Senza Fili Sparring Partners

FYUZ24 behind the scenes. With Eugina Jordan, TIP

FYUZ is the yearly event where the TIP community congregates. This year, it was last week (November 11-13) in Dublin. I talked with Eugina Jordan, CMO at TIP, who worked hard to make it a success, about what happened at FYUZ, what we like about it, what has changed, and what the trends are for next year in OpenRAN, OpenWiFi, and Open Optical, and how AI is going to impact them.
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5G lessons learned. With Azita Arvani

We are midway in our 5G journey. It may not have been as game-changing as many expected, but it did improve connectivity, and it is an impressive new technology. There is ample room for improvement, this much is clear.
What can we learn from the beginnings of 5G to continue the innovation? What should we do differently? Azita Arvani, ex-CEO at Rakuten Symphony North America, and I agree that we should not give up on 5G and wait until 6G arrives. But how aggressive should we be in pushing technological innovation in an affordable way?  
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Wireless/Wireline: Is the contraposition still relevant? With Mark Gilmour, ConnectiviTree

We usually think about wireline and wireless as alternative, complementary and at times competing ways to provide connectivity. But increasingly connectivity to any device requires the combination of wireline and wireless components. Access is mostly wireless through cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or other interfaces, and, eventually, the connection is transported to fiber. What is variable is where the wireless signal moves into the wireline realm. For instance, backhaul can be wireless or wireline.
Does it still make sense to think of wireless and wireline as separate? Or are they both inherently necessary components of connectivity? I debated these questions with Mark Gilmour at ConnectiviTree. He has been the wireless guy when working with wireline companies, and the wireline guy when working for mobile operators or vendors, so he has a uniquely deep and multi-sided perspective on the wireless/wireline contraposition.
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QuickFire | Was 5G a failure? With Geoff Hollingworth at Rakuten Symphony

Geoff Hollingworth, CMO at Rakuten Symphony, and I agree on many things, but we have sharply different views on the success of 5G. I think 5G did just fine; Geoff thinks it was a failure. So we set to debate this, and we had quite a revealing conversation (I don’t want to spoil it) on technology, standardization, 3GPP, monetization and, of all things, communism.
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QuickFire | Why does it take so long to innovate? With Sumit Roy, University of Washington

We often may feel that much of technology innovation in wireless either does not get deployed in commercial networks or that the process is very slow. Is that the case? And what sets the pace of innovation? Are there areas where we should be innovating at a faster rate to meet our connectivity needs, especially those of enterprises and other verticals?
Sumit Roy, a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, shared his perspective gained in work in the private sector, government and academia.
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QuickFire | How do analysts learn about the industry? With Emmy Johnson and Daryl Schoolar

Three analysts got together to talk about what we think works and does not work at in-person and virtual analyst events and other industry events. My guests were fellow analysts and friends Emmy Johnson, Founder & Principal Analyst at Sky Light Research and Daryl Schoolar, Director at Recon Analytics.
We compared notes of what we find useful and what our suggestions are to make our interactions with vendors and operators more effective for us and for the companies hosting them.
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QuickFire | What should 6G do for us? Part 2 With Preston Marshall, Google

This is the second part of the discussion I had with Preston Marshall, Director of Wireless Standards and Policy at Google Internet Evangelism, Co-Chair of Spectrum Sharing Committee at WInnForum, and Chairman, OnGo (CBRS) Alliance.
At the end of the first episode, we realized we did not cover many of the topics we had on our list, so we recorded a second episode. We still did not cover all of them, but we made some progress. In this episode, we talked about 3GPP, spectrum, private networks, CBRS, phone numbers and SIM cards.
Again, our discussion took inspiration from Pres’ new book, Evolving to 6G: The Case for a New Approach to 6G and Beyond, an excellent analysis of what we have achieved so far in wireless, what we still need, and what we want 6G to do.
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QuickFire | Why monetization is harder to find than love

Everybody pursues monetization, yet it appears to be increasingly elusive. Just as love can be. Yet, I argue that finding love in life is easier than finding monetization in wireless.  
Not everything is lost, as long as we think of monetization not primarily in terms of new or larger revenue streams but in terms of profitability—which takes us to selective adoption of technology to increase efficiency rather than get a few dollars from unwilling subscribers.
It may help to think of direct and indirect monetization and how they both address the opportunity for additional revenue and increased efficiency, and the risks that each entails. We may revise the largely held view that 5G has been a failure and the fear that 6G may be a repeat of that experience.
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QuickFire | What should 6G do for us? With Preston Marshall, Google

