WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.720 Welcome to episode 236 of the G2 on 5G. It's 00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:06.099 the latest Insight Scoop on everything 5G and 00:00:06.099 --> 00:00:09.599 6G as well. Lately, we cover six topics in about 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:11.539 20 minutes and it's brought to you by More Insights 00:00:11.539 --> 00:00:13.759 and Strategy. I'm Will Townsend and joining me 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:16.160 again this week is fellow analyst Anshul Saag. 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:18.739 Let's get started with my first topic. And I 00:00:18.739 --> 00:00:22.539 want to talk about Reliance and their readying 00:00:22.539 --> 00:00:26.440 of a massive IPO in 2026. Anshul, I wasn't aware 00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:28.359 of this, but I caught the news. It's been long 00:00:28.359 --> 00:00:30.160 awaited. We've probably talked about it in the 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:32.240 past, but it's actually happening early next 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:34.880 year, is what news indicates. They're aiming 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:37.880 to raise about $6 billion. And if they're successful 00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:40.320 in doing that, it's going to place the valuation 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:43.859 near $112 billion. So we've talked about Reliance 00:00:43.859 --> 00:00:47.200 quite a bit, their disaggregated deployment of 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:51.460 infrastructure, their huge subscriber base as 00:00:51.460 --> 00:00:54.719 well. And as I read through this article on RCR 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:58.159 Wireless, it speaks to the fact that Reliance 00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:01.280 wants to use these funds to further expand its 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:04.819 4G network, focus on digital services and position 00:01:04.819 --> 00:01:08.519 itself for global scale value creation, also 00:01:08.519 --> 00:01:10.780 focusing on enterprise services. What's really 00:01:10.780 --> 00:01:13.219 interesting within the article as well, it talks 00:01:13.219 --> 00:01:17.819 about how A lot of analysts, including you and 00:01:17.819 --> 00:01:21.819 I, have had concerns that they're not monetizing 00:01:21.819 --> 00:01:24.099 what they're doing from a network perspective 00:01:24.099 --> 00:01:27.239 beyond access. And hey, listen, you can't fault 00:01:27.239 --> 00:01:31.040 them. This is a quandary for many mobile network 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:34.420 operators. But this is a massive, this is going 00:01:34.420 --> 00:01:36.299 to be a massive IPO. And it's predicted to be 00:01:36.299 --> 00:01:38.879 one of the largest, if not the largest IPOs in 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:40.519 India. What do you think? Do they need to be 00:01:40.519 --> 00:01:43.560 doing this to further their network infrastructure? 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:47.280 It's not going to necessarily unlock enterprise 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:49.140 use cases. They're going to have to focus on 00:01:49.140 --> 00:01:51.180 that discreetly. But what are your thoughts, 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:55.359 buddy? I don't really think they need the money. 00:01:55.819 --> 00:01:58.280 I really think this is more of an exit for some 00:01:58.280 --> 00:02:01.959 of the people who invested. in Reliance Geo platforms. 00:02:02.260 --> 00:02:04.319 If you remember, there were a lot of companies 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:07.019 that were making investments maybe a year or 00:02:07.019 --> 00:02:09.580 two ago. We've made a lot of announcements, whether 00:02:09.580 --> 00:02:12.659 it was Google or just tons of companies are investing 00:02:12.659 --> 00:02:17.039 in Geo platforms. So I think that this is really 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:19.900 an exit for those companies, first and foremost. 00:02:20.199 --> 00:02:23.500 This might also put more pressure on Geo platforms 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:26.900 to be profitable or more profitable. I think 00:02:26.900 --> 00:02:29.449 that's really... all this is i don't really know 00:02:29.449 --> 00:02:33.069 if they need they can they i don't know how to 00:02:33.069 --> 00:02:35.629 put this i feel like they can get their hands 00:02:35.629 --> 00:02:38.289 on six billion dollars without having the ipo 00:02:38.289 --> 00:02:40.430 this is an exit for their investors first and 00:02:40.430 --> 00:02:43.629 foremost and yeah i think i think that we're 00:02:43.629 --> 00:02:46.969 in a place where they have a next phase of their 00:02:46.969 --> 00:02:49.650 company and part of that is going public but 00:02:49.650 --> 00:02:52.650 again this is still part of the reliance family 00:02:52.650 --> 00:02:55.889 of companies right so it's not like it's a standalone 00:02:55.889 --> 00:02:59.719 startup that doesn't have pretty big backing 00:02:59.719 --> 00:03:02.520 behind it. I think this is more of a financial 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:04.919 mechanism for investors to get their exit more 00:03:04.919 --> 00:03:07.000 than anything. Yeah, no, I think it's a great 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:09.360 insight. When you look at the subscriber base, 00:03:09.460 --> 00:03:11.879 I talked about it being massive. It's 500 million, 00:03:12.060 --> 00:03:16.080 right? And from a growth perspective, I believe 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:19.340 that they would be better focused on developing 00:03:19.340 --> 00:03:23.110 things like enterprise solutions. applications. 00:03:23.650 --> 00:03:26.550 We've seen SK Telecom and other Korean operators 00:03:26.550 --> 00:03:29.650 be really innovative with respect to moving beyond 00:03:29.650 --> 00:03:32.110 access and really focusing on use cases. And 00:03:32.110 --> 00:03:34.710 there's an AI component to this as well. And 00:03:34.710 --> 00:03:36.710 I'm going to talk about that in my second topic. 00:03:36.810 --> 00:03:38.490 But yeah, it'll be interesting to see how it 00:03:38.490 --> 00:03:40.710 all rolls out. There have been a lot of starts 00:03:40.710 --> 00:03:43.409 and stops here. So they've put this off. And 00:03:43.409 --> 00:03:46.069 so now it appears to be coming to fruition. So 00:03:46.069 --> 00:03:47.810 it'll be interesting to see as we get into next 00:03:47.810 --> 00:03:50.490 year, if there's another delay, they push it 00:03:50.490 --> 00:03:53.580 out further. Hey, with that, you spent some time 00:03:53.580 --> 00:03:55.680 with Apple this week. They had their big event. 00:03:56.099 --> 00:03:59.039 They launched a few things. And when I let you 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:00.979 get through this topic, I'll share with you. 00:04:01.020 --> 00:04:03.840 I did buy something that was announced, and I 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:05.879 want to talk to you about that as well. But why 00:04:05.879 --> 00:04:07.960 don't you take it away? All right. I'm going 00:04:07.960 --> 00:04:09.479 to be real fast because there's a lot to go through. 00:04:09.719 --> 00:04:12.840 Four new iPhones. It's the iPhone 17 series, 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:15.719 the base model iPhone 17, as well as all other 00:04:15.719 --> 00:04:19.430 iPhone 17s. They're all 5G. The iPhone Air. is 00:04:19.430 --> 00:04:23.110 a replacement for the iphone plus it is 5 .6 00:04:23.110 --> 00:04:25.610 millimeters thin but it has the pro processor 00:04:25.610 --> 00:04:27.589 that's in the pro series which is the pro and 00:04:27.589 --> 00:04:30.769 the pro max it also only has one main camera 00:04:30.769 --> 00:04:34.350 that's 48 megapixels all the other cameras are 00:04:34.350 --> 00:04:37.350 48 megapixels and the pro camera has now three 00:04:37.350 --> 00:04:40.569 48 megapixel cameras in addition to that the 00:04:40.569 --> 00:04:43.750 watch all versions of the watch now have 5g cellular 00:04:44.379 --> 00:04:48.360 And I got confirmation that they are REDCap modems. 00:04:48.420 --> 00:04:52.100 So that's going to be how they save power, but 00:04:52.100 --> 00:04:54.420 also deliver better performance than the 4G modems 00:04:54.420 --> 00:04:58.300 did. Additionally, the Apple Watch Ultra will 00:04:58.300 --> 00:05:01.779 now have satellite connectivity, which is great 00:05:01.779 --> 00:05:04.279 for people who only take their watch out with 00:05:04.279 --> 00:05:07.300 them, don't have a phone. Then they also announced 00:05:07.300 --> 00:05:11.360 the AirPods Pro 3, which now have double the 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:14.850 noise canceling. arguably way better fit in your 00:05:14.850 --> 00:05:17.310 ear like the snuggest i've ever felt an airpod 00:05:17.310 --> 00:05:19.850 in my ears and a built -in heart rate sensor 00:05:19.850 --> 00:05:22.790 so you'll be able to track your fitness without 00:05:22.790 --> 00:05:25.170 having to wear a smartwatch if that's something 00:05:25.170 --> 00:05:28.220 you want to do In addition to all of that, the 00:05:28.220 --> 00:05:31.420 iPhone Air is the first chip or first phone from 00:05:31.420 --> 00:05:36.519 Apple that has an A19 SoC, a C1X modem, which 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:39.339 is a new upgraded version of the C1 modem that 00:05:39.339 --> 00:05:41.660 they claim is twice as fast and 30 % more efficient, 00:05:41.740 --> 00:05:44.800 and the N1 wireless chip, which is Wi -Fi, Bluetooth, 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:49.579 and thread combo chip. So that is the most Apple 00:05:49.579 --> 00:05:52.459 silicon iPhone that's out there. I believe that 00:05:52.459 --> 00:05:55.910 the other iPhones... still use qualcomm modem 00:05:55.910 --> 00:06:00.310 but that is the quick of it i was there got to 00:06:00.310 --> 00:06:03.329 experience all the devices iphone air is really 00:06:03.329 --> 00:06:06.290 truly very premium feeling and looking device 00:06:06.290 --> 00:06:09.430 there are some questions about battery life especially 00:06:09.430 --> 00:06:13.069 since they were promoting an air magsafe battery 00:06:13.069 --> 00:06:16.250 attachment for it at the launch so there's clearly 00:06:16.250 --> 00:06:19.709 some sensitivity to its battery life otherwise 00:06:19.709 --> 00:06:23.110 they've really refreshed the whole lineup and 00:06:23.740 --> 00:06:26.680 They added a new camera across all the new iPhones 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:29.160 called Center Stage, which is actually a square 00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:32.660 sensor. So most sensors are a 4 -3 aspect ratio, 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:35.980 but this is a perfectly square sensor. So that 00:06:35.980 --> 00:06:38.800 way you can get both landscape and portrait images 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:40.699 on the same sensor without having to turn the 00:06:40.699 --> 00:06:43.660 phone. And that way it uses AI to detect faces 00:06:43.660 --> 00:06:46.019 and determine if you need landscape or portrait 00:06:46.019 --> 00:06:48.519 based on what people are in the shot and how 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:50.939 they're being framed. So that's a pretty cool 00:06:50.939 --> 00:06:52.240 feature. I actually think that will be the most 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:54.829 popular feature. across all the new iPhones. 00:06:55.269 --> 00:06:59.110 Yeah, for sure. There wasn't a lot of depth on 00:06:59.110 --> 00:07:02.509 Apple intelligence, was there? No, the only depth 00:07:02.509 --> 00:07:04.790 was they announced the new translation feature 00:07:04.790 --> 00:07:07.769 for the AirPods. Then the facial recognition 00:07:07.769 --> 00:07:13.449 for center stage. And that's it. Interesting. 00:07:13.910 --> 00:07:16.470 Yeah, the product that I bought, I'm going back 00:07:16.470 --> 00:07:20.149 to the AirPod Pro 3. The reason why I really 00:07:20.149 --> 00:07:23.269 liked it, I think the sensor is great. for the 00:07:23.269 --> 00:07:25.089 health measurement and that sort of thing. But 00:07:25.089 --> 00:07:28.449 the real -time translation feature, I felt was 00:07:28.449 --> 00:07:30.089 going to be, it's pretty cool. And in the beginning, 00:07:30.129 --> 00:07:32.490 there are lots of inexpensive earbuds out there 00:07:32.490 --> 00:07:34.750 that do this sort of thing. But that's what sort 00:07:34.750 --> 00:07:37.410 of sold me in order to pair. But what was interesting, 00:07:37.529 --> 00:07:40.029 I don't know if you caught this news, Apple is 00:07:40.029 --> 00:07:43.230 disabling that feature for customers in the European 00:07:43.230 --> 00:07:47.410 Union based on some sort of like compliance thing 00:07:47.410 --> 00:07:49.990 or privacy thing. Are you aware of that? I did 00:07:49.990 --> 00:07:52.699 see that. I forgot that they had done that. because 00:07:52.699 --> 00:07:56.220 it was announced after the launch. I'm not surprised. 00:07:56.720 --> 00:07:59.120 Meta has had to restrict certain AI features 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:01.160 in Europe as well. And I think this will just 00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:05.360 be a continuance of regulatory structures and 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:08.160 requirements delaying certain features until 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:12.259 the companies can get them approved. Yeah, it's 00:08:12.259 --> 00:08:14.680 interesting. So I'll still be able to use that 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:16.620 feature when I travel to Europe. I'll be in London 00:08:16.620 --> 00:08:19.399 and Riga and possibly Barcelona in December for 00:08:19.399 --> 00:08:23.000 HPE Discover EMEA. But yeah, as long as your 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:25.939 Apple account is not registered in the European 00:08:25.939 --> 00:08:28.480 Union, you'll be able to travel with them and 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:31.000 be able to use that feature. Hey, I speak a little 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:32.659 bit of Spanish, but when it comes to everything 00:08:32.659 --> 00:08:34.320 else, man, I need some help. And it's going to 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:35.899 be a lot easier than just holding the phone up 00:08:35.899 --> 00:08:38.399 when you get lost somewhere. Agreed. But hey, 00:08:38.419 --> 00:08:40.659 buddy, I want to hit my second topic this week. 00:08:40.700 --> 00:08:42.440 And I want to talk about Ericsson. And this is 00:08:42.440 --> 00:08:45.399 their enterprise wireless group, formerly Cradlepoint. 00:08:46.059 --> 00:08:49.360 They're claiming the first 5G agentic AI framework 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:52.620 that is designed to streamline enterprise network 00:08:52.620 --> 00:08:55.059 operations. Again, they're claiming it as a first. 