The Appledore Research Podcast

Telcos were supporting industry verticals long before 5G, but seem to be struggling to make the case for greater relevance. Why is that? What are the opportunities and what else - beyond improved connectivity technology - must telcos do differently to be true partners for industries going forward?Robert and Grant are joined by Matt Beal, Senior VP of Development at Oracle Communications, and a highly experienced telecom industry executive on both sides of the Atlantic.

Yes, the telecom future is software - but it's not *only* software, and innovation and specialization in silicon has a major part to play in enabling and shaping the future of the industry.Accompanying a major new Market Outlook report on the continuing evolution of silicon in telecom, Grant Lenahan talks to Robert about why the silicon market is so important, how new vendors are making an impact, and why CSPs need to be up to speed on their options.

Summer seems a long time ago, as the tradeshow season has returned with near back-to-back events. Robert, Patrick and John review the themes, mood and showfloor conversations from TM Forum's recent Digital Transformation World, and the GSMA's MWC Americas in Las Vegas. We also look ahead to the upcoming Telecom Infra Project's Fyuz in Madrid, and FutureNet World Asia.

Automation in telecom is hardly a new idea. But what is new is its top-level importance, in a world where network complexity is beyond human comprehension, and speed is a critical differentiator for operators. In telecom, operational speed and efficiency revolves around network inventory, so in this episode we explore how the inventory management and wider automation are linked, and how they are changing. Featured guest is Rohit Batra, General Manager for ServiceNow's Telecom, Media & Technology business.

It's back to Copenhagen! Now that we know where's hot (or not) to stay, how the trains work, how to find the Bella Center, the global telecom software community convenes again under the auspices of the TM Forum with extra confidence - and with plenty to talk about from the six months since MWC Barcelona.Robert, Francis and John preview the event and look forward to a busy few days of on-site meetings.Links...Digital Transformation WorldExcellence Awards Finalists videosCatalyst Projects

Summertime gives many of us a chance to travel somewhere interesting and different, and gain a new perspective. We've taken that to heart in this episode, as Robert and Francis spend time with someone who lives full time within the fabled "developer community" that features as a box on countless slides from telecom CSPs and vendors. For well over a decade, Alan Quayle has led an initiative to rally developers to leverage the potential of programmable telecom networks - the aptly-title Telecom Application Developer (TAD) series of events. We ask: does telecom actually "get" developers? What innovation have we seen from third party developers? What are CAMARA's chances?

Cloud continues to provoke fundamental change in telecom. Together with increasing software-ization, the landscape of the most prominent vendors in telecom continues to shift. Add in recent developments in AI, and a picture begins to emerge of an industry undergoing a complete revolution - with "Big IT" having a profound influence on the future of the industry.In this episode Robert and John are joined by Rick Lievano, CTO for Worldwide Telecom Industry for Microsoft to get an inside view on how one of the most important technology companies in the world is driving the trend.

On the path to open and disaggregated networks, a frequent cry is the need for greater "collaboration" between telcos and suppliers, between suppliers themselves, and a bunch of other stakeholders and interested parties from standards bodies to students, integrators to academics. That's all very well, but what does that mean, and what does it look like in practice? Robert Curran gets a perspective from Katja Henke, Senior Innovation Project Manager at DT and a lynchpin of the high-profile i14y Lab consortium in Berlin.

"Customer Experience" is an endlessly evolving term in telecom, with new technologies and situations creating ever-increasing expectations for telcos to meet. What are the latest trends and techniques available to operators in their pursuit of that NPS-boosting "excellence in customer experience"? John Abraham returns with guest Chad Dunavant, Chief Strategy Officer at CSG International. Robert Curran hosts.