Light Reading Podcasts

Latest Episodes:

The Divide: Ribbon's Bruce McClelland on economics and politics of rural broadband Mar 18, 2021

Show notes

On this episode, we hear from Bruce McClelland, CEO of Ribbon Communications, about his company's work with broadband service providers in the rural US. McClelland says he took advantage of this last year of lockdown to reach out to policymakers in Washington, DC, and local reps at the state level, to "gauge tone" on rural broadband. We talk about his takeaways from those conversations, as well as the challenging economics around expanding broadband in hard-to-reach areas, why he's enthusiastic about the outcome of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction and more.

Light Reading's Alan Breznick: Which DOCSIS are we on anyway? Mar 16, 2021

Show notes

The King of Cable, aka Alan Breznick, returns to host the 14th year of Light Reading's Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies event on April 28-29. While this year's event will be virtual, Breznick and his fellow cable industry experts will cover an array of topics including 10G, DOCSIS 3.1 and 4.0, DAA, Wi-Fi 6, fiber deployments and more. Breznick joins Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser on the podcast to discuss which topics will be covered during the event and provide insight into challenges and business opportunities facing the cable industry. One conundrum facing cable operators is whether there's a future in pay-TV or if the real revenue lies in streaming services. "One big question is whether cable TV will stay a big pay-TV player and how that will happen," says Breznick. "Traditional pay-TV is going by the wayside and a lot of operators are exiting or downplaying the business and trying to make the pivot to be a streaming player and the aggregator of streaming services."

The Divide: Upstream's Kostas Kastanis on offering 'free' Internet in Africa Mar 11, 2021

Show notes

On this episode, we hear from Kostas Kastanis, deputy CEO of Upstream – a mobile technology company that works with providers to offer affordable and secure access to Internet services, primarily in emerging markets. Our conversation focuses on Upstream's work in Africa, where its service Zero-D offers free Internet access through an ad-supported model. Kastanis says this works especially well in countries like Nigeria where 1 gig of data costs more than an average day's pay. We discuss how Zero-D works for users and providers, and other ways to solve the unique challenges to delivering and accessing the Internet in Africa.

Heavy Reading's Gabriel Brown on 5G's next wave Mar 06, 2021

Show notes

The Light Reading podcast welcomes Gabriel Brown, Heavy Reading's principal analyst, mobile networks and 5G, to preview some of the discussions and topics that will be part of the 5G Next Wave Digital Symposium. The symposium will be moderated by Brown, along with Jim Hodges, chief analyst, Heavy Reading, and it will feature speakers from Swisscom, Anritsu, Red Hat, 5G Americas, Telus and more. As the 5G network goes from a 4G enhancement to a true, standalone next-gen network, the prospect of additional network investment and more immersive services is on the horizon as technologies like 5G core, edge cloud and network slicing take hold.

MNJ's Ben Niernberg: SD-WAN is still seeing midmarket growth Mar 05, 2021

Show notes

MNJ Technologies COO Ben Niernberg returns to the Light Reading podcast to discuss predictions for growth in the MPLS and SD-WAN markets. According to a recent Avant Communications report, over 60% of enterprises plan to increase or significantly increase their SD-WAN usage this year and 59% plan to increase MPLS usage in 2021. Niernberg shares his perspective on these results, explaining that enterprises' plan to increase SD-WAN usage wasn't a surprise to him since the technology is "well past the early adoption phase."

The Divide: WISPA's Claude Aiken on tech-neutral solutions Mar 04, 2021

Show notes

On this episode, we hear from Claude Aiken, president and CEO of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA), which represents the wireless Internet service provider industry, covering an estimated 6 million customers. We discuss the role of fixed wireless technology versus fiber when it comes to ending the divide in rural and hard-to-reach areas, how WISPs have kept people connected during the pandemic and the organization's policy priorities under the Biden administration.

Executive Spotlight Q&A: Plume Co-founder and CEO Fahri Diner Mar 01, 2021

Show notes

This episode of the Executive Spotlight Q&A features Plume Co-founder and CEO Fahri Diner, a veteran telecom entrepreneur and investor that Light Reading has covered for several years. In this interview, we discuss Plume's origins, why it exists, and what technology advantage the company has in the market. We also talk about Plume's recent $270 million funding round, a massive Series E round that brings the company's valuation to $1.35 billion and its total equity funding to date to $397 million. Diner discusses the reason behind the funding, what Plume will invest in next and how it addresses some of the most impactful trends happening in the connectivity and smart home space. The Executive Spotlight Q&A is a sponsored Light Reading audio production.

The Divide: How US counties are confronting connectivity needs Feb 25, 2021

Show notes

On this episode of The Divide, we hear from Judge JD Clark of Wise County, Texas and Councilmember Craig Rice of Montgomery County, Maryland – co-chairs of the National Association of Counties (NACo) Broadband Task Force. The task force, formed in October 2020, is a coalition of nearly three dozen county government officials from across the US studying the country's digital divide and the challenges facing underserved communities. We discuss what the task force hopes to achieve, why FCC mapping needs an overhaul, why broadband should be treated as a utility and more.

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner on Paramount+, pay TV and live sports Feb 24, 2021

Show notes

Light Reading Senior Editor Jeff Baumgartner joins the podcast to discuss the state of streaming video services and why they're eating away at pay-TV subscriber numbers. He also discusses new streaming services such as Paramount+, whether live sports can keep pay-TV alive, and what other features are keeping pay-TV subscribers from cutting the cord.

Beats x Broadband: a fiber-fueled music masterclass Feb 24, 2021

Show notes

The Light Reading podcast welcomes Dan Kurin, the tech coordinator at Factory Two and Brandon Corder the CEO of Beats x Beers to discuss an upcoming experiment with low-latency broadband in Flint, Michigan. Using the LoLa software system, developed in Italy and popularized by Internet2, a group of musicians at Factory Two will conduct a real-time musical performance and hip hop masterclass over a low-latency fiber network for students across town at the Flint Cultural Center Academy. This event, called Beats x Broadband, is sponsored in part by US Ignite as part of its National Science Foundation-funded Smart Gigabit Communities program. The class takes place on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 4:00 pm ET and you can watch it on Facebook Live.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected