Every Telco in 20 podcast ever
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Ep 104 – Get ready for re:Invent with AWS
26 November 2024 – AWS and TelcoDR explore how Totogi partnered with Zain Sudan to restore mobile services to 20 million subscribers using AWS’ powerful cloud infrastructure.
Ep 103 – How to build an AI-first organization
12 November 2024 – Most companies are getting AI transformation backwards. Here’s a practical framework for using AI to achieve breakthrough business results.
Ep 102 – 3 ways to maximize hyperscaler discounts
29 October 2024 – Telcos leave millions on the table by not using the right strategies and tools to maximize hyperscaler discount programs. CloudFix CEO Brandon Pizzacalla shares the secrets to capturing untapped savings from AWS’ EDP.
Ep 101 – Anthropic’s BIG PLANS for telco
15 October 2024 – Anthropic’s Neerav Kingsland shares the latest on what’s happening with AI in telco, and explains why it’s critical for operators to prepare for the future today.
Ep 100 – The SPECIAL 100th episode of Telco in 20
1 October 2024 – In this milestone episode, we take a look at telecom’s journey to the public cloud over the past four years and recap the game-changing moves that have pushed the industry forward.
Ep 99 – Will TM Forum’s idea of interoperability really work?
17 September 2024 – TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture (ODA) and Open APIs hold promise for bringing vendor interoperability to telco BSS systems. Industry analyst and consultant Caroline Chappell discusses adoption obstacles, data layer harmonization, and more.
Ep 98 – Safaricom: On the hunt for revenue
3 September 2024 – Safaricom, the company behind Africa’s mobile payment system M-PESA, is applying AI to create personalized offers, build a super app, and boost network efficiency. Its innovative approach could be the blueprint for telcos everywhere.
Ep 97 – The big trends in BSS with Appledore Research
20 August 2024 – John Abraham from Appledore Research discusses how vendors and operators are applying GenAI in their business, major BSS trends, and how the cost of AI can be justified by real business outcomes.
Ep 96 – How TELUS turned its data swamp into an AI oasis
6 August 2024 – Canadian telco TELUS is using AI to drive efficiency and innovation across its business. Chief Insights Officer Jaime Tatis shares key learnings and success stories from the company’s transformation journey.
Ep 95 – African telcos: forge a new path!
9 July 2024 – Ali Talks Tech podcast host Ali Hussein Kassim and I explore how African telcos can capitalize on using the public cloud with older networks, how AI is poised to drive real change on the continent, and more.
Ep 94 – Are you ready for Singtel?
25 June 2024 – Singtel, a leading MNO in AsiaPac, has a reputation for innovation. Anna Yip, CEO of business development and deputy CEO for Singapore, shares insights into the telco’s efforts to build new revenue, customer satisfaction, and subscriber loyalty.
Ep 93 – The NETWORK will be the reason telcos move to the public cloud
11 June 2024 – Transformation leader Juha Korhonen explores signs that telecoms are ready to think about moving network workloads, why some aren’t realizing cloud savings, and the need for BSS and OSS to converge.
Ep 92 – The state of cloud in telco with Iain Morris from Light Reading
28 May 2024 – Following telcos’ adoption of the public cloud is critical to understanding the future of the telecom industry. Iain Morris from Light Reading gives his take on where telcos are in their public cloud journey, how AI factors in, and more.
Ep 91 – Exploring AIOps with Microsoft Azure
14 May 2024 – Microsoft Azure is helping telcos manage their data for AI workloads and prepare for an AI revolution.
Ep 90 – Ali Talks Tech with Totogi and Zain on Sudan’s telecom crisis
30 April 2024 – Ali Hussein Kassim, host of Ali Talks Tech, Abdalla Hamid, Director of IT at Zain Sudan, and I discuss the details of Totogi’s work to restore critical mobile services in Sudan after they were knocked out due to the ongoing civil war.
Ep 89 – What’s up with Totogi: The public cloud is perfect for Africa
16 April 2024 – The hyperscalers are spending billions in Africa, setting the stage for the public cloud to revolutionize the continent’s telcos. With regulations easing and affordable SaaS solutions growing, African telecoms are poised for an era of growth and success.
