WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.620 Welcome to episode 223 of the G2 on 5G. It's 00:00:03.620 --> 00:00:06.759 the latest insights scoop on everything 5G. We 00:00:06.759 --> 00:00:08.820 cover six topics in about 20 minutes and it's 00:00:08.820 --> 00:00:10.259 brought to you by War Insights and Strategy. 00:00:10.839 --> 00:00:13.179 I'm Will Townsend and joining me again this week 00:00:13.179 --> 00:00:16.039 is federal analyst Anshul Sag. But before we 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:18.300 get started, so Anshul, you're in a hotel room 00:00:18.300 --> 00:00:19.940 there. You're in New York, right? And you spent 00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:22.800 time with Motorola. Yes. I was here for the Motorola 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:27.120 launch and the subsequent launch party. And I 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:31.089 come to you live. Over 5g. Cause I do not trust 00:00:31.089 --> 00:00:34.810 the hotel wifi and it is over my trusty little 00:00:34.810 --> 00:00:38.549 TCL standard. Yeah. You've talked about that 00:00:38.549 --> 00:00:40.869 on many podcasts and I know you're going to, 00:00:40.890 --> 00:00:42.729 you're going to get into that topic in a moment, 00:00:42.850 --> 00:00:46.149 but I want to get started in a man it's financial 00:00:46.149 --> 00:00:49.850 year, key one earning season for the big M and 00:00:49.850 --> 00:00:52.310 O's in the United States. And I want to spend 00:00:52.310 --> 00:00:54.329 a little bit of time, run through the highlights, 00:00:54.549 --> 00:00:57.149 provide a few insights and get your take on it 00:00:57.149 --> 00:00:59.380 as well. And so I'm going to go in alphabetical 00:00:59.380 --> 00:01:01.899 order to be share. And I want to start with AT 00:01:01.899 --> 00:01:04.599 &T. And I did post some insights to LinkedIn 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:08.859 and X when the earnings broke. Super strong performance 00:01:08.859 --> 00:01:12.299 from AT &T. And clearly their investments in 00:01:12.299 --> 00:01:14.260 fiber and mobility are beginning to pay off. 00:01:14.379 --> 00:01:15.819 And I'm going to talk a little bit more about 00:01:15.819 --> 00:01:18.819 FWA and what they're doing with Ericsson. But 00:01:18.819 --> 00:01:22.920 at a high level, from a postpaid phone ad perspective, 00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:27.640 AT &T added $324 ,000. Postpaid churn was well 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:33.200 under 1 % at 0 .83%. Mobility revenue is up 4 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:37.200 % to $16 .7 billion. What's really impressive 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:40.920 is the company's continued fiber ads. So over 00:01:40.920 --> 00:01:44.519 a quarter of a million net fiber ads, which represents 00:01:44.519 --> 00:01:48.760 21 consecutive quarters of 200 ,000 or more net 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:53.060 ads. And consequently, the broadband revenue 00:01:53.060 --> 00:01:57.340 feeding from fiber. was over $2 billion. That's 00:01:57.340 --> 00:02:01.620 massive, up 19 % year over year. And the company 00:02:01.620 --> 00:02:04.579 states that more than four out of every 10 AT 00:02:04.579 --> 00:02:08.639 &T fiber households now choose wireless. So I've 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:11.080 talked about convergence and what that does and 00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:14.000 how that adds value, not only for consumers from 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:17.240 less friction and billing and that sort of thing, 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:19.879 but certainly it's also providing value to AT 00:02:19.879 --> 00:02:24.340 &T as well. That's AT &T. Let me go here to be 00:02:24.340 --> 00:02:28.280 an athletic order T -Mobile. What's really interesting, 00:02:28.580 --> 00:02:31.199 their subscriber growth missed estimates, but 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:35.500 overall revenue was pretty solid. The stock is 00:02:35.500 --> 00:02:38.500 somewhat down in trading, but hey, we live in 00:02:38.500 --> 00:02:41.060 crazy times, right? There are other things that 00:02:41.060 --> 00:02:43.800 are affecting the equity markets. And then Verizon. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:46.379 Verizon reported fairly strong earnings, but 00:02:46.379 --> 00:02:50.539 there were some subscriber loss that... And if 00:02:50.539 --> 00:02:53.259 you remember in 4Q of last year, they ended the 00:02:53.259 --> 00:02:56.180 year on a high note there. But basically with 00:02:56.180 --> 00:02:59.620 the Lawsons and 1Q, that array, the net ads there 00:02:59.620 --> 00:03:02.500 from a subscriber standpoint. Overall, a tale 00:03:02.500 --> 00:03:05.080 of two cities. Next. What do you read between 00:03:05.080 --> 00:03:07.060 the lines on any of this stuff from an earnings 00:03:07.060 --> 00:03:09.819 perspective? I think the way I look at it is 00:03:09.819 --> 00:03:16.620 the macroeconomic situation is unclear. I see 00:03:16.620 --> 00:03:19.849 that these operators in my mind. They're like 00:03:19.849 --> 00:03:22.909 utilities. They are technically utilities. And 00:03:22.909 --> 00:03:26.370 because of that, they're crucial to people's 00:03:26.370 --> 00:03:29.310 everyday life. So it's not like people are necessarily 00:03:29.310 --> 00:03:33.270 going to forego cellular connectivity, but there 00:03:33.270 --> 00:03:37.189 are going to be some profit engines for all these 00:03:37.189 --> 00:03:39.930 companies that maybe are not as profitable as 00:03:39.930 --> 00:03:43.250 they could be. Growth might not