Welcome to episode 227 of the G2 on 5G. It's
the latest Insight Scoop on everything 5G and
quickly becoming 6G. We cover six topics in about
20 minutes, and it's brought to you by More Insights
and Strategy. I'm Will Townsend, and joining
me again this week is fellow analyst Anshul Saag.
Let's get started with our fifth anniversary
episode. Woo -hoo! Can you believe, man, we've
been doing this for five years? Yes, I can, but
it doesn't really... I'll be honest, at times
it feels like it's been five years and other
times it doesn't feel like it's been five years.
So take your pick. But yeah, it's actually surprising
that we've stuck to this as long. It's been fun,
man. So five years for 5G and approaching our
sixth year for 6G. So we've got a little theme
here. But hey, man, I'm going to get started
with my first topic. I want to talk about Nokia.
And I caught this news. It was in early June.
They're leading a new drone and robotics consortium
in the European Union. It's got a really interesting
name, Proactiv. It almost sounds like that acne
medication. I don't know if that's why I think
of that. Yeah, if it's widely distributed in
Europe, it certainly is in the US. But what this
is all about, it's a venture that's projected
to generate around 90 million euros in revenue
by 2035. So it's led by Nokia. and 40 some odd
other leading European technology companies from
13 countries. And the objective is to redefine
how emergency situations and critical infrastructure
are managed. So drones are front and center with
this. If you're wondering, the project is funded
by the European Union's CHIPS joint undertaking.
And its stated mission is the project aims to
strengthen Europe's technology resilience and
leadership in ECS technologies. and support the
autonomy of the European drone and robotics industry.
And hey, you and I have talked on many podcasts
about 5G and what that enables from a drone use
case perspective. And certainly when you look
at robotics and you look at private networks
within manufacturing, the ability to be able
to move robots around, robotic arms and that
sort of thing, and do so via wireless technology
is super compelling. I really like this. Nokia
is really moving beyond access. They're focused
on government sales. And certainly I would expect
that what they're doing with this has a lot of
military implications as well. I know you got
the news, but what are your thoughts on this?
I think this is very much also an AI play. Just
because so much of robotics and drones is very
much around AI. They also need connectivity.
So I think that this is much more Nokia trying
to connect the dots. And I think that moving
towards more of a government play makes sense.
Yeah. And Nokia has launched its drone network
platform. And so they have a vested interest
in driving momentum behind that as well. And
a consortium is a great way to do that. That
with Open RAN, we've seen that with Open RAN.
We're seeing that with the AI Alliance and infusing
AI RAN or infusing AI into RAN infrastructure.
By the way, I'm going to be posting a LinkedIn
short article on some of my insights around AI
RAN and NVIDIA, but also some other competitors
like Opanga that you and I recently spoke with
to identify the benefits from it. power consumption
and network optimization perspective. But hey,
man, with that, let's go to your first topic.
And I caught this news as well. And T -Mobile
is working with SailGP to innovate with what
they do. And this is, SailGP is a sailboat racing
thing, isn't it? Yes, it's a sailing competition.
I was actually invited to go. last week but unfortunately
due to my crazy travel schedule i couldn't make
it happen i'm very jealous i wish i could have
gone but it's cool because they're really fusing
together connectivity and ai they're using t
-mobile's 5g advanced network solutions to enable
much higher definition user experiences and also
better broadcasts so like one of the things that
they were talking about is like more cameras
for better footage and AI -enabled autonomous
buoys with IoT sensors to show real -time speeds,
but also they're doing predictive AI as well
at the edge and transmitting data from the race
back to SailGP headquarters in London. And they're
also hitting new records in terms of what the
5G network can do for broadcast. Previously,
they were only getting about 10 to 30 megabits
per second, which is only enough for one or two
streams of HD. But with T -Mobile's network,
they're able to do 16 simultaneous HD streams.
So that's really empowering them to offer more
camera angles and enable better user experience
and also have better data for the races. In general,
it's just like up -leveling the experience for
everyone while producing a more interesting,
exciting race. And I believe the next race is
in Portsmouth on the 19th of July. So this is
like a global race that's just constantly going
around like F1 in a sense. And it's really cool.
I wish I could have seen it, but it's like a
big deal for sailing. Yeah, and it demonstrates
another fantastic use case for 5G. You can't
really string cables over an ocean across sailboats.
