The Week with Roger

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner cover the top telecom news stories of the week, including key updates on satellite tech, recent lawsuit disclosures, industry affordability, and emerging device trends heading into 2027.

00:00 Episode intro

00:25 Joint satellite protocol venture appoints a leader

03:12 Deutsche Telekom lawsuit reveals industry trade secrets

05:50 T-Mobile's regulatory fee hikes and overall affordability

08:44 Key insights from the Toughbook anniversary and launch event in New York

10:16 Episode wrap-up

Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, satellite, Starlink, T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, Elon Musk, Tesla, Paul Roth, Deutsche Telekom, Handelsblatt, Sprint, John Legere, fees, affordability, prices, Dan Schulman, inflation, Panasonic, Toughbook, 5G, devices

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner are joined by Yago Tenorio, SVP and CTO at Verizon, to discuss the coming of 6G and the future of networks, as well as exciting real world use cases happening right now.

00:00 Episode intro

00:24 6G Innovation Forum overview

01:21 Lessons learned from 5G

03:59 What players are needed for 6G?

05:24 Actual test cases for 6G

07:34 Spectrum issues and ISAC

08:48 Future network infrastructure and monetization

12:44 6G Innovation Forum developments

13:20 Episode wrap-up

Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, Yago Tenorio, Verizon, 6G, 5G, FWA, drones, crowd detection, AI, LLMs, wearables, ISAC, network, spectrum, Google, devices, data centers, latency

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner discuss the new iPhone Duo and its prospects vs. the Galaxy Z Fold8, as well as the various strides the cable industry is making despite increased competition.

00:00 Episode intro

00:43 iPhone Duo release breakdown

01:59 Apple vs. Samsung device surveys

03:19 Tactile importance when purchasing

04:26 Device insurance and pricing

05:31 Are cable valuations too negative?

07:17 Competition is increasing

08:20 Rising customer satisfaction overall

08:55 Cable pricing models

10:36 The “label tax” and “Wi-Fi tax”

13:03 Episode wrap-up

Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, Apple, iPhone, Duo, Samsung, Z Fold8, financing, devices, Vision, Black Friday, retail, insurance, AI, cable, Elon Musk, Starlink, speed, FWA, fiber, rural, consolidation, DSL, prices, Verizon

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner are joined by Ed Evans, Chairman and CEO of Consumer Cellular, to speak about the company's unique strategy for serving seniors in wireless, its successful use of retail stores, and new and innovative product lines for this sometimes overlooked cohort.

00:00 Episode intro

00:26 Consumer Cellular's business model

04:28 Using retail stores effectively

07:07 Knowing the customer

08:24 Tailoring customer service

10:20 Building customer loyalty

10:52 Developing innovative products for seniors

14:14 Episode wrap-up

Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, Ed Evans, Consumer Cellular, MVNO, seniors, data, customer service, NPS, retail, Target, Walmart, churn, Mint, GrandPad, retention, apps

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner are joined by Bill Long, Chief Product & Strategy Officer at Zayo, to discuss the rapid growth of AI hardware, Zayo’s strategy for capitalizing on the fiber infrastructure needed to support it, and what the next one to two years could bring for the industry.

00:00 Episode intro

00:24 Is AI in a bubble?

02:26 Orders for dark fiber

03:25 The shift from training to inference

04:50 400G and new fiber requirements

06:24 The technical ecosystem needed for operations

07:50 Rapidly accelerating hardware demands

11:18 AI as tech support

12:02 Zayo's unique business model

14:42 Predictions for the next 12 to 24 months

15:26 Episode wrap-up

Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, Bill Long, Zayo, Sampath, AI, fiber, data centers, lit fiber, dark fiber, training, inference, 400G, cloud, Nvidia, ChatGPT, Verizon, AT&T, cable, enterprise

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner discuss the recent purchase of MobileX by Charlie Ergen-controlled CONX, as well as its implications for the players involved and for the broader MVNO and satellite markets as well.

00:00 Episode intro

00:25 Details of the acquisition

01:30 How MVNOs fit into the bigger picture

03:03 Implications for Starlink

04:04 Peter and Charlie's working relationship

05:23 Charlie Ergen's future operations

06:15 Episode wrap-up

Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, MVNO, MobileX, Peter Adderton, Charlie Ergen, Dish, EchoStar, Verizon, CONX, Boost Mobile, Elon Musk, Starlink, AT&T, convergence, MNO, spectrum

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner are joined by Arpan Sura, Senior Counsel to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, to discuss the current state of spectrum policy, the changing technological landscape, and the agency’s plans for the future of communications in America.

00:00 Episode intro

00:24 Current spectrum auction policy

02:40 Specific auction timelines

04:59 Growing political support for spectrum

06:57 Upcoming auctions

07:20 Intermodal competition through direct-to-device

08:44 Starlink's reliability and convergence possibility

10:10 Rethinking technical limitations

11:48 Unlicensed spectrum use

12:56 Companies becoming increasingly multi-modal

13:46 Two-year outlook and agency goals

16:27 Episode wrap-up

Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, Arpan Sura, FCC, spectrum, Brendan Carr, AWS-3, auctions, 6G, upper C-band, NTIA, BBB, satellite, FWA, direct-to-device, Starlink, rural, convergence, BEAD, fiber, cable, EchoStar, Grain

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner unpack the FCC’s latest developments, examine real-world data on internet providers including Optimum, and discuss ongoing customer service concerns.

00:00 Episode intro

00:24 New FCC nomination news

01:47 FCC's potential satellite expansion

02:42 Ranking internet provider speeds

03:47 Survey information difficulties

06:29 Do devices still matter?

08:04 Optimum's current metrics

10:29 Network status and customer retention

12:12 The state of customer service

13:41 Episode wrap-up

Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, FCC, Danielle Thumann, Brendan Carr, satellite, cable, fiber, FWA, DSL, devices, T-Mobile, AT&T, Apple, Qualcomm, Verizon, Android, network, Optimum, SFR, customer service

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner discuss the announcement of Sampath being named CEO at Zayo, their ongoing research into the immense scale of the data center buildout, as well as Starlink's prospects as a wireless operator.

00:00 Episode intro

00:24 Sampath named CEO at Zayo

01:07 Research on data center buildout insights

03:44 Starlink as a wireless operator

05:50 What spectrum will be used?

08:29 Network and satellite predictions

10:14 Scale of the potential network

13:52 Elon's track record and time horizon

16:06 Episode wrap-up

Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, Sampath, Zayo, fiber, data centers, AI, Starlink, Elon Musk, data, T-Mobile, Grain, spectrum, Dish, FCC, rural, 5G, Grok, Tesla, SpaceX, X, cable, FWA

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner discuss the leadership changes at Verizon, changes in metric transparency and the shift to ARPA, and what AT&T's 5G standalone core means for the increasingly competitive first responder market.

00:00 Episode intro

00:25 Leadership changes at Verizon

02:00 Effects on company strategy and operations

03:00 ARPA and changes in reporting metrics

05:47 AT&T's 5G standalone core and its impact on first responders

07:55 Network live testing results

08:23 T-Priority and the competition

10:56 Episode wrap-up

Tags: telecom, telecommunications, wireless, prepaid, postpaid, cellular phone, Don Kellogg, Roger Entner, Verizon, Alfonso Villanueva, Sampath, Dan Schulman, ARPA, metrics, Apple, AT&T, FirstNet, 5G, slicing, spectrum, first responders, T-Priority, T-Mobile