be as fast as 00:03:43.250 --> 00:03:46.110 they anticipated. So I wouldn't be surprised 00:03:46.110 --> 00:03:50.780 if the macroeconomic conditions persist throughout 00:03:50.780 --> 00:03:53.259 the year, that none of these companies will hit 00:03:53.259 --> 00:03:55.460 the targets that they're expecting to hit and 00:03:55.460 --> 00:03:58.879 that people will gravitate towards lower cost 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:02.219 products, which tend to drive lower R2, which 00:04:02.219 --> 00:04:05.060 then drives lower profits. I'm looking at the 00:04:05.060 --> 00:04:08.500 markets today. All three carriers are down. TNT 00:04:08.500 --> 00:04:10.740 and Verizon are both down 3 % and T -Mobile is 00:04:10.740 --> 00:04:13.300 down 10%. So clearly T -Mobile got hit the hardest 00:04:13.300 --> 00:04:17.379 for its earnings. But the truth is that There 00:04:17.379 --> 00:04:19.199 are other things that are going on, like you 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:24.100 said, and I have T -Mobile topic for my other 00:04:24.100 --> 00:04:27.360 topics during the podcast. So I'll hold on to 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:30.019 my thoughts going in that direction. Hey, like 00:04:30.019 --> 00:04:32.680 solid insights, buddy. And the other thing that 00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:34.740 I'll mention to you that I didn't mention at 00:04:34.740 --> 00:04:39.240 the top of the topic was both Verizon and T -Mobile 00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:42.639 have announced some additional tiering of subscriptions. 00:04:43.689 --> 00:04:46.709 And from my perspective, that's likely a defensive 00:04:46.709 --> 00:04:51.949 move, a proactive move on their part to try to 00:04:51.949 --> 00:04:55.550 install some, instill some momentum into net 00:04:55.550 --> 00:04:58.089 ads. And that's what I think. No announcement 00:04:58.089 --> 00:05:01.810 from AT &T on that point, but I just thought 00:05:01.810 --> 00:05:03.990 that was important to note. But that is a great 00:05:03.990 --> 00:05:06.990 segue. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, I was just going 00:05:06.990 --> 00:05:09.769 to say, I will also add that I believe I saw 00:05:09.769 --> 00:05:13.759 both Verizon and T -Mobile offer. price guarantees 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:17.540 so yeah yeah clearly there's some sensitivity 00:05:17.540 --> 00:05:21.160 towards price changes with consumers and i think 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:24.220 that might also be a driver of some of the decisions 00:05:24.220 --> 00:05:26.759 these companies are making yeah i think i recall 00:05:26.759 --> 00:05:29.000 reading something about a class action lawsuit 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:31.439 and i'm not sure which and then it was tied to 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:33.519 but obviously there's some sensitivity around 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:36.420 that as well so Yeah. Those pricing guarantees 00:05:36.420 --> 00:05:39.100 like three and five years respectively, I believe 00:05:39.100 --> 00:05:42.199 if I'm not mistaken. Yep. So it's super interesting. 00:05:42.279 --> 00:05:43.819 They're obviously doing what they can within 00:05:43.819 --> 00:05:47.779 their power to continue to drive momentum given 00:05:47.779 --> 00:05:51.639 the performance with subscriber loss. But that 00:05:51.639 --> 00:05:53.800 is a great segue to your first topic. And you 00:05:53.800 --> 00:05:56.680 want to talk about T -Mobile. And we've talked 00:05:56.680 --> 00:05:59.019 about what they're doing with 5G Advanced, but 00:05:59.019 --> 00:06:02.240 they're going nationwide, right? Yeah. They've, 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:06.529 as far as I know. They are the first commercial 00:06:06.529 --> 00:06:11.709 nationwide 5G advanced network in the US. I think 00:06:11.709 --> 00:06:13.649 that might even be accurate for the entire world 00:06:13.649 --> 00:06:17.790 because everyone's testing 5G dance. Like it's 00:06:17.790 --> 00:06:19.810 not really like something that they're commercializing 00:06:19.810 --> 00:06:24.649 yet. T -Mobile just loud out said it's commercial. 00:06:25.050 --> 00:06:29.550 The reason why this is important is because it 00:06:29.550 --> 00:06:34.410 will drive some really interesting. use cases 00:06:34.410 --> 00:06:37.829 down the road. For example, 5G advanced, a lot 00:06:37.829 --> 00:06:41.009 of, there are new features in there for XR specifically. 00:06:41.310 --> 00:06:43.790 So there are going to be some opportunities for 00:06:43.790 --> 00:06:46.430 all of these companies pushing these AR smart 00:06:46.430 --> 00:06:50.550 glasses and being able to drive these glasses 00:06:50.550 --> 00:06:54.589 over the 5G network through the cloud and enable 00:06:54.589 --> 00:06:57.389 new and interesting use cases there, but also 00:06:57.389 --> 00:07:02.339 more capabilities, more enhanced. slices for 00:07:02.339 --> 00:07:04.899 different applications. And there will be things 00:07:04.899 --> 00:07:07.519 like L4S, which are going to be really big for 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:10.500 these low latency applications. And even gaming, 00:07:10.620 --> 00:07:12.620 which we already know some companies have deployed 00:07:12.620 --> 00:07:14.959 as a slice, but also for safety with deep priority. 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:16.839 I think there's a lot of things that we'll probably 00:07:16.839 --> 00:07:20.399 see happen as a result of 5G advanced, much like 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:24.680 we saw with 5G in standalone. There were some 00:07:24.680 --> 00:07:26.399 interesting use cases that came as a result of 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:28.779 that. So I think that will be the next ways. 