The Week with Roger

Hosted by Roger Entner

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Episodes

200

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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About the show

Each week, join Roger Entner and the Recon Analytics team for an analysts perspective on the world of telecom.

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60 recent

October 12, 202611 min

This Week: The FCC's Spectrum Push and T-Mobile's AI Transformation

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner discuss the top weekly news stories in telecom, including an upcoming spectrum auction and its implications for satellite providers, as well as the latest developments and future direction of AI implementation. 00:00 Episode intro 00:25 New spectrum auction and implications 02:44 FCC is moving quickly 03:27 FCC approves more Starlink satellites 04:22 Deutsche Telekom's AI Investor Day and data center announcements 05:37 T-Mobile's AI implementation announcements 07:06 Live translation research and findings 08:02 Physical AI as the new frontier 09:14 Limits to AI advancements? 11:26 Episode wrap-up Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, FFC, auction, spectrum, Ligardo, Starlink, Elon Musk, Brendan Carr, Deutsche Telekom, satellite, AI, T-Mobile, Germany, data centers, customer service, T-Life, Srini Gopalan, live translation, physical AI, Planet Fitness, churn, prices

October 5, 202610 min

This Week: AT&T/T-Mobile/Verizon Satellite JV, Panasonic, and T-Mobile/Sprint Merger Lawsuit

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner cover the top telecom news stories of the week, including key updates on satellite tech, recent lawsuit disclosures, industry affordability, and emerging device trends heading into 2027. 00:00 Episode intro 00:25 Joint satellite protocol venture appoints a leader 03:12 Deutsche Telekom lawsuit reveals industry trade secrets 05:50 T-Mobile's regulatory fee hikes and overall affordability 08:44 Key insights from the Toughbook anniversary and launch event in New York 10:16 Episode wrap-up Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, satellite, Starlink, T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, Elon Musk, Tesla, Paul Roth, Deutsche Telekom, Handelsblatt, Sprint, John Legere, fees, affordability, prices, Dan Schulman, inflation, Panasonic, Toughbook, 5G, devices

September 28, 202613 min

This Week: Verizon's Yago Tenorio on Designing the Future of 6G

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner are joined by Yago Tenorio, SVP and CTO at Verizon, to discuss the coming of 6G and the future of networks, as well as exciting real world use cases happening right now. 00:00 Episode intro 00:24 6G Innovation Forum overview 01:21 Lessons learned from 5G 03:59 What players are needed for 6G? 05:24 Actual test cases for 6G 07:34 Spectrum issues and ISAC 08:48 Future network infrastructure and monetization 12:44 6G Innovation Forum developments 13:20 Episode wrap-up Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, Yago Tenorio, Verizon, 6G, 5G, FWA, drones, crowd detection, AI, LLMs, wearables, ISAC, network, spectrum, Google, devices, data centers, latency

September 21, 202613 min

This Week: The iPhone Duo and Don't Count Out Cable

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner discuss the new iPhone Duo and its prospects vs. the Galaxy Z Fold8, as well as the various strides the cable industry is making despite increased competition. 00:00 Episode intro 00:43 iPhone Duo release breakdown 01:59 Apple vs. Samsung device surveys 03:19 Tactile importance when purchasing 04:26 Device insurance and pricing 05:31 Are cable valuations too negative? 07:17 Competition is increasing 08:20 Rising customer satisfaction overall 08:55 Cable pricing models 10:36 The “label tax” and “Wi-Fi tax” 13:03 Episode wrap-up Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, Apple, iPhone, Duo, Samsung, Z Fold8, financing, devices, Vision, Black Friday, retail, insurance, AI, cable, Elon Musk, Starlink, speed, FWA, fiber, rural, consolidation, DSL, prices, Verizon

September 14, 202615 min

This Week: Consumer Cellular's Ed Evans on Winning with the 50+ Customer

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner are joined by Ed Evans, Chairman and CEO of Consumer Cellular, to speak about the company's unique strategy for serving seniors in wireless, its successful use of retail stores, and new and innovative product lines for this sometimes overlooked cohort. 00:00 Episode intro 00:26 Consumer Cellular's business model 04:28 Using retail stores effectively 07:07 Knowing the customer 08:24 Tailoring customer service 10:20 Building customer loyalty 10:52 Developing innovative products for seniors 14:14 Episode wrap-up Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, Ed Evans, Consumer Cellular, MVNO, seniors, data, customer service, NPS, retail, Target, Walmart, churn, Mint, GrandPad, retention, apps