And these are massive sailboats. And T -Mobile
is doing a lot with, we've talked about on prior
podcasts with the PGA and that sort of thing.
And if you've ever gone to a professional golfing
event, the amount of cables that traditionally.
get strung all throughout a particular golf course
are pretty difficult to manage and so even golfing
where you don't have some of the same limitations
that you would have on a sailboat in the water
really translates to a very, very compelling
use case for 5G. And from my perspective, boy,
I wish I would have gotten that invite, man.
I would have, I would have stepped up. I don't
know if you were available. You're also traveling
all the time. I did. I know you and I have been
traveling like crazy and that's why we haven't
been as consistent as we normally are with these
podcasts, but. Yeah, I'm glad you were able to
speak to this use case because I think it's super,
super compelling. But let me hit my second topic.
I want to talk about AT &T. And I did share some
insights on social media when this broke. But
this week, AT &T announced that it's halfway
to its fiber finish. They've announced that they
have reached 30 million locations with its fiber.
And that's pretty incredible when you think about
what that has the potential to do to bridge the
digital divide. what fiber provides with backhaul
for mobile services and that sort of thing. And
the company's goal, if you haven't been keeping
track of this, is to reach 60 million locations
by the end of 2030. So they have about four and
a half years to go to double that. But at the
pace that they're on, I think they've got a great
chance of hitting that goal. And man, this is
not a minor undertaking to do this, right? It
requires just number one. a huge upfront investment
in capital expenditure. When you look at going
in ground, when you look at going aerial in parts
of the country that can support that, and then
just what it does to, again, unlock the ability
to bridge the digital divide. And then again,
the other benefit to AT &T is just having that
fiber network just provides very robust backhaul
for its mobile networks. Any additional things
you want to share on that point? No, I'm very
excited to see what Timo, what AT &T is doing.
I think that there's really nobody that comes
close in terms of fiber network, both in terms
of breadth and capabilities. I have yet to convince
myself to upgrade to five gigs on AT &T fiber,
but it's an option for me. I have to be home
long enough to make it worthwhile because it's
a considerable increase in cost, but most CDNs
aren't really prepared for it. But even then,
TNT fiber one gig symmetrical is a really good
product. And I think they've set the standard
for the rest of the industry. And I think there's
a lot more opportunities for them to grow. I
do think that there should be more opportunities
for them, but I think that they're growing at
the right rates that's reasonable for them in
terms of business. I'm actually a huge proponent
of just like fiber everywhere. Like every new
building should be fiber. We should be retrofitting
old buildings with fiber because the truth is,
I think high bandwidth, high throughput internet
enables the next generation economy and education
and all the things that you would need to be
an advanced society. I think we should be pushing
harder than we are, but I commend AT &T for being
the one who leads the charge. And I continue
to be an AT &T Fiber customer and continue to
be a happy customer. I'm recording on this live
stream right now. I'm very happy with AT &T Fiber
and I think they're offering a great product.
Yeah. Congratulations, AT &T. That's a huge milestone
and it just benefits everyone to your point.
But hey, let's go to your second topic. And there
are a couple of things that you want to discuss
around what NVIDIA is doing. So I'll let you
take it away. Yeah, there's actually like a threefer,
but I'm only calling it a twofer. Because last,
like at Computex, they started talking about
their Arc Compact, which is like their smaller
5G, 6G network offering. That one slid under
the radar, didn't quite make the cut. But what
the big deal is that at the VivaTech in Paris,
NVIDIA also had their GTC Paris, where they talked
about their partnerships with European operators,
European AI companies, building out a large AI
cloud for Europe. and also a continuation of
their narrative around sovereign AI. The big
push is really they found their edge with operators
because these operators are able to build a new
modern 5G network, but also add edge AI simultaneously,
which as an operator, that's a very enticing
proposition. They announced a partnership with
Orange. Through its Cloud Avenue platform, they
announced a partnership with FastWeb, which is
an Italian language -generated AI model trained
on DGX supercomputers. There's Telenor, which
is expanding its sovereign AI capabilities in
Norway with renewable -powered data centers.
Then there's Swisscom, which is rolling out its
GenAI studio and AI workhub on DGX superpods.