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:31.139 But what I do think is really interesting is 00:07:31.139 --> 00:07:34.680 that AT &T and Verizon are very much in the early 00:07:34.680 --> 00:07:37.220 phases of deploying standalone. Now the AT &T's 00:07:37.220 --> 00:07:40.240 fixed wireless network is fully standalone. And 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:43.680 Verizon's entire network for first responders 00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:46.620 is also a standalone network. So like they're 00:07:46.620 --> 00:07:50.680 finally getting standalone deployed, maybe not 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:53.040 fully nationwide, but like a fraction of it. 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:56.519 And T -Mobile is now in 5G advanced world. It's 00:07:56.519 --> 00:07:58.649 really interesting to see. that they continue 00:07:58.649 --> 00:08:02.250 to maintain their lead in 5G network capabilities. 00:08:02.730 --> 00:08:06.889 But at the same time, T -Mobile also needs to 00:08:06.889 --> 00:08:11.250 continue to convince enterprises and first responders 00:08:11.250 --> 00:08:14.470 that their network is the best network because 00:08:14.470 --> 00:08:16.910 AT &T and Verizon have that legacy with their 00:08:16.910 --> 00:08:18.949 customers. It's really interesting. I'm excited 00:08:18.949 --> 00:08:22.009 to see what we actually get as a result of 5G 00:08:22.009 --> 00:08:25.069 advanced and T -Mobile, but I'm sure that T and 00:08:25.069 --> 00:08:27.129 Verizon are already thinking about this and how 00:08:27.129 --> 00:08:30.610 they can deploy this sooner rather than later. 00:08:30.910 --> 00:08:33.429 Yeah. And I think from my perspective, it's all 00:08:33.429 --> 00:08:36.529 about the use case to your point. And so it's 00:08:36.529 --> 00:08:38.850 been somewhat nebulous and there's been some 00:08:38.850 --> 00:08:42.350 confusion around, okay, this whole NSA, SA thing, 00:08:42.529 --> 00:08:45.990 and what is the real benefit, measurable benefit 00:08:45.990 --> 00:08:49.049 from a performance coverage, latency perspective, 00:08:49.450 --> 00:08:52.590 you name it. And I think T -Mobile has done a 00:08:52.590 --> 00:08:58.340 decent job with T -Priority, with T -IoT. demonstrating 00:08:58.340 --> 00:09:01.399 solutions and use cases tied to the power of 00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:04.259 5G standalone. But I believe more needs to be 00:09:04.259 --> 00:09:07.559 done. And what I'm personally excited about as 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:09.360 we get into the second half of the year and to 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:12.740 your point, he and Verizon do catch up and they're 00:09:12.740 --> 00:09:14.559 doing this in ways, right? So you just can't 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:17.320 flip a switch and move all of your core infrastructure 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:20.940 to 5G. I mean, it takes some time. And the doubt, 00:09:20.940 --> 00:09:22.879 but it'll be interesting to see in the second 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:25.240 half of the year when. We start getting closer 00:09:25.240 --> 00:09:28.720 to parity among the big three. Who's going to 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:30.720 rise to the top? And I really do believe it's 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:33.299 going to be driven by use case. The most compelling 00:09:33.299 --> 00:09:35.299 use cases from my perspective are going to be 00:09:35.299 --> 00:09:38.059 within enterprise. So T -Mobile for business, 00:09:38.360 --> 00:09:42.120 AT &T's vertical focus on areas like manufacturing, 00:09:42.279 --> 00:09:45.559 retail, and that sort of thing. And then Verizon's 00:09:45.559 --> 00:09:49.100 focus in business as well. That is where I believe 00:09:49.100 --> 00:09:52.570 the real transformative impact. a standalone 00:09:52.570 --> 00:09:54.710 will occur. You're going to see pockets of private 00:09:54.710 --> 00:09:58.330 side. Gee, by the way, by all measures, private 00:09:58.330 --> 00:10:01.789 cellular networking is now reaching that hockey 00:10:01.789 --> 00:10:05.029 stick. It was a very long tail ramp that we're 00:10:05.029 --> 00:10:07.009 beginning to see more and more deployments. I'm 00:10:07.009 --> 00:10:09.669 going to talk about that. Tied to Ericsson here 00:10:09.669 --> 00:10:12.649 is my third topic, but great insights, my friend. 00:10:13.190 --> 00:10:16.629 Let me go to my second topic, and I want to talk 00:10:16.629 --> 00:10:20.139 about AT &T. And they're crediting Ericsson, 00:10:20.179 --> 00:10:23.700 specifically John Stakey, the CEO, for boosting 00:10:23.700 --> 00:10:26.519 their 5G fixed wireless access performance. And 00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:29.860 so I can speak personally to them. So I'm currently 00:10:29.860 --> 00:10:33.539 doing the Pepsi challenge with 5G FWA here in 00:10:33.539 --> 00:10:36.460 Bastrop on this podcast that we're recording 00:10:36.460 --> 00:10:39.960 right now. I am using T -Mobile's 5G fixed wireless 00:10:39.960 --> 00:10:42.820 access service. When I moved in two years ago, 00:10:43.059 --> 00:10:46.600 there was no fiber. Now AT &T's fiber service 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:49.940 is available here. But honestly, I've been very 00:10:49.940 --> 00:10:52.200 happy with the performance for obvious reasons, 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:54.399 given their network investments and that sort 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:57.679 of thing. But with all of that preamble, I have 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:02.539 now deployed an AT &T Internet Air 5G FWA solution 00:11:02.539 --> 00:11:06.019 at my home in the Florida Keys. I will admit 00:11:06.019 --> 00:11:09.269 it's somewhat slow. I think you and I experienced 00:11:09.269 --> 00:11:11.590 that when we recorded our last podcast and I 00:11:11.590 --> 00:11:15.070 had to wait for that upload to upload. But that 00:11:15.070 --> 00:11:16.710 should improve over the time. The Florida Keys 00:11:16.710 --> 00:11:19.649 are a very challenging area. It's a solid stretch 00:11:19.649 --> 00:11:23.070 of coral reef and there's lots of contention. 