Ep 88 – Cloud CAPEX: Not for the faint of wallet
2 April 2024 – Following the hyperscalers’ CAPEX spending is a great way to get a sense of their strategic plans and priorities. Charles Fitzgerald from Platformonomics offers insights into the Big 3’s 2023 investments.
Ep 87 – Scaling telcos’ cloud mountain with Alianza
19 March 2024 – Alianza moved UCaaS to AWS, offering a SaaS solution that leverages the scalability and resilience of the public cloud.
Ep 86 – Reinventing BSS
5 March 2024 – Last week I opened MWC’s second annual MVNO Summit with an epic talk about the AI-powered revolution in telco business support systems (BSS). We captured the talk on video, and I’ve turned it into this podcast.
Ep 85 – What’s up with Totogi: 2degrees, a modern telco
20 February 2024 – New Zealand MNO 2degrees is tapping Totogi’s multi-tenant charger to streamline MVNO onboarding and support, and to capture additional revenue.
Ep 84 – MobileX’s AI-driven approach
6 February 2024 – MVNO MobileX offers an AI-based tool that analyzes each subscriber’s usage and creates personalized plans for them. CEO Peter Adderton shares details about the company’s plans for 2024, its deal with Walmart, and more.
Ep 83 – Monetizing Network APIs
23 January 2024 – It’s been a year since the launch of the GSMA’s Open Gateway initiative. McKinsey & Company Partner Ferry Grijpink talks about the API economy and what operators need to do to monetize network APIs to their full advantage.
Ep 82 – Beam me up, BT 🖖
9 January 2024 – BT Group started its public cloud journey in 2019, putting it in a strong position to tap the strategic capabilities of AI. Chief Architect, Digital, Josie Smith talks about BT Group’s mission to simplify thousands of apps, unleash AI, and reskill its workforce for digital transformation.
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Ep 81 – Best of 2023: The cloud-first mindset, with Mobi CEO Justen Burdette
12 December 2023 – Our top episode from 2023: my interview with Mobi CEO Justen Burdette about the Hawaiian MVNO’s work to implement its own public-cloud-native, mobile core.
Ep 80 – What’s up with Totogi? How Totogi is bringing AI to charging
28 November 2023 – Totogi is using the public cloud, AI, and data-driven algorithms to help the industry adopt dynamic, personalized pricing that maximizes the bottom line.
Ep 79 – Weaving through the public cloud with Ribbon
14 November 2023 – Ribbon CEO Bruce McClelland talks about balancing daily business with the need to innovate, where telcos are with the public cloud, and more.
Ep 78 – Visionary telcos use the public cloud
31 October 2023 – Andrew Walker from Accenture explains why the move to the public cloud can be challenging for telcos and what they can do about it.
Ep 77 – Why do subscribers churn: network coverage or price?
17 October 2023 – Ninety percent of consumers are on mobile phone plans that aren’t a good fit. Stetson Doggett, founder of BestPhonePlans.net, lifts the curtain on why they’re overpaying, what prompts them to switch providers, and where they can look for better options.
Ep 76 – Into the Nexus of GenAI with Microsoft
3 October 2023 – Rick Lievano, Microsoft CTO for Worldwide Telecommunications Industry, talks about telco and the public cloud, Azure Operator Nexus…
Ep 75 – Nokia’s journey to becoming cloud native
19 September 2023 – Nokia is shifting focus to enterprise and B2B, which it sees as the future of telecom. Nokia Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Europe Azfar Aslam talks about its new direction, refactoring legacy products, and what’s next.
Ep 74 – It’s time to take on Twilio!
5 September 2023 – The future of enterprise telco lies in network APIs. Here’s a three-step plan to take back CPaaS revenue from companies like Twilio, plus a sneak peek at a powerful new Totogi CPaaS product.
Ep 73 – Can telco compete in CPaaS?
22 August 2023 – Telcos have lost money to companies like Twilio that make it easy for developers to add CPaaS capabilities to products. But the landscape is shifting and there are signs that telcos are ready to take back the CPaaS reins.