September 7, 202616 min

This Week: AI Infrastructure Connectivity with Zayo's Bill Long

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner are joined by Bill Long, Chief Product & Strategy Officer at Zayo, to discuss the rapid growth of AI hardware, Zayo’s strategy for capitalizing on the fiber infrastructure needed to support it, and what the next one to two years could bring for the industry. 00:00 Episode intro 00:24 Is AI in a bubble? 02:26 Orders for dark fiber 03:25 The shift from training to inference 04:50 400G and new fiber requirements 06:24 The technical ecosystem needed for operations 07:50 Rapidly accelerating hardware demands 11:18 AI as tech support 12:02 Zayo's unique business model 14:42 Predictions for the next 12 to 24 months 15:26 Episode wrap-up Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, Bill Long, Zayo, Sampath, AI, fiber, data centers, lit fiber, dark fiber, training, inference, 400G, cloud, Nvidia, ChatGPT, Verizon, AT&T, cable, enterprise

August 31, 20266 min

This Week: CONX Acquires MobileX and Starlink MVNO Ambitions

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner discuss the recent purchase of MobileX by Charlie Ergen-controlled CONX, as well as its implications for the players involved and for the broader MVNO and satellite markets as well. 00:00 Episode intro 00:25 Details of the acquisition 01:30 How MVNOs fit into the bigger picture 03:03 Implications for Starlink 04:04 Peter and Charlie's working relationship 05:23 Charlie Ergen's future operations 06:15 Episode wrap-up Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, MVNO, MobileX, Peter Adderton, Charlie Ergen, Dish, EchoStar, Verizon, CONX, Boost Mobile, Elon Musk, Starlink, AT&T, convergence, MNO, spectrum

August 24, 202616 min

This Week: The FCC's Spectrum Pipeline with Arpan Sura

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner are joined by Arpan Sura, Senior Counsel to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, to discuss the current state of spectrum policy, the changing technological landscape, and the agency’s plans for the future of communications in America. 00:00 Episode intro 00:24 Current spectrum auction policy 02:40 Specific auction timelines 04:59 Growing political support for spectrum 06:57 Upcoming auctions 07:20 Intermodal competition through direct-to-device 08:44 Starlink's reliability and convergence possibility 10:10 Rethinking technical limitations 11:48 Unlicensed spectrum use 12:56 Companies becoming increasingly multi-modal 13:46 Two-year outlook and agency goals 16:27 Episode wrap-up Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, Arpan Sura, FCC, spectrum, Brendan Carr, AWS-3, auctions, 6G, upper C-band, NTIA, BBB, satellite, FWA, direct-to-device, Starlink, rural, convergence, BEAD, fiber, cable, EchoStar, Grain

August 17, 202614 min

This Week: When Consumer Perception Does Not Match Network Reality

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner unpack the FCC’s latest developments, examine real-world data on internet providers including Optimum, and discuss ongoing customer service concerns. 00:00 Episode intro 00:24 New FCC nomination news 01:47 FCC's potential satellite expansion 02:42 Ranking internet provider speeds 03:47 Survey information difficulties 06:29 Do devices still matter? 08:04 Optimum's current metrics 10:29 Network status and customer retention 12:12 The state of customer service 13:41 Episode wrap-up Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, FCC, Danielle Thumann, Brendan Carr, satellite, cable, fiber, FWA, DSL, devices, T-Mobile, AT&T, Apple, Qualcomm, Verizon, Android, network, Optimum, SFR, customer service

August 10, 202616 min

This Week: Starlink's Wireless Ambitions, the Data Center Boom, and Sampath to Zayo

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner discuss the announcement of Sampath being named CEO at Zayo, their ongoing research into the immense scale of the data center buildout, as well as Starlink's prospects as a wireless operator. 00:00 Episode intro 00:24 Sampath named CEO at Zayo 01:07 Research on data center buildout insights 03:44 Starlink as a wireless operator 05:50 What spectrum will be used? 08:29 Network and satellite predictions 10:14 Scale of the potential network 13:52 Elon's track record and time horizon 16:06 Episode wrap-up Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, Sampath, Zayo, fiber, data centers, AI, Starlink, Elon Musk, data, T-Mobile, Grain, spectrum, Dish, FCC, rural, 5G, Grok, Tesla, SpaceX, X, cable, FWA