00:11:23.429 --> 00:11:25.950 A lot of the buildings, including my condo, were 00:11:25.950 --> 00:11:28.850 built decades ago. And so you're contending with 00:11:28.850 --> 00:11:32.309 metal and concrete and a lot of interference. 00:11:33.419 --> 00:11:35.980 I'll continue to report back on my experiences 00:11:35.980 --> 00:11:39.179 in Thin Red Air and Isla Mirada. But I say all 00:11:39.179 --> 00:11:41.679 that to state that this was in a light reading 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:45.820 article, Jeff Baumgardner. And he talks about 00:11:45.820 --> 00:11:48.779 some of the comments that John Stakey made around 00:11:48.779 --> 00:11:53.080 how moving from Nokia to Ericsson and focusing 00:11:53.080 --> 00:11:55.320 on the programmability of the network and that 00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:57.620 sort of thing is actually boosting the performance 00:11:57.620 --> 00:12:01.620 of its 5G fixed wireless access service. There 00:12:01.620 --> 00:12:04.360 were a lot of specifics other than I was going 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:07.440 to say, yeah, that other than that was just that 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:12.320 John made, but Hey, by all measures, AT &T is 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:16.179 growing the stick print in one queue tied to 00:12:16.179 --> 00:12:20.399 the earnings. They added 181 ,000 internet error 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:23.539 subscribers. That's a gain, a significant portion 00:12:23.539 --> 00:12:28.059 of over 110 ,000 from the year prior. But you 00:12:28.059 --> 00:12:31.200 have to realize that AT &T is positioning its 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:34.779 FWA service as a copper catch, right? And with 00:12:34.779 --> 00:12:38.919 the investment in fiber, they are strongly moving 00:12:38.919 --> 00:12:42.580 customers to fiber. They're pricing it so that 00:12:42.580 --> 00:12:44.379 they can do that at least one gig symmetrical. 00:12:45.019 --> 00:12:47.340 It does deliver the best experience. You and 00:12:47.340 --> 00:12:49.740 I have talked about this. I've been an AT &T 00:12:49.740 --> 00:12:52.480 customer, I believe, a fiber customer in the 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:56.809 past. I believe you're one now. But by all measures, 00:12:56.850 --> 00:13:00.269 the company is growing it. They're being flexible. 00:13:00.350 --> 00:13:02.750 They're providing it where they need it. And 00:13:02.750 --> 00:13:06.090 by all measures, based on where they're at currently 00:13:06.090 --> 00:13:09.809 and in the light reading article, it's anticipated 00:13:09.809 --> 00:13:12.730 that they could support up to 7 million subs 00:13:12.730 --> 00:13:15.889 given where they're currently at today. But obviously 00:13:15.889 --> 00:13:19.549 that scalability, that capability will grow as 00:13:19.549 --> 00:13:23.190 they do things like build out standalone on a 00:13:23.190 --> 00:13:25.809 nationwide basis. I don't know if you caught 00:13:25.809 --> 00:13:27.909 the news, but anything else to add before we 00:13:27.909 --> 00:13:31.350 moved to your Motorola news? I did not catch 00:13:31.350 --> 00:13:34.269 that, but it did make me realize that we are 00:13:34.269 --> 00:13:37.129 conducting this podcast entirely over side G 00:13:37.129 --> 00:13:40.470 your end with fixed wireless and my end with 00:13:40.470 --> 00:13:42.830 the dongle, which is fitting for our podcast. 00:13:43.129 --> 00:13:46.090 But I would say that what I do think is interesting 00:13:46.090 --> 00:13:49.090 is that the Florida keys sound like the perfect 00:13:49.090 --> 00:13:52.730 opportunity to have cyber. Because it's one long 00:13:52.730 --> 00:13:57.149 strand and nobody's very far from the. You got 00:13:57.149 --> 00:13:59.250 to go aerial though, because like they're doing 00:13:59.250 --> 00:14:02.909 a water main replacement on my, my, my key called 00:14:02.909 --> 00:14:07.289 plantation key in, in burrowing into solid coral 00:14:07.289 --> 00:14:09.490 is a pretty expensive proposition, but here's 00:14:09.490 --> 00:14:12.750 the catch because it's a hurricane high risk 00:14:12.750 --> 00:14:17.090 area going aerial presents some concerns around 00:14:17.090 --> 00:14:21.340 reliability and resilience as well. So. You're 00:14:21.340 --> 00:14:23.139 right. It is a perfect fit, but there are some 00:14:23.139 --> 00:14:25.120 unique challenges with respect to the Florida 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:28.620 Keys and running fiber. Yeah, but other than 00:14:28.620 --> 00:14:31.120 that, I'm just glad to see AT &T continuing to 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:35.840 push FWA and using it as a complimentary technology 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:38.720 to what they're doing on fiber. Because truthfully, 00:14:38.759 --> 00:14:42.320 as an AT &T fiber customer, I can say nothing 