We still do not know what 6G is going to be, but it is the right time to decide what we want it to do. I talked to Preston Marshall, Director of Wireless Standards and Policy at Google Internet Evangelism, CoChair of Spectrum Sharing Committee at WInnForum, and Chairman, OnGo (CBRS) Alliance, about what users, the operators and the rest of the wireless ecosystem need 6G to do differently, and not just better, than 5G.
Pres and I talked about how to think about monetization in 5G and 6G, the crucial role of the core in the evolution of wireless connectivity, the roles of Wi-Fi and cellular in providing connectivity for different use cases, private networks run by the enterprise, and Wi-Fi and cellular coexistence.
Throughout the discussion, we refer to Pres’ new book, Evolving to 6G: The Case for a New Approach to 6G and Beyond, which I highly recommend not only for its vision for 6G, but also for the insightful and frank assessment of past and present of cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity.
A second episode with Pres covering other topics from his book will be soon available.
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QuickFire | The software developer view on telco APIs, with Magnus Olden, Domos

Magnus Olden, CTO at Domos, comes to telco API from an IT and Wi-Fi background and works to make API less complex, more easily usable and valuable to application developers.
We talked about what app developers need, and how their perspective can be very different from that of operators and the telco ecosystem. How could we get telcos and app developers to both benefit from API? How can we get APIs to also cover Wi-Fi access? What are the implications for API adoption and monetization? We squeezed a lot in our half-hour conversation.
I highly recommend the meeting that Magnus organized recently (and that convinced me to write my upcoming report on network APIs)
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Quick Fire | Open networks, open RAN, with John Baker, Mavenir

John Baker is the SVP of Business Development at Mavenir and one of the strongest proponents of Open RAN, since the very beginnings. We have talked about Open RAN in a previous Sparring Partners, and this is an update on the progress of Open RAN and the market outlook. 
How are we moving from Open RAN to end-to-end open networks? How is the concept of Open RAN evolving? Open RAN deployments are taking longer than some initially expected: Does it mean that Open RAN is not working as expected, or that it simply takes time to get all the parts working together? How effective are open interfaces in opening the network to a more complex, larger ecosystem? How useful are market forecasts for Open RAN? How should we define Open RAN in a market forecast (or in other contexts)? 
You can get the latest version of the O-RAN ecosystem slide from John Baker's LinkedIn posts
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QuickFire | Introduction: What Sparring Partners is about

This is an introduction to the podcast version of Sparring Partners from Monica Paolini, the podcast host on what Sparring Partners is about, its approach and its format.
I talk about the reasons why I am starting a weekly podcast, QuickFire, which will coexist with the longer DiveIn Sparring Partners that you may be familiar with. 
I have uploaded recent Sparring Partners, but this is the inaugural podcast-from-scratch QuickFire one. More will come soon. 
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APIs: the good, the bad, the debatable, with Markus Kümmerle, Deutsche Telekom and CAMARA, and Daryl Schoolar at Recon Analytics

A conversation with Markus Kümmerle, Deutsche Telekom and CAMARA, Daryl Schoolar at Recon Analytics and Monica Paolini at Senza Fili on the value, benefits and challenges of APIs
APIs have been around for a long time, but in the last couple of years have become one of the brightest beacons of monetization, even though their role is much wider than that. With the GSMA launch of the Open Gateway, there are signs of growth and adoption, but also questions about adoption paths, use cases and business models.
In this Sparring Partners, Markus Kümmerle, Deutsche Telekom and CAMARA, Daryl Schoolar at Recon Analytics and Monica Paolini at Senza Fili dissected the opportunities and challenges of APIs and look into what’s ahead for operators, application developers, hyperscalers, and everybody else in the ecosystem.
Use cases: What are APIs good for?
API definition: What’s the role of open, internal, operator-specific and vendor-specific APIs?
Monetization: Will APIs be better at improving network efficiency or at generating new revenues?
Business models: Who will pay for APIs? What services need APIs?
You can watch the video of the Sparring Partners at https://senzafili.com/videos/sparring-partners-apis-the-good-the-bad-the-debatable/
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AI-driven automation at AT&T, with Jennifer Yates