Ep 72 – Mats Granryd talks Open Gateway
8 August 2023 – GSMA Director General Mats Granryd sits down to talk about how Open Gateway could spark a massive shift in the telco industry and what needs to happen for it to succeed.
Ep 71 – Save bookoo bucks with CloudFix
25 July 2023 – CloudFix can help telcos capture fast, automatic, and ongoing savings of 15 – 20% on their AWS spend, and now telcos can get a special discount on CloudFix from TelcoDR.
Ep 70 – Unleashing telco potential with AWS
11 July 2023 – Chivas Nambiar, director of worldwide solution architecture, AWS for telecom, talks about how the hyperscaler is working with our industry, how cloud software is changing the landscape, and the future of telco in an AI-driven world.
Ep 69 – Appledore Research sits down with Totogi
27 June 2023 – Telco in 20 host Danielle Royston talks with Appledore Research about the state of charging in telecom, what Totogi is up to, and why SaaS is the future for telco.
Ep 68 – giffgaff is 1,000 times faster with AWS
13 June 2023 – In 2020, award-winning MVNO giffgaff went all-in on the public cloud. Chief Operating and Technology Officer Steve McDonald shares the inside story on its courageous move.
Ep 67 – How to create shareholder value
30 May 2023 – Telco stocks were once a golden ticket. Can they return to their former glory? Recurve Capital Founder Aaron Chan sees a path for the public cloud to help telcos get back in the game.
Ep 66 – Anyone can be an MVNO with Gigs
15 May 2023 – Innovative tech firm Gigs is using the public cloud and APIs to make it easy for enterprise software developers to create and sell their own voice and data plans.
Ep 65 – The new guard in telco tech
2 May 2023 – Innovative telco vendor Working Group Two has built a multi-tenant, public-cloud-native, mobile core running on AWS—something naysayers have said today’s tech couldn’t support.
Ep 64 – The cloud-first mindset
18 April 2023 – Hawaiian MVNO Mobi built a public-cloud-native, mobile core on AWS. CEO Justen Burdette talks about why it’s so great to work with cloud-first solutions.
Ep 63 – Ante up to be a public cloud contender
4 April 2023 – Hyperscaler spending on the public cloud is staggering. Charles Fitzgerald, founder of the Platformonomics blog, tracks their CapEx spending to get the inside story on who’s doing things right and who’s falling behind.
Ep 62 – Running your network on the public cloud with Juniper Networks
21 March 2023 – Ben Baker from Juniper Networks talks about whether the hyperscalers are technically ready to support network workloads.
Ep 61 – SUPERCHARGE your MVNO with personalization
7 March 2023 – MVNO’s can delight customers and grow ARPU by using carrier-grade, public cloud-native SaaS software (like Totogi!) to gain real-time insights and deliver superior subscriber experiences.
Ep 60 – The American dream: Building a killer MVNO
21 February 2023 – US Mobile, a US-based MVNO, was built on the public cloud from day one. Founder and CEO Ahmed Khattack talks about how the company’s cloud-first design has delighted customers and helped it thrive.
Ep 59 – Get ready for MWC 2023!
7 February 2023 – Mobile World Congress is a must-attend event for telco industry leaders. Here’s the latest on what to expect at this year’s event, which starts on February 27.
Ep 58 – Live and Learn: A new MVNO approach with Peter Adderton
24 January 2023 – MobileX is using AI and subscriber usage insights to design personalized plans with transparent pricing. CEO Peter Adderton explains what it’s up to and why.
Ep 57 –Catch the public cloud train with TELUS
10 January 2023 – TELUS is on a path to become a cloud-native organization. CIO Hesham Fahmy talks about how the telecom built momentum for its cloud journey and lessons it learned that other telcos should know.
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Ep 56 – Best of 2022: DISH, The Telco Pioneer
13 December 2022 – DISH Wireless’ Marc Rouanne brings home the gold! His episode of Telco in 20 was the most listened to AND WATCHED of 2022. Tune in to hear him talk about DISH’s new 5G network, open APIs, and more.