And then Telefonica, which is piloting its Edge
AI infrastructure in Spain, enabling privacy
-centric low -latency services in hundreds of
NVIDIA GPUs. So this is like the European look
for AI, allowing the Europeans to be more privacy
-focused, keep data local, and not really break
the laws of the European Union. And there's so
many more announcements beyond that, but those
are not. network -related, there's Bavarian AI
Center, Swedish AI Center, Barcelona Supercomputing
Center, which is world -renowned, and Finland
AI Center, UK AI Center, so there's all kinds
of things going. But in addition to that, they
did talk about how they have a lot of 6G research
occurring simultaneously, and that they have
over 200 companies and universities in more than
30 European countries using their 6G research
portfolio to build AI -native wireless networks.
And they talked about all these different places
around Europe and France and Finland and Germany,
mostly universities. But some companies like
Rotor Shores was really famous for test equipment.
There's just, it's literally too long of a list.
NVIDIA has a blog about it, but really what it
is about is AI native 6G, both doing research
and development, but also like setting standards.
and i think nvidia is doing a really good job
here because i think europeans feel like they
were left they got behind in 5g so i think it's
really good for nvidia to see the opportunity
to work with the europeans to prepare for 6g
and to enable them to help set the standards
especially when you think about things like ai
and i think it's really exciting because this
gives an opportunity for nvidia to really solidly
place itself as a leader in 6g especially since
Even before NVIDIA really pushed AI super hard
into telecom, it was already felt that 6G would
be AI accelerated. I think that they are the
right company to lead the charge. And I think
it will be really interesting to see what their
competitors are able to do. But I think NVIDIA
has done a really good job of thinking ahead.
And I do think it will be a real big challenge
for Intel to compete with them in 6G. Yeah, I
think you could also draw some parallels to like
what others like Nokia and Ericsson Huawei are
doing with infusing AI into their RAN and their
core infrastructure and that sort of thing. And
the 6G research, this was launched over a year
ago, right? And what I like about NVIDIA's approach,
the challenge has been traditionally vendor lock
-in, right? So traditionally, the Ericssons and
Nokias of the world. they would optimize their
core and their transport and their RAN around
their own ecosystem, right? And then with Open
RAN, there began this focus on more openness
and programmability. Both Ericsson and Nokia
have been driving that. But what I like about
NVIDIA's approach is that they're AI native,
right? They're interoperable and they're open
by design. And so that is all good. But at the
same time, there are more... companies and infrastructure
providers than NVIDIA that are innovating here.
But I do believe it's the old adage that I like
to quote, competition raises the innovation bar.
And certainly what NVIDIA is doing is quite impressive.
So I'm glad we're able to actually include the
GTC Paris mini recap on this webcast because
I think it's important to point out what NVIDIA
is doing to drive the innovation line with AI.
And they're already doing it with hyperscalers.
They're doing it within enterprises. It just
makes natural sense that they would turn their
focus to the mobile network operators in that
ecosystem. But with that, let me hit my third
and final topic. And this is amazing, but I learned
recently that New Zealand launched its first
private 5G network with Ericsson. And so this
is between Spark and Air New Zealand. And what
it's focused on is deploying a private 5G network
to manage logistics. Basically, it's at Auckland
Airport and what this private 5G network is doing.
So this is a nice tie back to my first topic.
It's enabling drones and robots to automate warehouse
stock takes with real time data and precision.
So what they speak to are a few different use
cases. So safer, smarter inventory control. And
if you think about the operation of an airport,
that's pretty important and mission critical.
There are digital twin and computer vision applications
that are being deployed as well. And I like it.
I think it's a model for other type deployments
within places like airports and ports and that
sort of thing. What do you think about all that?
I think the first Kiwi private 5G makes sense
at an airport. I think all airports should probably
have private 5G. Because data is super important
and more data faster is better. So I think especially
for like maintenance and logistics and maybe
one day lost bags will be a thing of the past.
