Light Reading Podcasts

This episode features Basil Alwan, CEO of  Tarana . We discuss what sets Tarana apart as a provider of what it calls "next-generation" fixed wireless access, or ngFWA, and how it's deploying its technology to help WISPs close the digital divide. We also get into broadband policy and why he wants legislators to reconsider unlicensed spectrum as a tool and see FWA as more than just a "stopgap"...

What are you watching? It's a question that tends to pop up among family, friends and coworkers. The water cooler may be a corporate relic, but thanks to the rise and popularity of free and paid streaming services, the video landscape is certainly rife with water cooler-worthy TV shows, series and movies. Perhaps too many.  A startup called Glidr Inc. wants to help consumers cut through the c...

With a fresh cash flow of $262 million, DriveNets plans to expand sales to service provider customers and grow its employee base by 30% to 450 employees. Hillel Kobrinsky, chief strategy officer and co-founder of DriveNets, joined the podcast with an update on how the networking company plans to invest its new  Series C round of funding , and how the company's focus on virtualization software...

T-Mobile and SpaceX have teamed up on a plan to connect mobile phones to SpaceX's new Starlink satellites. According to the two companies, this could eliminate all cellular dead zones around the US. However, the new satellites won't be launched until next year. In the meantime, Verizon and AT&T are working on their own satellite plans. "Verizon plans to use Amazon's planned Project Kuiper sate...

Manoj Leelanivas, COO of Juniper, joins the podcast with an update on Juniper's Cloud Metro platform. Leelanivas explains how a number of factors are contributing to driving network traffic through the metro network and how Juniper is taking on new approaches to managing cloud infrastructure. He also shares why increasing automation in the management of cloud infrastructure is beneficial to servic...

This episode features David Broecker, chief innovation officer at  Purdue Research Foundation  (PRF), and Özer Dondurmacıoğlu, vice president of strategic accounts at enterprise networking company  Celona . We discuss the digital divide in the state of Indiana where Purdue Research Foundation (part of Purdue University) is based, why PRF worked with Celona to deploy a private 5G net...

There's no shortage of topics in the world of broadband these days. Fiber network M&A activity and upgrades have not slowed down. Billions of dollars are flowing into rural broadband. Cable operators are considering multiple paths forward on their access network upgrades amid flagging broadband subscriber growth. Meanwhile, fixed wireless access (FWA) seems to be all the rage.  To cover t...

Infinera CEO David Heard is optimistic about what the  CHIPS and Sciences Act can do for US optical networking vendors, especially those endeavoring to be less dependent on foreign suppliers. You can download an  unedited transcript of the podcast here . Here are just a few things covered in this podcast episode: What the CHIPS and Sciences Act does for companies like Infinera (01:38) Ho...

The utility grid is undergoing a massive change, transforming in a similar way to the cable network 30 years ago, according to Dr. Robert Cruickshank, managing member of Power Networks. "Now with distributed solar, and storage, you know, battery storage in people's homes, we actually have content creation and storage at the edge," said Cruickshank on the podcast. The "unprecedented change" to the...

With the range, scope and variety of damaging botnet attacks on the rise, businesses large and small need to prioritize cybersecurity and ensure they are taking proactive and iterative measures to protect against potentially devastating attacks.  "Cyber[security], like many things in life, is a journey. It's not a destination," said Ivan Shefrin, executive director for managed security servic...

There's a new collaboration on the horizon for the streaming video world. Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced that HBO Max and Discovery+ will be combined next year. "One of the big things that kind of came out of the call, the recent earnings call, is a plan to launch HBO Max and Discovery+ as a single service and kind of a global brand, initially in the US next summer, and...

Lou Borrelli, CEO of the National Content & Technology Cooperative (NCTC), joins the Light Reading Podcast to reflect on the recently concluded The Independent Show in Florida, and reactions to the new name of the organization , which kept the NCTC designation but dropped the "cable" and "television" labels.  Borrelli, who joined the podcast from his boat moored in Martha's Vineyard, also...