Ep 55 – Supercharge your MVNO (and your ARPU) by delivering a personalized subscriber experience
29 November 2022 – I’ve turned my keynote from the MVNO Nation Live conference into a podcast. I discuss how public cloud technology can help MVNOs streamline their work, lower costs, AND increase speed to market. Plus examples on how MVNOs can improve their NPS and ARPU by providing personalized customer experiences
Ep 54 – Bye-bye, private cloud; hello, public cloud
15 November 2022 – Davide Bellini from Accenture shares insights into what telcos are planning to do with the public cloud and the challenges and opportunities they’re facing.
Ep 53 – I scream, you scream, we all scream for MVNOs
1 November 2022 – The MVNO segment of telco is gaining momentum, which makes it the perfect time to explore the ins and outs of launching an MVNO and ensuring its success.
Ep 52 – Born to run (in the cloud) with Nathan Bell
18 October 2022 – A few years ago, former M1 Chief Digital Officer Nathan Bell helped the MNO go all-in on the public cloud, making it the most cloud-forward telco in the world at the time. He shares the details of M1’s transformation journey.
Ep 51 – Catching up with Azure and AT&T
4 October 2022 – In 2021, AT&T sold its network cloud to Microsoft Azure. For this episode, Shawn Hakl, Microsoft VP of 5G strategy, shares the latest on how the hyperscaler-telco collaboration is going.
Ep 50 – The public cloud is PERFECT for India
20 September 2022 – The public cloud is perfect for India’s unique telco market. The only catch is that operators have to select software that’s native to the public cloud to maximize its potential.
Ep 49 – What’s up with Totogi? What it takes to deploy a telco charging system
6 September 2022 – Up until now, rolling out a telco charging engine has been a heavy lift. Not anymore, thanks to the public cloud-based Totogi Charging System.
Ep 48 – Tips for a successful cloud transformation
23 August 2022 – Research shows that the majority of big transformation projects fail. Teena Piccione, a change management expert at Google, explains why and offers tips for keeping your public cloud transformation on track
Ep 47 – Half measures
9 August 2022 – CSG’s Shaun Whalon and I believe the move to the public cloud is inevitable for telco, and discuss our different ideas about the best way to get there.
Ep 46 – The nitty gritty about public cloud security
26 July 2022 – The director of cybersecurity at AT&T explains how and why the public cloud is more secure than how many telcos are doing business today.
Ep 45 – Drumming up ways to increase ARPU with McKinsey
12 July 2022 – 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.
Ep 44 – DISH: The Telco Pioneer
21 June 2022 – DISH Wireless EVP and Chief Network Officer Marc Rouanne talks about DISH’s cloud-native 5G network, its partnership with AWS, and more.
Ep 43 – Telco’s Pinball Wizard: Neil McRae
14 June 2022 – BT Chief Architect Neil McRae talks about the company’s digital transformation and strategies for working with hyperscalers … and pinball, of course!
Ep 42 – Talking Telco with Google Cloud
31 May 2022 – Amol Phadke, Google Cloud’s MD & GM for the Global Telecom Industry, talks about what the hyperscaler is doing in the telco space.
Ep 41 – Telco Religious Wars: Charging Databases
17 May 2022 – When it comes to charging, the database you use is critical. Database expert Alex DeBrie talks about the pros and cons of database options.
Ep 40 – New ways to build your future-ready workforce
3 May 2022 – Telcos need to hire a gazillion people with cloud skills. How can CSPs cultivate the talented teams they need? Good news – there are new workforce management strategies and AI tools that can help.
Ep 39 – Hacking Cloud Costs
19 April 2022 – A cottage industry has popped up to help companies optimize their cloud environment and spending. Find out what you can do to hack cloud costs.
Ep 38 – What’s Up with Totogi? The Future of Charging
5 April 2022 – Nothing new has happened in charging in decades – until now. Find out why Totogi’s API-based, pay-by-the-use system is a game changer for telcos.