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:45.159 but positive things about the experience. I have 00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:47.840 yet to upgrade to five gigs because I really 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:49.909 don't think I need it. But I want to see what 00:14:49.909 --> 00:14:53.490 the experience is like just because I can. Well, 00:14:53.769 --> 00:14:56.210 in the one gig symmetrical is kick ass, man. 00:14:56.309 --> 00:15:00.230 When I had it in Austin, indeed, given all of 00:15:00.230 --> 00:15:02.710 the gadgets and devices that you hang off of 00:15:02.710 --> 00:15:05.789 your wifi network, I would think you would love 00:15:05.789 --> 00:15:08.149 five gigs symmetrical, but, but in any event, 00:15:08.330 --> 00:15:10.490 let's without further ado, like you're in New 00:15:10.490 --> 00:15:13.330 York, you spent time with Motorola. I had a lot 00:15:13.330 --> 00:15:16.210 of FOMO going on. You showed some amazing devices, 00:15:16.309 --> 00:15:19.379 including a razor. That's got like real wood. 00:15:19.559 --> 00:15:21.779 By the way, if you can ask the Motorola folks 00:15:21.779 --> 00:15:24.320 for a demo for me of that product, I'd love it. 00:15:24.460 --> 00:15:26.779 But why don't you talk about the launch and the 00:15:26.779 --> 00:15:28.539 party and everything that you've learned over 00:15:28.539 --> 00:15:31.740 the last couple of days? Yeah, this was a two 00:15:31.740 --> 00:15:36.019 -day event, a big keynote, pre -briefing, bringing 00:15:36.019 --> 00:15:39.000 us up to speed on what Moto is doing. The big 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:40.840 developments are that they've introduced a new 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:44.179 high -end tier, a true flagship tier for the 00:15:44.179 --> 00:15:47.750 Moto Razr Black brand. They've been slowly rolling 00:15:47.750 --> 00:15:50.929 out the Razer brand one product at a time since 00:15:50.929 --> 00:15:53.289 2020, and they've been iterating it, and now 00:15:53.289 --> 00:15:55.210 they really have a truly competitive product. 00:15:55.570 --> 00:15:58.169 And they offer, the top end is $1 ,299, so that's 00:15:58.169 --> 00:16:00.590 very much a flagship tier, but it has a Snapdragon 00:16:00.590 --> 00:16:03.389 8 Elite, which is a flagship processor, has a 00:16:03.389 --> 00:16:06.169 7 -inch screen on the inside. They've upgraded 00:16:06.169 --> 00:16:09.169 all hinges on all three models to a new titanium 00:16:09.169 --> 00:16:11.879 hinge that's much more... durable, four times 00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:14.919 stronger. They've reduced the crease on the screen 00:16:14.919 --> 00:16:18.279 by 30%. So it's almost invisible. And then they 00:16:18.279 --> 00:16:21.940 also upgraded to a triple 50 megapixel camera. 00:16:22.220 --> 00:16:24.860 So there's two 50 megapixel cameras on the outside 00:16:24.860 --> 00:16:27.100 and one on the inside. Because the phone can 00:16:27.100 --> 00:16:30.740 be left in like a tent mode like this or halfway 00:16:30.740 --> 00:16:33.580 up or down. So you can record yourself. It's 00:16:33.580 --> 00:16:34.940 great for people who want to create content, 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:37.000 but also for if you're in the kitchen and you 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:39.820 want to touch your phone, which leads me into. 00:16:40.269 --> 00:16:43.769 the Moto AI capabilities where one of the features 00:16:43.769 --> 00:16:46.009 is you put the phone on the table and it can 00:16:46.009 --> 00:16:47.789 see that you're looking at the camera and then 00:16:47.789 --> 00:16:50.169 you don't have to use any hot words. You can 00:16:50.169 --> 00:16:52.190 just start talking to the phone and it knows 00:16:52.190 --> 00:16:53.590 that you're talking to the phone because you're 00:16:53.590 --> 00:16:56.429 looking at it. So features like that where you 00:16:56.429 --> 00:16:58.990 can like interact with your phone, ask it questions, 00:16:59.330 --> 00:17:00.850 tell it to do things without ever touching it. 00:17:00.850 --> 00:17:02.450 Your hands are dirty, which happens to me all 00:17:02.450 --> 00:17:06.809 the time while I'm cooking. There's tons of other 00:17:06.809 --> 00:17:08.710 AI features that are also built in, which are 00:17:08.710 --> 00:17:10.769 capable thanks to the processors on these cells. 00:17:10.970 --> 00:17:13.710 The top end is a Snapdragon 8 Elite. Mid tier 00:17:13.710 --> 00:17:17.390 is a Snapdragon 8S and bottom is a MediaTek Dimensity 00:17:17.390 --> 00:17:20.910 7400X. So the top and bottom get new processors. 00:17:21.329 --> 00:17:23.789 The middle stays the same. Battery capacities 00:17:23.789 --> 00:17:26.650 range are a little bit consistent. They're 47, 00:17:26.930 --> 00:17:29.950 4 ,000, 4 ,500. So battery life in general will 00:17:29.950 --> 00:17:32.210 be quite good. They also upgraded the outside 00:17:32.210 --> 00:17:36.029 screen on the Ultra and the Plus. It's new Gorilla 00:17:36.029 --> 00:17:39.549 Glass Victus, so it's like really durable. And 00:17:39.549 --> 00:17:41.670 then the bottom one is a 3 .6 inch, which is 00:17:41.670 --> 00:17:44.549 like back from the original model. So they have 00:17:44.549 --> 00:17:46.990 bigger screens. The inside screen is 7 inches 00:17:46.990 --> 00:17:49.369 on the Ultra. I think it's 6 .9 on the Razer 00:17:49.369 --> 00:17:52.250 Plus. And then there's the base model. So I like 00:17:52.250 --> 00:17:54.490 their good, better, best strategy. And truthfully, 00:17:54.569 --> 00:17:56.809 I want the Ultra. Also, the cool thing is the 00:17:56.809 --> 00:17:59.750 Ultra has 68 watts wired charging, which is the 00:17:59.750 --> 00:18:03.089 fastest of any