00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:58.340 They've had something called their NetCloud Assistant 00:08:58.340 --> 00:09:02.259 or ANA, but what this is going to do, it's not 00:09:02.259 --> 00:09:04.960 just necessarily a chatbot. So it's going to 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:08.899 be a set of orchestration agent or agents and 00:09:08.899 --> 00:09:12.320 task agents that are focused on automating workflows, 00:09:13.179 --> 00:09:16.039 fault issue resolution. There's some network 00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:18.960 assurance that comes along with this. It's going 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:20.580 to be a staggered approach. So you're going to 00:09:20.580 --> 00:09:23.200 see them release these agents over time. And 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:25.039 we're beginning to see this when you look at 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:28.799 just traditional enterprise networks with companies 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:31.399 such as Cisco and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:34.850 But they're claiming this is the first. agentic 00:09:34.850 --> 00:09:37.850 framework that's that's based on 5g i think this 00:09:37.850 --> 00:09:39.590 is this is going to be something that we're going 00:09:39.590 --> 00:09:42.470 to see others follow they are claiming that they 00:09:42.470 --> 00:09:45.070 feel like that they are ahead of hewlett packard 00:09:45.070 --> 00:09:46.830 enterprise when you look at what they're doing 00:09:46.830 --> 00:09:51.110 with private wireless and out the net you know 00:09:51.110 --> 00:09:54.649 as their acquired core infrastructure And even 00:09:54.649 --> 00:09:57.230 made a bold statement that they feel like that 00:09:57.230 --> 00:09:59.169 they have an advantage over Cisco when it comes 00:09:59.169 --> 00:10:01.529 to service provider network. I got to believe 00:10:01.529 --> 00:10:05.370 that we'll see HPE and Cisco follow suit quickly. 00:10:05.690 --> 00:10:08.289 But you got to realize also that Cradlepoint's 00:10:08.289 --> 00:10:10.730 been at this a little bit longer when you just 00:10:10.730 --> 00:10:12.929 look at private wireless and that sort of thing. 00:10:13.029 --> 00:10:15.269 So I think it's pretty compelling. What do you 00:10:15.269 --> 00:10:16.929 think? Is there an advantage for them to have 00:10:16.929 --> 00:10:20.889 FirstMover with respect to this capability? Yeah, 00:10:20.889 --> 00:10:23.960 I think FirstMover is definitely a good. place 00:10:23.960 --> 00:10:26.139 to have but it doesn't really guarantee success 00:10:26.139 --> 00:10:29.120 right i think there's a lot more factors other 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:33.039 than first mover good to show leadership in the 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:36.399 space especially considering erickson and cradle 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:41.000 points history but i don't really know is this 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:44.519 really changing the way people are operating 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:48.250 their networks yeah i don't know Yeah, it makes 00:10:48.250 --> 00:10:50.889 you wonder how easy is it to port an agentic 00:10:50.889 --> 00:10:53.669 framework over a mobile network versus an enterprise 00:10:53.669 --> 00:10:57.090 network that's Ethernet based and you've got 00:10:57.090 --> 00:10:59.289 routing and switching infrastructure attached 00:10:59.289 --> 00:11:01.169 to that as well. It'll be interesting to see 00:11:01.169 --> 00:11:03.210 how this all rolls out and if they can command 00:11:03.210 --> 00:11:05.169 a true leadership position. And at the end of 00:11:05.169 --> 00:11:08.429 the day, leadership basically is defined by. 00:11:08.970 --> 00:11:10.669 How much addressable market can you capture? 00:11:10.730 --> 00:11:12.509 How much top line revenue can you drive? And 00:11:12.509 --> 00:11:14.590 how much profitability can you realize from all 00:11:14.590 --> 00:11:16.809 of that? So it'll be something that I'll be keeping 00:11:16.809 --> 00:11:19.929 my eyes on over the coming months. But hey, let's 00:11:19.929 --> 00:11:22.110 go to your second topic. And this is pretty big 00:11:22.110 --> 00:11:26.230 news. So I think we've talked about AT &T and 00:11:26.230 --> 00:11:29.029 how they, probably on our last podcast, how they 00:11:29.029 --> 00:11:31.950 purchased quite a bit of Spectrum from Echo Star 00:11:31.950 --> 00:11:36.269 as DISH is beginning their ambitions to be the 00:11:36.269 --> 00:11:39.220 fourth. Major M &O in the U .S. is fading pretty 00:11:39.220 --> 00:11:43.139 quickly, but SpaceX purchased just a boatload 00:11:43.139 --> 00:11:44.799 of Spectrum, and you want to talk about that 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:49.879 and the implications. Yeah, this was a $17 billion 00:11:49.879 --> 00:11:54.039 transaction, and it was an acquisition of the 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:57.840 company's AWS 4 and HBlock Spectrum licenses, 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:01.379 which pretty much makes up all of their Spectrum, 00:12:01.379 --> 00:12:04.700 or most of it. Most of what's left, let's put 00:12:04.700 --> 00:12:07.779 it that way. And that's $8 .5 billion in cash 00:12:07.779 --> 00:12:11.460 and $8 .5 billion in SpaceX stock. Ironically, 00:12:11.559 --> 00:12:15.460 this makes Echo Star's stock the easiest way 00:12:15.460 --> 00:12:18.740 to publicly purchase an investment in SpaceX. 