Ep 37 – A Chat with AWS about the Future of Telco Tech
22 March 2022 – I had a great conversation with Claus Verner from AWS at MWC22. We talk about how the public cloud is helping to build innovative telco software companies, the launch of TelcoDR, and more.
Ep 36 – The Public Cloud is NOW
8 March 2022 – Listen to the most exciting talk from MWC 2022 to learn how to turn the public cloud into a competitive advantage.
Ep 35 – Azure has private networks, too!
22 February 2022 – Microsoft Azure’s private network offering unites 5G, edge computing, and a robust partner network to deliver private networks to enterprises. Shriraj Gaglani, GM, Azure Private MEC, tells us what this means for telco.
Ep 34 – Get ready for CLOUD CITY 2022!
8 February 2022 – CLOUD CITY is back, baby! And 100% in the cloud this year. Find out what we’ve done to bring an in-person experience to our virtual platform, and what you’ll find during the event.
Ep 33 – Quick and easy real-time communications with Amazon Chime SDK
11 January 2022 – Amazon Chime SDK general manager Sid Rao shares insights into what this set of real-time communication tools can do for telcos.
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Ep 32 – 2022 Predictions: All aboard the public cloud train
28 December 2021 – In this special episode, we take a look at telco and public cloud trends to watch in 2022. Tune in to find out what you need to know.
Ep 31 – Verizon’s public cloud journey
7 December 2021 – In this special episode, we take a look at telco and public cloud trends to watch in 2022. Tune in to find out what you need to know.
Ep 30 – Achieving Feature Velocity with the Totogi APIs
7 December 2021 – Totogi APIs can help CSPs bring new features to market fast, and boost customer satisfaction and ARPU in the process.
Ep 29 – Telco in 20’s Best of 2021
16 November 2021 – In our most popular episode from 2021, transformation leader Juha Korhonen shares his experience with the successful launch of Yaqoot, a digital mobile operator in the Middle East.
Ep 28 – Talking public cloud with GSMA
19 October 2021 – Telco in 20 sits down with Mats Granryd, Director General for GSMA, to talk about the future of the public cloud and telco.
Ep 27 – Talking public cloud with Telecoms.com
4 October 2021 – 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.
Ep 26 – Avoid vendor lock-in with TM Forum Open APIs
28 September 2021 – TM Forum’s Open APIs are giving telcos a way to build IT solutions that are easier and cheaper to deploy, integrate, and upgrade. It’s time to change your thinking about the best way to build applications.
Ep 25 – Get ready to use the public cloud… in Afghanistan
21 September 2021 – Former Roshan CFO Imtiaz Esmail and his team refused to be sidelined by two devastating attacks on the Afghan telecom. Instead, they guided the company through a successful digital transformation.
EP 24 – What’s up with Totogi?
24 August 2021 – Here’s the latest on Totogi, the telco software darling built specifically for the public cloud – 80% lower TCO, anyone?
Ep 23 – DynamoDB: A tier 0 database
10 August 2021 – AWS’ Rick Houlihan tells us why flexible and scalable NoSQL databases are a great fit for telco.
Ep 22 – Meet mediation vendor Digital Route
27 July 2021 – Jonas Wallenius, Strategic Product Manager at Digital Route, has a clear view of the public cloud’s potential for telco, and ideas about how the industry can get there.
Ep 21 – How we rocked MWC21
13 July 2021 – CLOUD CITY shifted the spotlight to the public cloud for telco for the first time in MWC history.
Ep 20 – The paradox of the public cloud
30 June 2021 – There are massive upsides to the public cloud for telcos, but that’s not the whole story. TelcoDR CEO Danielle Royston tells it all in her MWC21 keynote.
Ep 19 – Double your ARPU with customer ❤️❤️❤️
1 June 2021 – Switching from being network-centric to customer-centric is not only necessary, but also the best thing you’ll ever do for your bottom line.
Ep 18 – digital telco: Meet Yaqoot
4 May 2021 – Juha was instrumental in Zain Group’s launch of Yaqoot, a digital mobile operator in the Middle East. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at a bonafide, digital-transformation success story.