flip phone or any foldable in 00:18:03.089 --> 00:18:05.349 the US. You're getting the best of the best with 00:18:05.349 --> 00:18:07.609 it. And like I said, there's tons of other Moto 00:18:07.609 --> 00:18:10.289 AI features. They're also running Perplexity 00:18:10.289 --> 00:18:12.809 for search. They're also running Copilot Plus. 00:18:13.069 --> 00:18:16.970 They have Gemini capabilities. And they're also 00:18:16.970 --> 00:18:19.710 doing stuff with Lama that's like this catch 00:18:19.710 --> 00:18:21.569 me up feature, which is if you've had your phone 00:18:21.569 --> 00:18:23.829 closed, you open it. You tell it to catch you 00:18:23.829 --> 00:18:26.809 up and it gives you just like a summarized, like 00:18:26.809 --> 00:18:28.950 very small bullet point list of what happened 00:18:28.950 --> 00:18:30.849 while your phone was closed, what texts you got, 00:18:30.910 --> 00:18:33.190 what emails are important, what you might want 00:18:33.190 --> 00:18:35.710 to go back and look at. So there's some cool 00:18:35.710 --> 00:18:37.549 stuff. There's even some XR integrations with 00:18:37.549 --> 00:18:40.789 Meta on the Quest, having a virtual screen of 00:18:40.789 --> 00:18:43.609 your phone in VR. So they're really moving forward. 00:18:43.730 --> 00:18:45.509 They're really looking at ways to differentiate. 00:18:45.890 --> 00:18:49.150 Also to your point, they also offer tons of colors 00:18:49.150 --> 00:18:51.769 through their partnership with Pantone. And then 00:18:51.769 --> 00:18:54.750 on the ultra side, they offer an alcantara, which 00:18:54.750 --> 00:18:57.089 are called scarab color, which is like a deep 00:18:57.089 --> 00:19:00.509 green. And then they've got the wood finish and 00:19:00.509 --> 00:19:03.410 then they have the red leather. So they're offering 00:19:03.410 --> 00:19:06.490 all kinds of different materials and colors and 00:19:06.490 --> 00:19:09.769 doing research with Pantone to discover which 00:19:09.769 --> 00:19:11.829 are the most trending colors that people are 00:19:11.829 --> 00:19:14.210 most likely to want to be seen with in public. 00:19:14.509 --> 00:19:16.569 And then on top of that, they're also using Pantone 00:19:16.569 --> 00:19:19.259 for display color calibration. To ensure that 00:19:19.259 --> 00:19:20.920 when you take pictures on that phone, that you're 00:19:20.920 --> 00:19:23.920 getting very color accurate images. And that's 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:26.599 basically it. The launch will happen, I think, 00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:29.500 in about a week. And then devices will be in 00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:32.079 market a week after that. And yeah, I had a good 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:35.160 time. Good seeing a lot of friends and meeting 00:19:35.160 --> 00:19:38.880 new people. And they had a musical act. Her name's 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:43.240 Coco Jones. And she was helping them plan the 00:19:43.240 --> 00:19:45.759 launch, but also reach out to that younger, more 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:49.559 hip audience, which I would say. Moto Razr is 00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:54.339 the one Android device that has 25 % of their 00:19:54.339 --> 00:19:58.299 user base is coming from iOS. So they are the 00:19:58.299 --> 00:20:02.779 one exception to the switch rule because really 00:20:02.779 --> 00:20:04.500 people don't switch between Android and iOS very 00:20:04.500 --> 00:20:06.740 much. But this is the one device that's really 00:20:06.740 --> 00:20:08.960 doing that. And that's why Google is prioritizing 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:12.660 Moto. I forgot to mention. The top -end Ultra 00:20:12.660 --> 00:20:15.539 has 16 gigs of RAM and 512 gigs of storage. In 00:20:15.539 --> 00:20:17.339 terms of specs, you're actually getting a lot 00:20:17.339 --> 00:20:20.960 for $1 ,299, and it's a really powerful foldable. 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:23.539 One of my biggest complaints for foldables, especially 00:20:23.539 --> 00:20:26.279 the flip ones, is they were never really as feature 00:20:26.279 --> 00:20:29.160 -rich as a lot of the candy bar phones that we 00:20:29.160 --> 00:20:31.960 have today. And this one just feels like it actually 00:20:31.960 --> 00:20:34.099 has all the specs that you would want to have 00:20:34.099 --> 00:20:36.559 in a flagship phone, but also happens to be a 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:39.220 foldable with tons of AI capabilities. I've got 00:20:39.220 --> 00:20:43.059 a theory about that conversion from iOS users 00:20:43.059 --> 00:20:48.000 to the Razr. Dude, I remember one of my most 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:51.079 favorite phones that I ever owned before the 00:20:51.079 --> 00:20:53.400 Apple iPhone was ever introduced was a Razr. 00:20:53.619 --> 00:20:57.380 And I had a couple. And so I would assume that 00:20:57.380 --> 00:21:01.059 of that 25%, there are a lot of folks that are 00:21:01.059 --> 00:21:04.740 over 50 that are nostalgic about the Razr. Because 00:21:04.740 --> 00:21:07.059 I'll be honest, when T -Mobile sent us that. 00:21:07.549 --> 00:21:10.190 Those pink Razor demos, like when was that? A 00:21:10.190 --> 00:21:13.890 year ago or so. I had fun. I had fun carrying 00:21:13.890 --> 00:21:16.529 it around and using it. Good stuff, buddy. Hey, 00:21:16.650 --> 00:21:18.650 I'm going to hit my third and final topic. And 00:21:18.650 --> 00:21:22.150 I guess my theme is Ericsson. No, they did not 00:21:22.150 --> 00:21:24.490 sponsor this week's podcast, nor did they pay 00:21:24.490 --> 00:21:26.349 me to mention them, but they're just in the news 00:21:26.349 --> 00:21:28.970 cycle here. But I thought this was really interesting. 