00:12:19.299 --> 00:12:24.240 Really? Because they now hold $8 .5 billion in 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:28.860 SpaceX stock. And there's no other way to easily 00:12:28.860 --> 00:12:32.179 acquire or invest in SpaceX stock. Because they're 00:12:32.179 --> 00:12:35.519 not a publicly traded company, right? yeah correct 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:39.399 yes and echo star is and a lot of their valuation 00:12:39.399 --> 00:12:43.120 will now probably be tied to spacex so that's 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:45.980 an interesting situation there's i'm reading 00:12:45.980 --> 00:12:47.759 through the echo star release because that's 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:52.059 like the most clear -cut thing what it says is 00:12:52.059 --> 00:12:55.379 that in connection with the transaction spacex 00:12:55.379 --> 00:12:57.399 and echo star will enter in a long -term commercial 00:12:57.399 --> 00:12:59.679 agreement which will enable echo stars boost 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:02.649 mobile subscribers through its cloud native 5g 00:13:02.649 --> 00:13:06.450 core to access spacex's next generation starlink 00:13:06.450 --> 00:13:11.149 to direct to cell service so now echo start customers 00:13:11.149 --> 00:13:14.470 with boost will also be able to use starlink 00:13:14.470 --> 00:13:17.529 satellite director hey hold on i thought t -mobile 00:13:17.529 --> 00:13:20.809 had an exclusive arrangement with starlink i 00:13:20.809 --> 00:13:25.870 guess that has a run out interesting keep in 00:13:25.870 --> 00:13:28.250 mind there's no specific date for when this is 00:13:28.250 --> 00:13:31.429 available so okay there's a chance that might 00:13:31.429 --> 00:13:34.809 happen next year. If there's an exclusivity time 00:13:34.809 --> 00:13:37.409 -bound agreement with T -Mobile, right? Yes. 00:13:37.470 --> 00:13:39.370 And in addition to that, Echosar specifically 00:13:39.370 --> 00:13:41.990 states in their release that they anticipate 00:13:41.990 --> 00:13:44.350 this transaction with SpaceX, along with the 00:13:44.350 --> 00:13:46.769 previously announced Spectrum sale, will resolve 00:13:46.769 --> 00:13:51.370 the FCC inquiries. So again, the FCC is the motivating 00:13:51.370 --> 00:13:55.370 factor in these transactions and has pushed them 00:13:55.370 --> 00:13:59.639 on Echosar. And we all now know that the FCC 00:13:59.639 --> 00:14:02.840 has said that they are no longer pursuing Echo 00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:06.679 Star for what they were criticizing them for. 00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:10.460 Which was spectrum squatting and not using the 00:14:10.460 --> 00:14:14.480 spectrum for years. Yes. And then, yeah, this 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:18.519 gives them more money, more resources, and it 00:14:18.519 --> 00:14:20.460 will be very interesting to see what they will 00:14:20.460 --> 00:14:22.820 do with that. Some people have claimed that they 00:14:22.820 --> 00:14:25.299 might launch their own direct -to -sell service. 00:14:26.779 --> 00:14:31.980 That would seem odd, since now they own $8 .5 00:14:31.980 --> 00:14:36.700 billion of their direct competitions stock. They 00:14:36.700 --> 00:14:39.399 would most likely be in their best interest to 00:14:39.399 --> 00:14:41.679 dump it if they choose to go down that path. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:44.960 But in general, this is a big win for SpaceX. 00:14:45.580 --> 00:14:48.799 I'm not surprised that SpaceX managed to get 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:52.480 this deal, considering how close Elon has been 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:57.389 with the Trump administration. biggest vocal 00:14:57.389 --> 00:15:01.950 critics of EchoStar and the whole Dish business, 00:15:02.230 --> 00:15:06.730 including their 5G network. So this is not a 00:15:06.730 --> 00:15:09.970 huge surprise, but it does put a nail in the 00:15:09.970 --> 00:15:14.149 coffin of Dish being the fourth carrier and pretty 00:15:14.149 --> 00:15:17.799 much makes them a very clear MVNO now. Yeah, 00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:20.039 yeah, it looks like it's just it's mainly going 00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:21.919 to be booze. Yeah, it's really interesting to 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:24.500 dig a little bit just on that mobile first strategy. 00:15:24.740 --> 00:15:27.360 John Stanky at AT &T was asked if he had any 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:29.879 concern that he thought that SpaceX would be 00:15:29.879 --> 00:15:32.940 pursuing this mobile first strategy given they 00:15:32.940 --> 00:15:35.720 own all of this spectrum now. And he doesn't 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:38.200 think it's going to be an issue. And from his 00:15:38.200 --> 00:15:41.019 perspective, terrestrial is that's obviously 00:15:41.019 --> 00:15:45.309 the lion's share for mobile connectivity. satellite 00:15:45.309 --> 00:15:49.830 is great for gap fill and for rural and that 00:15:49.830 --> 00:15:52.250 sort of thing. But this is all really interesting. 