Telecoms.com Podcast

Hosted by Telecoms.com

Technology

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Episodes

100

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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About the show

Once a week we get together in a studio somewhere in London to take the piss out of telecoms and technology for an hour or so.

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60 recent

August 10, 2026Episode 91 hr 11 min

AI, automation and enshittification

This special episode of the pod was recorded remotely with tech and science fiction author Cory Doctorow. Cory has recently published a book titled: The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI, so they start by exploring what a reverse centaur is in this context. Spoiler alert – it’s about the relationship between humans and machines. That takes them down a number of timely rabbit holes regarding what’s in store for us as AI becomes ever more powerful and ubiquitous. They eventually move on to discuss Cory’s previous book, called Enshittification, before concluding with a quick look at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

August 3, 2026Episode 82 hr 7 min

Nokia, AI dystopia and Huawei

The lads are back after a break for Iain’s summer holiday in Slovakia. After some opening tangents on the country, they get into a review of recent news coming from Nokia regarding AI RAN. The broader topic concerns what role AI should have in the radio access network and thanks to its relationship with Nvidia, Nokia reckons it will benefit from the introduction of GPUs. They eventually move on to discuss several stories that document the looming AI dystopia, as agents escape containment and autonomous devices are increasingly inspired by the Terminator films, before concluding with a look at a GSMA report on the cost of replacing Huawei kit.

July 6, 2026Episode 71 hr 33 min

CityFibre, broadband and BT

The lads are delighted to welcome back special guest Neil McRae, in his first appearance as CTIO of CityFibre. Pausing only for a semi-regular check in on the current state of AI, they get straight into hearing about Neil’s new gig and his plans for the technological side of UK fibre wholesaler CityFibre. This leads naturally to a look at the wider broadband market and the challenges it faces, as well as a review of potential consolidation in the UK market, before they conclude by analysing BT’s latest strategic move.

June 29, 2026Episode 61 hr 50 min

AI optimisation, DTW and IoT

The lads are delighted to welcome back special guest Paul Nolan of PR agency CC Group Hoffman. Pausing only to reflect on the delights of summertime Copenhagen, they start by exploring research Paul’s company has done into GEO – generative engine optimisation. With content increasingly discovered through AI searches, they discuss what it takes to make the most of this new knowledge paradigm. They eventually move on to discuss Scott’s visit to the recent DTW trade show before concluding with Iain’s critique of how the IoT opportunity has been treated.

June 19, 2026Episode 52 hr 4 min

Rakuten, Ericsson and social media

The pod is back after a break for Scott’s summer holiday and the lads are delighted to welcome back special guest Geoff Hollingworth of Rakuten Symphony. They start with an introduction to Rakuten, which is a major player in Japan across a number of consumer technology sectors, which leads to discussion of a recent Rakuten Symphony report critiquing the traditional telco business model and suggesting improvements to it. They eventually move on to talk about Ericsson, which Iain recently visited in Sweden and has announced a new CEO, before concluding with an examination of a UK move to ban social media for under-16s.

May 29, 2026Episode 41 hr 49 min

Huawei, VodafoneThree and EU

This is your last pod for a few weeks as Scott is selfishly going on holiday, sorry. There’s no guest this week, which gives the lads the opportunity to dive a bit deeper into the news. They start by assessing the significance of a Huawei announcement that it has invented a new way of making semiconductors, which could have the broader significance of making China more resilient in its tech cold war with the US. They eventually move on to discuss falling headcount at VodafoneThree before concluding with a look at the EU’s protectionist dilemmas.

May 26, 2026Episode 31 hr 37 min

Hyperoptic, fibre and BT

The lads are delighted to welcome special guest Dana Tobak, CEO of UK altnet Hyperoptic. Dana is one of the founders of Hyperoptic, so they start by discussing the thinking behind that and how Hyperoptic differentiates itself in a crowded UK fibre broadband market. That inevitably leads to an exploration of the broader competitive environment and economics of that business, before they conclude with a look at recent news from BT.

May 21, 2026Episode 22 hr 8 min

Regulation, spectrum and Ofcom

The lads are delighted to welcome telecoms consultant (and Iain’s mate) Amit Nagpal of Aetha Consulting to the pod this week. Pausing only to mix some psychedelic G&Ts, they eventually get into talking about Amit’s main area of professional interest – telecoms policy. That leads to talk of how 5G is going in various parts of the world, including the various spectrum it uses and how regulators have helped or hindered its progress. They conclude with a look at some recent direct-to-device news and the role of UK comms regulator Ofcom in policing online speech.

May 11, 20262 hr 0 min

Security, geopolitics and BT

The lads are delighted to welcome back returning special guest – analyst John Strand. The implications of policy and regulation on the global telecoms industry are a major focus of his work, so they start by reflecting on the importance of secure 5G networks in that respect. That inevitably leads to lots of spicy chat about geopolitics and especially the impact of American activity, while hopefully not straying too far from the name of the pod, before they conclude by analysing a recent move by BT to revitalise its brand.

May 5, 20262 hr 5 min

FWA, Samsung and AI

No guest this week, so you get the usual more meandering, self-indulgent fare from the lads. They set the scene by doing a taste test of Irish whiskies kindly donated by recent guests, before they eventually get around covering a bit of telecoms news. They start by discussing Nokia’s sale of its fixed wireless access business and that broader sector, before moving on to analyse Samsung’s performance in the networking sector and concluding with some handwringing over the societal impact of advances in artificial intelligence.