00:21:29.109 --> 00:21:31.170 So talking about use cases, you know me, man. 00:21:31.490 --> 00:21:34.049 When I ride, especially like on the Forbes platform, 00:21:34.230 --> 00:21:36.589 I like to focus on business outcome and use cases. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:39.579 This one's pretty cool. Ericsson's working with 00:21:39.579 --> 00:21:41.660 Newmont. They're a company I've not heard of, 00:21:41.660 --> 00:21:44.900 but they're a mining operator. They operate mines 00:21:44.900 --> 00:21:48.980 across four continents. And this was an article 00:21:48.980 --> 00:21:51.740 that was posted by our friends at RCR Wireless 00:21:51.740 --> 00:21:55.660 News. And what they're talking about is the deployment 00:21:55.660 --> 00:21:59.339 of private 5G across 14 mines in four different 00:21:59.339 --> 00:22:02.819 continents. And what's really interesting, what 00:22:02.819 --> 00:22:06.329 really caught my attention was that For each 00:22:06.329 --> 00:22:09.210 of these deployments, they're using one Ericsson 00:22:09.210 --> 00:22:13.109 radio for full control. And what they're doing, 00:22:13.210 --> 00:22:16.250 and mining is sort of a poster child use case 00:22:16.250 --> 00:22:18.730 for private cellular, private 5G in particular. 00:22:19.329 --> 00:22:23.309 Just given the hazards that are associated with 00:22:23.309 --> 00:22:24.890 it, depending on what kind of mining is going 00:22:24.890 --> 00:22:27.769 on, just mining in general, there's high degrees 00:22:27.769 --> 00:22:32.769 of work of risk and need for safety. What they're 00:22:32.769 --> 00:22:36.170 doing here in one of the mines is actually in 00:22:36.170 --> 00:22:39.430 South Wales, Australia. But again, they're using 00:22:39.430 --> 00:22:42.549 a single Ericsson 5G radio to support full remote 00:22:42.549 --> 00:22:46.950 control of a bulldozer fleet across a 2 .5 kilometer 00:22:46.950 --> 00:22:49.890 strut. And this is above ground. So you have 00:22:49.890 --> 00:22:51.670 different types of mining. You've got in ground, 00:22:51.829 --> 00:22:54.190 you've got strip and above ground. So this is 00:22:54.190 --> 00:22:58.230 an above ground deployment scenario. But I find 00:22:58.230 --> 00:23:00.630 it really, it's a great, it's a great demonstration. 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:05.339 I have the power of marrying 5G core and 5G radio 00:23:05.339 --> 00:23:09.359 to do something like autonomously pilot and navigate 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:12.039 bulldozers. So I don't know if you caught the 00:23:12.039 --> 00:23:14.220 news. You may not have anything to add before 00:23:14.220 --> 00:23:16.519 we go to your third and final topic, but I just 00:23:16.519 --> 00:23:18.160 thought it was a cool thing you mentioned. Mining 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:21.140 seems to be very popular for private 5G is what 00:23:21.140 --> 00:23:24.220 I'll say. Poster child. That's what I call it. 00:23:24.220 --> 00:23:27.009 The poster child use case. All right, let's go 00:23:27.009 --> 00:23:29.470 to your third and final, and you want to talk 00:23:29.470 --> 00:23:33.950 about Verizon launching 5G networks license for 00:23:33.950 --> 00:23:36.269 first responders. Hey, there's a theme here. 00:23:36.349 --> 00:23:38.410 We continue to talk about this on our pod, don't 00:23:38.410 --> 00:23:43.069 we? Yeah, so this is the Verizon Frontline Network 00:23:43.069 --> 00:23:46.869 Slice. It is a 5G ultra -wideband virtual network 00:23:46.869 --> 00:23:50.869 slice completely dedicated to first to public 00:23:50.869 --> 00:23:52.849 safety of first responders that allows for the 00:23:52.849 --> 00:23:55.730 allocation of network resources. within Verizon's 00:23:55.730 --> 00:23:59.029 network infrastructure. They say it has dedicated 00:23:59.029 --> 00:24:02.289 5G ultra -wideband network capacity, tailored 00:24:02.289 --> 00:24:05.730 performance, enhanced reliability, and flexible 00:24:05.730 --> 00:24:08.970 scalability. So this is something that they launched 00:24:08.970 --> 00:24:13.410 nationwide in 29 cities, including San Diego. 00:24:13.630 --> 00:24:18.569 And they are obviously trying to ham up their 00:24:18.569 --> 00:24:22.170 experience with first responders and how they're 00:24:22.170 --> 00:24:23.970 going to enable those first responders to have 00:24:23.970 --> 00:24:28.039 a better, more dependable experience on the network. 00:24:28.180 --> 00:24:34.440 And it is using 5G network slicing. So it's actually 00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:38.440 standalone 5G. It's not quite 5G advanced, but 00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:41.740 it will, I think, eventually become 5G advanced. 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:45.500 And yeah, they're not really saying much more 00:24:45.500 --> 00:24:48.339 beyond that, that they will be offering this 00:24:48.339 --> 00:24:51.359 service for the same cost as current 5G ultra 00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:54.190 -wideband plans. So it's not... really going 00:24:54.190 --> 00:24:56.890 to be something that people have to pay extra 00:24:56.890 --> 00:24:58.970 for. And truthfully, I have a strong feeling 00:24:58.970 --> 00:25:01.849 it'll probably save Verizon money because a lot 00:25:01.849 --> 00:25:05.470 of these slices do over time. So I think it's 00:25:05.470 --> 00:25:07.430 a good thing. And this was literally launched 00:25:07.430 --> 00:25:10.690 yesterday. This is hot off the presses, much 00:25:10.690 --> 00:25:13.329 like T -Mobile's announcement. So I would say 00:25:13.329 --> 00:25:14.990 that this is very similar to what T -Mobile is 00:25:14.990 --> 00:25:18.069 doing with T -Priority. I think it's no consequence 00:25:18.069 --> 00:25:20.750 or no surprise that this is happening when it 00:25:20.750 --> 00:25:24.319 is. I think it's great for first responders and 00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:26.920 public safety people to have choices. And the 00:25:26.920 --> 00:25:28.440 truth is, I think there's going to be a world 00:25:28.440 --> 00:25:32.700 where multiple networks get used by these public 00:25:32.700 --> 00:25:36.660 safety organizations because they can and they 00:25:36.660 --> 00:25:39.740 should. And I think safety is always critical. 