00:15:52.330 --> 00:15:54.789 And it's not surprising to me that the FCC is 00:15:54.789 --> 00:15:59.149 no longer pursuing EchoStar and DISH because 00:15:59.149 --> 00:16:02.269 now, I mean, they've all, to your point, all 00:16:02.269 --> 00:16:06.950 but have divested all their spectrum. Clearly, 00:16:07.070 --> 00:16:09.370 TNT has a demonstrated track record of using 00:16:09.370 --> 00:16:11.610 its spectrum, right, and not squatting on it. 00:16:11.669 --> 00:16:13.409 Yeah, I tell you what, you and I have been following 00:16:13.409 --> 00:16:16.809 this for years, and it's just what DISH embarked 00:16:16.809 --> 00:16:19.870 on was very aggressive. We've talked about Reliance 00:16:19.870 --> 00:16:22.009 and how successful they've been with a cloud 00:16:22.009 --> 00:16:25.750 -native, cloudified core, highly disaggregated 00:16:25.750 --> 00:16:29.309 network topology, leveraging things like elements 00:16:29.309 --> 00:16:32.519 of Open RAN. But at the end of the day, DISH 00:16:32.519 --> 00:16:34.299 has had a lot of challenges. And I think maybe 00:16:34.299 --> 00:16:36.179 part of it is that there were a lot of cooks 00:16:36.179 --> 00:16:38.960 in the kitchen. At one point, like every infrastructure 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:40.500 provider was claiming that they were working 00:16:40.500 --> 00:16:42.480 with DISH to roll this out. Everyone was super 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:45.220 excited because it was a modern network, but 00:16:45.220 --> 00:16:48.399 they clearly haven't executed as well as Reliance 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:51.220 has. So yeah, super interesting, man. But it'll 00:16:51.220 --> 00:16:53.120 be interesting to watch this and see how it all 00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:56.299 unfolds over time. But with that, I'm going to 00:16:56.299 --> 00:16:58.179 hit my third and final topic, and you and I are 00:16:58.179 --> 00:17:01.500 both going to close with T -Mobile. From my perspective, 00:17:01.559 --> 00:17:03.299 I want to talk about, and I may have alluded 00:17:03.299 --> 00:17:07.240 to this after you and I attended the technology 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:10.140 summit in Bellevue last month and in the analyst 00:17:10.140 --> 00:17:13.680 event, but T -Mobile is clearly moving past CBRS 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:16.180 spectrum, in particular for neutral hosts. And 00:17:16.180 --> 00:17:18.920 it's really interesting because there have been 00:17:18.920 --> 00:17:21.440 companies like Celona and others that are focused 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:25.319 on neutral hosts. CBRS being the spectrum that's 00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:27.900 leveraged. You and I have talked about some of 00:17:27.900 --> 00:17:30.180 the challenges with CBRS, just the amount of 00:17:30.180 --> 00:17:33.900 spectrum that's available. And also there's general 00:17:33.900 --> 00:17:38.099 access licensing. There is licensing where people 00:17:38.099 --> 00:17:41.980 have actually purchased PAL licenses to deploy 00:17:41.980 --> 00:17:45.720 it. In that scenario, it's been mainly enterprises 00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:48.720 that are trying to do things like provide connectivity 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:50.839 to areas that are underserved by traditional 00:17:50.839 --> 00:17:53.920 infrastructure. from a cellular perspective but 00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:57.799 this from my perspective this is a big blow to 00:17:57.799 --> 00:18:00.519 the whole notion of cbrs and like i've been following 00:18:00.519 --> 00:18:03.880 cbrs for years on go i thought it was amazing 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:06.579 how they were democratizing access to license 00:18:06.579 --> 00:18:10.480 spectrum because typically it was it's been very 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:14.079 expensive and the mnos gobble it up this is an 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:16.519 interesting development because they're obviously 00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:20.539 they're a major mno And I think part of it may 00:18:20.539 --> 00:18:23.460 be that they've seen some success with their 00:18:23.460 --> 00:18:25.680 advanced network solutions, which for our viewers 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:27.940 and listeners that aren't familiar with ANS at 00:18:27.940 --> 00:18:31.019 T -Mobile. So this is T -Mobile for businesses, 00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:35.680 hybrid, public, you know, slicing the public 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:39.140 network and private network deployment. And it's 00:18:39.140 --> 00:18:41.859 really, I think, become a model because it provides 00:18:41.859 --> 00:18:45.000 flexibility. from not only a deployment perspective, 00:18:45.259 --> 00:18:48.839 but from a CapEx and an OpEx perspective to get 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:52.339 private networks out in the wild. And as a result, 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:54.839 this year we have seen, and I think we've talked 00:18:54.839 --> 00:18:57.099 about this on prior podcasts, we have seen an 00:18:57.099 --> 00:18:59.779 uptick in the adoption of private networking. 00:18:59.819 --> 00:19:02.200 So it's been like, it's not been a hockey stick. 