Yeah, I'm really curious because we're about
to open a new terminal here in San Diego in the
next. Dude, I'm so glad I saw that when I flew
out yesterday because boy, when the older part
of the terminals, man, San Diego, you need a
facelift. You flew American, right? Yeah, I flew
Alaska. That was the American terminal. Oh, yeah,
because that terminal, it's the one part of the
airport that didn't really get a renew because
the west part got refreshed and the new terminal
is getting refreshed. But that part just got
a coat of paint and nothing more. So I hope they
demolish it someday. The shared lounge in that
terminal reminds me of a Waffle House. I shared
that on my X -Handle last night before I flew
out. But, yeah, I do think private 5G is absolutely
necessary. ports and airports and anywhere logistics
are necessary. And yeah, I'm really surprised
it took Zealand this long. But, you know, I have
nothing else to say. Yeah, no, I was shocked
too. And think about this too. Think about aircraft
maintenance and think about the thousands and
thousands of parts that are used to make sure
that aircraft are maintained properly and that
they're safe. I do want to say one thing. I don't
know if you caught the news today with the Air
India crash. My heart goes out to all the families
that lost loved ones and, you know, just tragic.
I didn't want to bring down the tone of our podcast,
but it just illustrates the importance of this
particular application. Yeah, I was going to
say, I just think there needs to be, because
every time a plane flies, it's collecting so
much data about itself. Right. And that data
should be quickly and easily downloaded. to a
central database and analyzed by AI to identify
if anything is out of normal and if there's any
kind of anomalies. And that's just that kind
of stuff. Obviously, the pilots are checking
and there's maintenance staff, but there's going
to be things that get caught, missed. So it's
going to be important for AI to exist to collect
all this data and find what data points might
be important to discover. Because the truth is,
we should be able to discover a potential air
disaster before it takes off, not after the black
box is recovered. Yeah, I'm really sad to hear
about that. And it was really unfortunate news
to wake up to. But yeah, I hope that private
5G is an enabler for better aircraft safety.
Yeah, I completely agree. Hey, let's wrap things
up with your third and final topic. And you want
to talk about the current administration and
you've got some news to share around spectrum
allocation. Yes. So it's the big, sorry, the
one big, beautiful bill. Is that what it's actually
called? That is the actual name. It sounds like
Trump, doesn't it? Yeah. We don't tell politics
on our podcast at all. Yeah, it's quite obvious
what my opinions are, though. The original statement
was 600 megahertz of spectrum, including sub
-3 gigahertz. But a lot of the military... has
pushed back on that so now it's not going to
be any of the lower three gigahertz it's going
to be above three gigahertz but it will be 800
megahertz as the current version of the bill
says and the lower three gigahertz will actually
be allocated for trump's golden dome program
that he wants to build which is an entirely different
thing about a domestic missile shield Of course,
it would be called golden. But the thing is that
600 megahertz would be quite meaningful. I think
the big problem here is that they're trying to
wind it into the one big beautiful bill, which
has a lot of very controversial aspects to it
that will most likely cause it to be killed.
But I think that they're doing this because they
want the operators to get behind this bill for
the reason of this spectrum. And I think it's
wrong to connect. one gigantic bill to have everything
in it because then it becomes a poison pill or
some provisions could become poison pills. So
I think it's dumb. I think it would be better
if this was just its own bill. I don't really
have any problems with it if it were on its own,
but winding it into this highly politicized bill
with lots of very serious cuts to different places
and some very odd provisions that I won't mention
here. that are questionable for our democracy,
I think it would be best to be on its own. And
that's my critique of the current state of this
spectrum segment of the bill. It seems this oftentimes,
this whole notion of spectrum allocation and
whatnot and auctions becomes the political football,
right? And I agree with you. We need to divorce
the politics from this and do what's right. And
getting the right amount of spectrum out to the
operators is a good thing. It's a good thing.
This also would reinstate the FCC's ability to
auction spectrum, which still has not been passed
by Congress. It hasn't been passed yet, which
is just bananas. The idea that this has to all
be wound into some bigger bill just is very frustrating
to me. There are better ways to do this. Yeah,
we can do better, Washington. But hey, buddy,
it's been another great podcast. Why don't you
take us home? Absolutely. We hope our viewers
and listeners found this week's topics interesting.
If anyone would like to reach out to us on a
specific 5G topic for a future podcast, please
reach out to us on social media. Will is at WillTownTech.
Oh, he's over here. Will's at WillTownTech and
I'm at Anshul Saad. We hope you have a great
weekend and a happy Father's Day weekend. And
please tune in again next week.