Ep 17 – The Software Series: LastMileXchange
6 April 2021 – LastMileXchange’s cloud-based access quoting solution shines a spotlight on how the public cloud can transform telecom.
Ep 16 – #SaveMWC
18 March 2021 – The rumors are true… Public cloud is taking center stage in Barcelona and TelcoDR is leading the way!
Ep 15 – Totogi: The new ant at the picnic
16 March 2021 – Remember the David-and-Goliath business story of Siebel vs Salesforce? There’s a new public cloud startup in Telco that will change everything – web scale charging engine Totogi.
Ep 14 – The Software Series: PortaOne
2 March 2021 – Andriy Zhylenko, CEO of PortaOne, talks about leading a pivot to the public cloud via Oracle Cloud.
Ep 13 – The Software Series: CSG
16 February 2021 – Jon Fagan, Senior Principal Cloud Architect at CSG, talks about what the billion-dollar company is doing with the public cloud.
Ep 12 – Monetizing 5G and IoT
2 February 2021 – Telcos are making huge investments in 5G. Will ROI follow? Pete Bernard, Senior Director of Azure Edge Devices, Platforms and Services, talks about how 5G, IoT, AI and the edge can work together to help monetize the network.
Ep 11 – The Software Series: MATRIXX
19 January 2021 – The Software Series, Part 1: MATRIXX Software CTO Marc Price talks 5G, designing for the public cloud, and why customizations will be the death of vendors AND telcos.
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Ep 10 – 2021 Forecast: cloudy with a chance of OpenRAN
28 December 2020 – In this special episode, we take a look at 2020’s big headlines and trends to watch in the coming year. Tune in to find out who will be in the winner’s circle at the end of 2021.
Ep 9 – Microsoft’s big move
8 December 2020 – Microsoft wants to be THE hyperscaler for the telecom industry. Yousef Khalidi, corporate VP for Azure for Operators, shares exactly what Azure is up to and why telcos need to pay attention.
Ep 8 – The HR Series: Pair programming – the most powerful tool you’ve never used
23 November 2020 – The HR Series, Part 2: What has two heads, two keyboards and two monitors and can help you squash the competition? It’s time to adopt pair programming.
Ep 7 – The HR Series: Telcos, get ready for workforce transformation
10 November 2020 – The HR Series, Part 1: If telecoms are going to survive the inevitable move to the public cloud, they need to start focusing on people – retraining, hiring, and yes, letting some workers go.
Ep 6 – The BFCs: Is Google Cloud Platform (GCP) right for telcos?
27 October 2020 – Neil Bunn, Head of Customer Engineering, Media and Telco, for Google Cloud Canada, reviews the coolest features of Google cloud technology and offers an unexpected reason why GCP should be at the top of telcos’ list (hint: think, Anthos).
Ep 5 – The BFCs: Putting Microsoft Azure to the test for telcos
13 October 2020 – Rick Lievano, Worldwide Director of Technology Strategy at Microsoft, builds a good case for why Azure should be telecom’s cloud platform of choice, not the least of which is Azure for Operators – a game changer in the quest for carrier-grade cloud.
Ep 4 – Lift Off: Right-size your public cloud spending
5 October 2020 – Find out how telcos can control public cloud spending and avoid leaving money on the table. Featuring cloud economist and snark-master Corey Quinn.
Ep 3 – Lift Off: Telcos moving to the public cloud – beware of lift and shift
5 October 2020 – Using a lift and shift strategy for public cloud migration demands clear vision around what’s waiting on the other side. Cloud architect Forrest Brazeal explains what you need to know and why.
Ep 2 – Lift Off: Taking the first step
5 October 2020 – Telcos need to start moving to the public cloud, like, yesterday. Migration specialist Troy O’Brien offers his advice on smart planning for a smooth journey.
Ep 1 – It starts with…transformational leadership
5 October 2020 – Telco needs disruptive leaders with the courage to drive change. Find out what sets these trailblazers apart and why it takes big changes to big things to succeed.
Telco in 20 – Subscribe now!
1 October 2020 – 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!