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:04.579 It's been a very long tail, but we're beginning 00:19:04.579 --> 00:19:08.519 to see T -Mobile with ANS wins. We're seeing 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:11.799 Solana with private WANs. We're seeing HPE build 00:19:11.799 --> 00:19:14.900 its capabilities with private. Cisco has always 00:19:14.900 --> 00:19:17.960 been focused there as well. Dell, to a lesser 00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:20.319 extent, Dell has been very focused on telecom 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:23.619 and driving OPEX and CAPEX efficiencies within 00:19:23.619 --> 00:19:26.319 the telecom space. But any thoughts on this? 00:19:26.359 --> 00:19:28.319 Is this a surprise to you? I don't think so. 00:19:28.460 --> 00:19:31.859 I think they made the effort, but the truth is 00:19:31.859 --> 00:19:34.380 they have a lot of spectrum. Right, they did. 00:19:34.779 --> 00:19:37.140 A lot of 2 .5. I think it would have made a lot 00:19:37.140 --> 00:19:40.019 more sense if they were in a place where they 00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:43.539 didn't have the spectrum and CBRS gave them a 00:19:43.539 --> 00:19:47.200 little bit more of that freedom. That said, I 00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:50.640 think they did make an effort and it didn't go 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:53.900 well for them. So I think they moved on. Yeah. 00:19:54.039 --> 00:19:55.819 Yeah, you're absolutely right. They're not in 00:19:55.819 --> 00:19:58.779 a spectrum deficit like some of the other MNOs 00:19:58.779 --> 00:20:00.900 were when they were deploying their 5G networks. 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:04.059 And that's one of the reasons. why they're just 00:20:04.059 --> 00:20:07.720 one or two steps ahead, first to standalone nationwide, 00:20:08.059 --> 00:20:11.019 first to their definition of what they envision 00:20:11.019 --> 00:20:14.259 to be 5G advanced, and they're using low latency, 00:20:14.579 --> 00:20:18.680 low loss to really fine -tune. what they're doing 00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:20.480 from a slice perspective, they've launched T 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:23.599 priority, they've launched super mobile. So yeah, 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:26.119 it's, it's probably something that's basically 00:20:26.119 --> 00:20:28.539 they've gotten to a point now where they've gotten 00:20:28.539 --> 00:20:31.380 so much momentum that even for like neutral host 00:20:31.380 --> 00:20:33.539 applications, it's not necessary for them. But 00:20:33.539 --> 00:20:35.960 with that, we're going to hit your final topic 00:20:35.960 --> 00:20:37.660 and you're going to close us out with a T -Mobile 00:20:37.660 --> 00:20:42.079 update as well. Yes. This one is also fairly 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:45.880 new. This is actually an announcement that T 00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:49.859 -Mobile for business. will be providing 5G connectivity 00:20:49.859 --> 00:20:55.380 and telecommunication services for the LA 2028 00:20:55.380 --> 00:21:00.640 Olympics. This is a broad coverage agreement 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:05.119 where T -Mobile for Business will provide connectivity 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:10.640 and data services from more than 110 locations 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:14.299 in more than 40 venues across Southern California. 00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:17.650 I did some research. And I found out that there's 00:21:17.650 --> 00:21:21.650 actually two venues for the LA 28 Olympics that 00:21:21.650 --> 00:21:25.450 are in Oklahoma City. Do not ask me why. I have 00:21:25.450 --> 00:21:30.910 no idea. But for some reason, that happened for 00:21:30.910 --> 00:21:34.309 softball and some whitewater sports. Everything 00:21:34.309 --> 00:21:36.869 else is in Southern California. The venues come 00:21:36.869 --> 00:21:40.529 as far south as the border of San Diego and Orange 00:21:40.529 --> 00:21:43.809 County at Trestles State Beach for surfing, all 00:21:43.809 --> 00:21:48.480 the way up to the... northernly parts of la for 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:51.119 a multitude of things most things are happening 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:53.839 at stadiums but they go really far east they 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:56.000 go really far north like as far as the rose bowl 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.579 there's some aquatics in the in pasadena lots 00:21:59.579 --> 00:22:02.220 of things happening at the port of la and at 00:22:02.220 --> 00:22:05.180 long beach downtown la so it's literally all 00:22:05.180 --> 00:22:08.400 over la county and beyond right trestles is in 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:11.359 the most southerly port of arts most southerly 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:13.990 part of orange county which is very much not 00:22:13.990 --> 00:22:16.910 la and they're going to do tennis at carson and 00:22:16.910 --> 00:22:20.930 swimming at the whatchamacallit oh the stadium 00:22:20.930 --> 00:22:23.730 who will not be named because none of the stadiums 00:22:23.730 --> 00:22:25.309 that have names are actually given their names 00:22:25.309 --> 00:22:28.930 on the la 28 olympics so like crypto arena is 00:22:28.930 --> 00:22:33.150 just called downtown la arena it's very and bmo 00:22:33.710 --> 00:22:36.910 park where the where la plays they call exposition 00:22:36.910 --> 00:22:39.349 park stadium so they won't give any of those 00:22:39.349 --> 00:22:42.069 sponsors their naming rights for the olympics 00:22:42.069 --> 00:22:44.690 unless they pay for it but yeah it's really interesting 00:22:44.690 --> 00:22:48.349 because connectivity is a huge thing and it's 00:22:48.349 --> 00:22:50.170 going to be super necessary for the olympics 00:22:50.170 --> 00:22:52.970 t -mobile says they're going to deploy 5g ans 00:22:52.970 --> 00:22:55.750 which is their advanced network solutions just 00:22:55.750 --> 00:22:59.390 they will connect more than 15 000 staff with 00:22:59.390 --> 00:23:02.289 push -to -talk services so they'll be using super 00:23:02.289 --> 00:23:04.799 mobile In addition to that, they're going to 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:07.220 have reliable high bandwidth and highly secure 00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:09.220 connectivity for point of sale systems and event 00:23:09.220 --> 00:23:11.200 ticketing, which means they'll be using network 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:14.720 slicing. And then there will also be a secure 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:16.940 low latency connection between the International 00:23:16.940 --> 00:23:19.700 Broadcast Center for all the broadcast operations 00:23:19.700 --> 00:23:22.059 and all the competition venues. T -Mobile will 00:23:22.059 --> 00:23:24.279 be supporting over 100 broadcasters from around 00:23:24.279 --> 00:23:26.980 the world to cover the games. And they will also 00:23:26.980 --> 00:23:30.059 use the games as a... showcase for all of their 00:23:30.059 --> 00:23:32.660 use cases for sports and beyond. Our friends 00:23:32.660 --> 00:23:35.519 at the Game Time Tech might want to cover this 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:38.799 because T -Mobile is going to be one of the driving 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:42.299 forces behind the LA 28 Olympics. And it's also 00:23:42.299 --> 00:23:44.140 for the Paralympics as well. It's going to be 00:23:44.140 --> 00:23:46.839 really interesting to see what kinds of experiences 00:23:46.839 --> 00:23:50.579 we get out of it and hopefully more 4K transmissions. 00:23:50.599 --> 00:23:53.759 Because I like watching things in 4K and I feel 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:56.630 like we're not getting enough 4K. Yeah, I hear 00:23:56.630 --> 00:23:58.990 you. So for our viewers and listeners, Game Time 00:23:58.990 --> 00:24:02.190 Tech Pod is done by two of our colleagues, Mel 00:24:02.190 --> 00:24:04.990 Brew and Robert Kramer. Go hit the More Insights 00:24:04.990 --> 00:24:06.589 and Strategy website if you want to learn more 00:24:06.589 --> 00:24:09.890 about that and subscribe to that. The final thing 00:24:09.890 --> 00:24:12.069 that I'll add, Anshul, to your topic is that 00:24:12.069 --> 00:24:16.890 this really demonstrates the power of a fiber 00:24:16.890 --> 00:24:21.299 -like connectivity. from a throughput and from 00:24:21.299 --> 00:24:24.799 a latency perspective. So given the diversity, 00:24:25.059 --> 00:24:27.799 given just the distance, even beyond like you 00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:31.460 were mentioning, beyond the confines of Los Angeles 00:24:31.460 --> 00:24:35.460 proper, using 5G to be able to broadcast from 00:24:35.460 --> 00:24:37.660 all of these different venues within Southern 00:24:37.660 --> 00:24:40.630 California. just really demonstrates the flexibility 00:24:40.630 --> 00:24:42.710 and the capability of what 5G brings. Again, 00:24:42.950 --> 00:24:47.109 a wireless but wire -like capability that supports 00:24:47.109 --> 00:24:49.650 broadcast. And we've talked about broadcast use 00:24:49.650 --> 00:24:52.569 cases numerous times on our podcast as well. 00:24:52.650 --> 00:24:54.890 So this is going to be fun. It's a few years 00:24:54.890 --> 00:24:57.549 out, but it's going to be exciting to see just 00:24:57.549 --> 00:25:00.990 how performant this connectivity is with T -Mobile 00:25:00.990 --> 00:25:03.690 powering the LA Olympics in 2028. But hey, my 00:25:03.690 --> 00:25:05.509 friend, it's been another great podcast. Why 00:25:05.509 --> 00:25:08.539 don't you take us home? Absolutely. We hope our 00:25:08.539 --> 00:25:10.359 viewers and listeners found this week's topics 00:25:10.359 --> 00:25:12.619 interesting. If anyone out there would like to 00:25:12.619 --> 00:25:14.740 provide insights on a specific 5G topic for a 00:25:14.740 --> 00:25:17.259 future podcast, please reach out to us on social 00:25:17.259 --> 00:25:20.660 media. Will is at will .tech and I am at Anshul 00:25:20.660 --> 00:25:23.039 Saad. We hope you have a great weekend and please 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:24.680 don't forget to rate us and subscribe.