucci, global head of industry for telecom at Google Cloud, about its partnership with Ericsson to build a clo
Ep 120 - The $300 billion question: Can telcos monetize network APIs? (Shkumbin Hamiti)
Network APIs are the telecom industry's next big bet for unlocking new revenue, with McKinsey & Company projecting they could generate up to $300 billion in connectivity and edge computing revenue over the next four to six years. But the real challenge isn't technical—it's convincing millions of developers to adopt telco’s network APIs instead of sticking with what they already use.In this episode
Ep 119 - The 4 Strategic Imperatives Turning Etisalat into Tech Company e& (Harrison Lung)
The telecommunications industry is at a crossroads, with strategic opportunities ready to reshape how operators generate revenue and compete. From network APIs, to GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS), to moving networks to the public cloud, telcos are weighing big bets that require capital and focus. The real challenge isn't identifying opportunities—it's knowing which ones to pursue and which to walk away
Ep 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, w
Ep 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 Voda
Ep 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
Ep 115 - Telstra is disrupting the status quo (Mark Sanders)
In today's rapidly evolving tech landscape, operators struggle with change because they are held back by their legacy systems and rigid processes. Bold transformation isn't just about upgrading networks or cutting costs—it requires fundamentally redesigning how the entire organization works. The future belongs to those with the courage to drive radical change — which is absolutely necessary in the
Ep 114 - What’s up with Totogi: The ontology of BSS Magic
In 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 syste
Ep 113 - AI’s power problem (Roy Illsley)
The energy demands of artificial intelligence are skyrocketing. AI workloads are doubling every few months, pushing data centers' energy consumption beyond the capabilities of our aging grid infrastructure. As these facilities approach gigawatt-level power needs—equivalent to powering entire cities—the energy question has become the critical bottleneck for AI's future growth.In this episode, I'm t
Ep 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 a
Ep 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 leverag
Ep 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 wh
Ep 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 enab
Ep 108 - Wake up and smell the BSS with Ray Le Maistre from TelecomTV
TelecomTV’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. To
Ep 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 & Telecomm
Ep 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
Ep 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
Ep 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 co
Ep 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
Ep 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 strategi
Ep 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
Ep 100 - The SPECIAL 100th episode of Telco in 20
This 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 pub
Ep 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
Ep 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 Sa
Ep 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 cos
Ep 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 work
Ep 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 tech
Ep 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
Ep 93 - The NETWORK will be the reason telcos move to the public cloud (Juha Korhonen)
It's hard to believe it's been three years since CLOUD CITY stole the show at MWC 2021 and I boldly proclaimed the dawn of the public cloud era in telecom. It’s amazing how far the industry has come in its public cloud journey since then.Juha Korhonen, a forward-thinking telco transformation leader, recognized the potential of the public cloud back then. At the time he was the head of innovation a
Ep 92 - The state of cloud in telco with Iain Morris from Light Reading
I'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
Ep 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
Ep 90 - Ali Talks Tech with Totogi and Zain on Sudan's telecom crisis
Last 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 S
Ep 89 - What’s up with Totogi: The public cloud is perfect for Africa
The hyperscalers are spending billions to build regions in Africa, setting the stage for the public cloud to revolutionize the continent’s telcos. With regulations easing and the number of affordable SaaS solutions growing, African telecoms are poised for an era of growth and success. Are the continent’s telcos ready to make the most of all the public cloud offers? In this episode, I talk with Sha
Ep 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 We
Ep 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
Ep 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 blen
Ep 85 - What’s up with Totogi: 2degrees, a modern telco
New 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
Ep 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 Mobil
Ep 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 t
Ep 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 monum
Ep 81 - Best of 2023: The cloud-first mindset, with Mobi CEO Justen Burdette
It’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
Ep 80 - What’s up with Totogi? How Totogi is bringing AI to charging
Today’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
Ep 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 softw
Ep 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 i
Ep 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 t
Ep 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 t
Ep 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 bec
Ep 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 their
Ep 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 i
Ep 72 - Mats Granryd talks Open Gateway
During 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 Gatew
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