In this final Sparring Partners on AI and automation, we heard the operator's perspective from Jennifer Yates about AT&T's experience to date, ongoing activities, and future roadmap to adopt AI-driven automation and eventually move to autonomous networks.
Jennifer shared her deep, first-hand experience in running highly innovative projects to manage and optimize the AT&T network using AI and ML, and discussed the challenges and opportunities of these new technologies:
What are the most promising use cases?
How do you assess the costs and benefits of AI models and automation?
Will you build your own models, or customize or use public ones?
How will AI change your network operations?
Get the report "AI and automation drive the evolution to open networks" at https://senzafili.com/reports/ai-and-automation-drive-the-evolution-to-open-networks/
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NETSCOUT: Rethinking AIOps – It’s all about the data, with Rick Fulwiler

In network operations, we are always looking for areas for improvement. How should we manage applications to best serve end customers? How can we use end-to-end visibility of application and service performance to end customers, anomaly detection for automated pattern discovery and prediction to improve quality of experience? How should we utilize software-driven networks to deliver new services and support monetization strategies?
In this Sparring Partners with Rick Fulwiler, Chief Solutions Architect at NETSCOUT, we discussed how AIOps is becoming the focal point driving the transformation to improve network operations across all lines of business—IT, enterprise, cable, security and wireless. However, all these efforts will fail without being able to feed rich and reliable network data to AIOps.
 
This episode of Sparring Partners is sponsored by NETSCOUT
You can watch the video of the Sparring Partners at
https://senzafili.com/netscout-rethinking-aiops-its-all-about-the-data/
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VIAVI: The decomposable AI landscape. With Per Kangru and Takai Eddine Kennouche

AI will change the way we operate telecom networks. But what’s the best way to get there? How should we introduce AI to get the benefits it promises but avoid duplication, conflicts among different AI models, and undesired outcomes? How do we know AI models will deliver what we expect?
In this Sparring Partners, Per Kangru and Takai Eddine Kennouche at VIAVI Solutions shared their AIOps practical experience and vision for integrating AI and ML in network operations in an efficient and streamlined way and preserving the reliability and quality of experience that are non-negotiable.
AI will play a role in multiple network functions and use cases. Which contribution should be centralized, and which distributed?
What is the role of AIOps, AI testing AI, digital twins, and prompt engineering in making AI succeed?
How can operators avoid the AI lock-in? Should they embrace hyperscalers and their big models or develop in-house solutions?
This episode of Sparring Partners is sponsored by VIAVI Solutions
You can watch the video of the Sparring Partners at
https://senzafili.com/viavi-the-decomposable-ai-landscape/
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Will AI change how humans operate in telecoms? With Paul Patras and Azita Arvani

Most of the time, we talk about how AI, ML and GenAI change the way we run and operate networks, enable automation, tame complexity, and improve efficiency. They also change the way we – the humans in telecoms – operate, the skills we need, and how we deal with AI-based platforms. This will require profound changes and our ability to meet the cultural and technological challenges is going to be crucial to benefit from AI.
In this Sparring Partners, we talked with Azita Arvani, formerly at Rakuten Symphony, and Paul Patras at Net AI and the University of Edinburgh about how AI, ML and GenAI will change our networks and the people working with them – vendors, service providers, researchers, analysts and everybody else. 
Are we ready for the challenge? 
How can we prepare for it? How do organizations need to change? 
Can we attract the talent we need in telecom? 
What is the role of humans in training AI models?
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Intel: AI everywhere, from the edge to the cloud with Cristina Rodriguez

AI-driven automation is going to change the way we run our networks end-to-end, from the access in the RAN all the way to the core, from the edge infrastructure to the cloud. To get there, we need the right silicon and platforms. Are we there yet?
In this Sparring Partners, we talked with Cristina Rodriguez at Intel about the network transformation that AI and automation enable and about the role that Intel plays in the industry ecosystem.
Are we ready to fully embark on AI-driven automation?
Do we need automation more or less as we move to cloud-native, software-defined, disaggregated and virtualized networks?
Is AI going to accelerate the deployment of open and virtualized RAN?
What steps and best practices will take us to AI-driven automation and, eventually, to autonomous networks?
This episode of Sparring Partners is sponsored by Intel
You can watch the video of the Sparring Partners at
https://senzafili.com/intel-ai-everywhere-from-the-edge-to-the-cloud/
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Mavenir: The future network is open and autonomous. With Brandon Larson