00:25:39.980 --> 00:25:44.420 And being able to enable it at scale, I think 00:25:44.420 --> 00:25:47.579 is great. And I hope to see more cities have 00:25:47.579 --> 00:25:51.319 real nationwide network. 29 cities is pretty 00:25:51.319 --> 00:25:54.420 good. And I think that's pretty close to Verizon's 00:25:54.420 --> 00:25:56.680 initial 5g network launch, if I remember correctly. 00:25:56.900 --> 00:25:59.119 So it's probably a lot of the same city. And 00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:02.019 yeah, I think I'm excited to see how this evolves 00:26:02.019 --> 00:26:06.059 over time, especially since T &T and T -Mobile 00:26:06.059 --> 00:26:08.519 already have some kind of dedicated service like 00:26:08.519 --> 00:26:12.259 this. Yeah. So I agree with you. This is a neat 00:26:12.259 --> 00:26:14.480 competition thing for Verizon. They don't want 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:16.640 to be left out of the party with first responders. 00:26:17.470 --> 00:26:21.329 AT &T has built FirstNet, T -Mobile has T -Priority. 00:26:21.549 --> 00:26:24.549 And when T -Mobile first launched T -Priority, 00:26:24.650 --> 00:26:27.690 I asked the executives there, help me understand 00:26:27.690 --> 00:26:30.410 this because there is FirstNet. But as I thought 00:26:30.410 --> 00:26:32.470 about it more, and as you and I have been talking 00:26:32.470 --> 00:26:35.970 about this today, first responders need redundancy, 00:26:36.150 --> 00:26:38.690 right? Think about it. Like they serve a critical 00:26:38.690 --> 00:26:42.869 function. And if for whatever reason, you know, 00:26:42.890 --> 00:26:45.089 heaven forbid, let's say they're operating on 00:26:45.089 --> 00:26:48.299 FirstNet and there was a hiccup. Although there's 00:26:48.299 --> 00:26:50.519 a lot of redundancy with FirstNet, it's a completely 00:26:50.519 --> 00:26:54.220 separate air -gapped mobile network dedicated 00:26:54.220 --> 00:26:57.920 to first responders. But to be able to have that 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:00.720 fallback, that redundancy is really important. 00:27:00.980 --> 00:27:03.779 And again, I'll say it for the thousandth time, 00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:07.579 competition breeds innovation. And so I'm expecting 00:27:07.579 --> 00:27:10.339 now all three MNOs has laid down the gauntlet. 00:27:10.359 --> 00:27:13.289 They're supporting first responders. Now it's 00:27:13.289 --> 00:27:15.609 going to be really interesting to see some of 00:27:15.609 --> 00:27:17.990 the more bespoke use cases that come out of that. 00:27:18.210 --> 00:27:20.089 You and I have talked about really cool things 00:27:20.089 --> 00:27:24.289 like NLAI and what T -Mobile is doing through 00:27:24.289 --> 00:27:26.869 T -Mobile Ventures to get them off the ground, 00:27:27.029 --> 00:27:30.609 to do really innovative things like wildfire 00:27:30.609 --> 00:27:32.710 prediction and that sort of thing. I'm waiting 00:27:32.710 --> 00:27:34.710 for the use cases. And I think now that all three 00:27:34.710 --> 00:27:38.630 are clearly focused on first responders, it's 00:27:38.630 --> 00:27:40.109 going to be really interesting to see what happens. 00:27:40.490 --> 00:27:42.849 low earth orbit satellite is going to be important. 00:27:43.210 --> 00:27:44.789 It's going to be an important element of that. 00:27:44.910 --> 00:27:46.609 It's already an important element today when 00:27:46.609 --> 00:27:48.250 you look at FirstNet and you look at Verizon 00:27:48.250 --> 00:27:51.349 and you look at T -Mobile and how they deploy 00:27:51.349 --> 00:27:55.309 satellite -based colts for disaster recovery 00:27:55.309 --> 00:27:59.170 and for coverage of major events and that sort 00:27:59.170 --> 00:28:02.390 of thing. Typically it's a traditional terrestrial 00:28:02.390 --> 00:28:04.849 cell tower on wheels for those types of events. 00:28:05.660 --> 00:28:07.759 But the colts with the satellite connectivity 00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:10.579 are typically used for disaster recovery purposes. 00:28:10.859 --> 00:28:13.119 But again, I think it's, I'm all about the use 00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:14.740 case. And so it's going to be exciting to see 00:28:14.740 --> 00:28:17.960 how that all rolls out. But hey, my friend, I'm 00:28:17.960 --> 00:28:19.759 glad we were able to get this recorded before 00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:22.740 you jump on a plane and fly back across the country. 00:28:22.900 --> 00:28:26.099 Why don't you take us home? Absolutely. We hope 00:28:26.099 --> 00:28:27.980 our viewers and listeners on this week's topic 00:28:27.980 --> 00:28:30.119 is interesting. If anyone out there provides 00:28:30.119 --> 00:28:33.059 insights on a specific topic for a future podcast. 00:28:33.690 --> 00:28:36.470 Please reach out to us on social media. I'm at 00:28:36.470 --> 00:28:40.150 AnchaSong. Will's at WillTownTech. And we hope 00:28:40.150 --> 00:28:41.970 you have a great weekend. And don't forget to 00:28:41.970 --> 00:28:42.509 rate and subscribe.