DENVER – MEF Annual Members Event – Orange Business Services VP Franck Morales returns to the podcast to share how the service provider is utilizing  MEF's Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) APIs . In addition to working to further automate transactions with other service providers and enterprise customers via the APIs, Morales said his role as a member of MEF's board provides him with the...

On this episode, we're joined by Jonathan Chambers, a partner with  Conexon ; and Herschel Arant, senior vice president of energy supply and external services at  Central Georgia EMC , a rural electric cooperative serving parts of 14 counties in central Georgia. We discuss their partnership to build out a fiber broadband network to an unserved region of the state and how their collaborat...

In this podcast, Verizon's Mark Paff described in detail the service provider's role in emergency response scenarios and explained that Verizon's efforts are "all done in close coordination with the local responders that are setting up that incident command center after the event." Sign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many industries are feeling the squeeze of supply chain challenges, and the open RAN and semiconductor businesses are no exception. Despite the flexibility that open RAN promises from an equipment and technology standpoint, supply chain speed bumps plus geopolitical factors are presenting new challenges to that market, Light Reading's Iain Morris explained on the podcast. "Open RAN for people who...

DENVER – MEF Annual Members Event – Lumen's sights are set on developing a customer experience where connectivity service orders are placed through a portal or API for a more digital, automated experience, Andrew Dugan, CTO of Lumen Technologies, told Light Reading. Accomplishing that goal requires automation of Lumen's infrastructure via the use of APIs, said Dugan. He added that the service prov...

In this episode, we're joined by David Zumwalt, president and CEO of the  Wireless Internet Service Providers Association  (WISPA), a trade organization that represents the fixed wireless industry. Zumwalt assumed his role roughly two months ago, in June 2022, after former CEO  Claude Aiken stepped down  from his post at the organization in April. We discuss what he learned abo...

There's no shortage of change and disruption being meted out by the streaming market.  Netflix, which benefits from a sizable chunk of TV viewing time, is pursuing an ad-supported option to help restoke customer growth. Meanwhile, sports rights are rapidly gravitating to deep-pocketed streaming platforms and the world of Big Tech.  Even the NFL is getting into that act with a new "NFL+"...

DENVER – MEF Annual Members Event – Service providers have long been working toward automated networks. One way service providers are reducing manual processes is by adopting MEF's Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) Sonata APIs. Currently, 22 service providers are in production with the APIs, which automate inter-carrier transactions of connectivity services such as Carrier Ethernet. Stan Hubba...

John Roese, the global CTO at Dell Technologies, said the influx of federal funding to help alleviate the digital divide should be used to solve broadband coverage gaps as efficiently as possible. He said that those efforts could be hampered if federal and state agencies let legacy networking requirements limit the number of potential technology suppliers.  For new broadband builds, Roese sai...

The concept of "digital equity" has been a hot topic as the FCC and private entities attempt to resolve the issue of accurate broadband mapping and uncover where resources need to be applied to get people connected in underserved and unserved rural areas. That work also extends into cities, where broadband might be available but factors like affordability or access to devices and digital training...

Light Reading's Mike Dano joins the podcast to discuss Cox Communications' new mobile service. He explains why it was a long time coming, why T-Mobile tried to slow Cox's deployment with a lawsuit, which service provider Cox ultimately chose to partner with on the mobile service, and more. Sign up today for the Light Reading newsletter. Related stories and links: Cox to enter US wireless industry...

Phil Harvey joins the podcast to discuss Light Reading's Leading Lights Awards and how to enter a submission. In addition, we share advice for how to craft a solid entry, tell you when the deadline to enter is, how much it costs and more. Here are just a few things covered in this podcast: Background on the Leading Lights Awards (01:10) How the award winners will be announced (03:50) How the judgi...

This week we're resharing an episode of the Light Reading Podcast featuring Nick Feamster, director of research for the Data Science Institute at the University of Chicago. He joined Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Kelsey Ziser last month to discuss his team's research based on the  Internet Equity Initiative data portal , which uses  Ookla Speedtest data  to map out Internet inequi...