It is not coincidental that networks are evolving towards openness and automation at the same time. Openness brings flexibility and choice, but also increased complexity. Automation, aided by cloudification and AI, enables operators to manage complexity and benefit from the flexibility in the network. Together, openness and automation change the way we operate networks and deliver services.
In this Sparring Partners with Brandon Larson, SVP, GM, Cloud, AI & IMS at Mavenir, we talked about how openness and automation work together to
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Fujitsu: How AI, ML and GenAI can increase network efficiency today. With Blake Hlavaty

Intelligent applications and generative AI will help operators increase the value of their already installed and new networks. By using network-specific knowledge, they can empower operators with trusted solutions that increase network efficiency.
In this Sparring Partners with Blake Hlavaty, Director of Global Network Software Offers at Fujitsu, we discussed the practical adoption of automation powered by
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Tareq Amin, Aramco Digital: Driving innovation in the Middle East

The Middle East is emerging as a hot area for digital transformation, driven by R&D funding, limited resistance from legacy infrastructure and organizational culture, and a desire to get a more prominent role in the global market.
Tareq Amin, CEO at Aramco Digital, was our Sparring Partner and talked about his recent move from Japan, where he was the CEO of Rakuten Mobile, to Saudi Arabia. He told us how his job has changed, and about the pace of innovation he found in the Middle East. What are the opportunities? What are the challenges? What is different from the other countries where he worked?
Watch the video at https://senzafili.com/videos/sparring-partners-tareq-amin-aramco-digital-driving-innovation-in-the-middle-east/
 
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VIAVI: GenAI: Network autonomy or network automation? With Anbu Ganesh

There is much talk about how GenAI will change how we operate and automate telco networks, but there is also much uncertainty about GenAI’s potential, challenges, opportunities and adoption models.
We talked with Anbu Ganesh, Business Director of Innovation & Business Development at VIAVI, to get the insider’s view on what GenAI has started to deliver, how it will evolve, and how to implement it in networks to maximize its promised benefits.
Anbu shared his experience developing network automation solutions that leverage AI technologies, and helping operators roll them out in their networks to transform optimization, fault management, and customer experience.
 
This episode of Sparring Partners is sponsored by VIAVI Solutions
You can watch the video of the Sparring Partners at
https://senzafili.com/publications/network-autonomy-or-network-automation/
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Mavenir, Rakuten, Nokia: Vendor perspectives on open RAN

Recent announcements by AT&T, 1&1 and Deutsche Telekom indicate an inflection point in the readiness for open RAN commercial deployments, but also an emerging new approach in vendor selection.
In this Sparring Partners, I talked to John Baker at Mavenir, Geoff Hollingworth at Rakuten Symphony and Aji Ed at Nokia about how vendors approach disaggregation in the open RAN market today and how they expect that vendor selection will evolve in the future in the overall RAN market.
You can watch the video at https://senzafili.com/videos/sparring-partners-vendor-perspectives-on-open-ran/
 
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Keysight: Getting open RAN up and running. With Kalyan Sundhar

Operators are getting ready to deploy open RAN in commercial, live networks. Each operator is defining its strategy and flavor of open RAN, its pace, and its vendor ecosystem.
Yet, they all need to ensure that the open RAN architecture and topology they choose work as expected. Are the equipment, the software, the platforms and the applications interoperable? How can they optimize the end-to-end network performance to meet subscribers’ needs and expectations? Open RAN requires a new approach to deploy and operate the RAN – from operators and vendors alike.
In this conversation, Kalyan Sundhar, VP and GM of Edge to Core at Keysight, tells us what challenges operators face and how Keysight helps them address them and get open RAN up and running at scale.
Kalyan shares the experience he gathered by driving open RAN solutions at Keysight and working with industry experts in the ecosystem since open RAN’s launch.
This episode of Sparring Partners is sponsored by Keysight
You can watch the video of the Sparring Partners at
https://senzafili.com/keysight-getting-open-ran-up-and-running/
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