Good, Bad and Ugly Innovation: People, their stories and their music in 20 minutes - Top 1% Engagement on LinkedIn

Steve van Zanen is Head of Product and Marketing and also a Co-Founder at BroadForward and a Mobile Industry stalwart.  I’ve known Steven for many years and always admired his communications and business skills and how he and the BroadForward team developed a great company supplying to the Signalling Market from scratch. BroadForward is leader in intelligent signalling software for 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G mobile networks, trusted by over 100 customers worldwide. BroadForward delivers core network products for routing, interworking, security and number portability, helping operators to modernize their networks and transition from legacy to next-generation technologies. Steven takes the opportunity to talk about how the company has grown into a supplier across all the new signalling technologies and even some of the retro-technologies such as 2G, to satisfy customer demand. He also lets us know some of the things he does to relax and enjoy life. Enjoy this Good, Bad and Ugly Innovation Podcast!

We’re delighted to speak with Sinead Crowther, CEO and Co-Founder at Soothing Solutions about her journey from an idea to a growing business. Founders Sinead Crowther and Denise Lauaki’s mission is to transform Pharmacy shelves with award winning natural products to support Mams, Dads and care-givers when their children are sick.  Their main product right now is very popular Tonstix Pops to relieve sore throats in Children; they are very useful on planes when travelling as a family. Sinead was awarded HPSU Founder of the Year 2023 in recognition of her achievements. Contacts https://www.linkedin.com/in/sin%C3%A9ad-crowther-8a743a138/   https://tonstix.com/about-us/   If you have an interesting topic or story you’d like to talk about on the Good, Bad and Ugly Innovation Podcast in the areas of Innovation, AI, Technology Product Marketing, Market Trends, contact me via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paddyflynn/    

We’re delighted to speak with Paul Walsh, one of the Tech industry’s Experts on preventing Fraud and Smishing.  Paul is the founder and CEO of MetaCert. Paul has a very interesting career, which he covers some of in the Pod. He was one of the early movers in the field of Scam Detection and prevention. Paul’s career highlights include: Leading messaging infrastructure testing for mobile operators across Europe Founding Segala, the first telecom testing company to join the GSMA Co founding the Mobile Web Initiative at the W3C Co founding the URL classification and content labelling standard at the W3C Co inventing the concept of account and service labelling on the web, echoed later in systems like Twitter Verified At MetaCert I’ve focused entirely on protecting people from online impersonation and link based attacks: Built the first parental control software for smartphones Created patented mobile app security used by major tech and security firms Developed the first anti phishing protection for messaging platforms like Slack Completely wiped out phishing for the crypto sector on Slack in 2017 Invented Zero Trust URL Authentication In this especially extended Pod, its fascinating to hear Paul address all the major issues facing Customers today. Contacts https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulwalsh/ https://metacert.com/   If you have an interesting topic or story you’d like to talk about on the Good, Bad and Ugly Innovation Podcast in the areas of Innovation, AI, Technology Product Marketing, Market Trends, contact me via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paddyflynn/    

We’re delighted to speak with James Williams, one of the Tech industry’s best-known Marketeers, Growth Advisors and Brand Ambassadors. James updates us on his latest projects working with Freename and with Mackie Mobile. James talks to us about Freename and the scope of Web3, the Blockchain and Digital Identity and how all of these will be revolutionized by Web3, in a very interesting discussion. James also talks about Mackie Mobile – The First Mobile Carrier Built for Privacy & Security – and how they are addressing a specific market segment with their secure offering. As always James is enlightening, clear and interesting in what he has to say.  Enjoy this Pod! James can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrconnectivity/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrconnectivity/posts/?feedView=all Companies https://freename.com/home/ https://mackiemobile.com/index.html   Music: The Weeknd – Blinded by the Lights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NRXx6U8ABQ&list=RD4NRXx6U8ABQ&start_radio=1   If you have an interesting topic or story you’d like to talk about on the Good, Bad and Ugly Innovation Podcast in the areas of Innovation, AI, Technology Product Marketing, Market Trends, contact me via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paddyflynn/    

We’re delighted to speak with Sean Blanchfield, one of Ireland’s best known technology entrepreneurs, he has a great history of founding successful startups such as Jentic AI, PageFair and DemonWare. Sean’s new company, Jentic AI, connects AI agents to the world's APIs and workflows.   He also covers topics such as Data Centres, Energy and AI in general, all with insightful comments. One of Sean’s quotes is very apt: “It’s like 1996 now – the web was 3 years old and AI is 3 years old – we’re not quite sure how it will work out yet, but you need to be a player” Sean’s contacts are: https://jentic.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanblanchfield/   Finally, as always with the GBU Podcast guests, Sean plays out with two great pieces of music!   If you have an interesting topic or story you’d like to talk about on the Good, Bad and Ugly Innovation Podcast in the areas of Innovation, AI, Technology Product Marketing, Market Trends, contact me via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paddyflynn/    

I asked Roslyn Layton PhD, of Strand Consult, on the Good, Bad and Ugly Telco Podcast after I read the Strand Consult Research Note on why Hyperscalers need to come under some form of Regulation and should contribute to the Universal Service Fund (US). To quote Strand’s Research Note While profiting significantly from the $9 billion USF, Big Tech does not contribute to the program. Instead, the USF is funded from fees collected on traditional voice subscriptions, which are disappearing.  To fund USF, a surcharge of 36 percent of the subscription cost is added to the bill for certain telecom services. This charge is born mainly by elderly persons on fixed incomes. However Big Tech could fund the USF at a rate below 1 percent because of the growing profitability and revenue its services for cloud, software and advertising. Roslyn lays out the case very well in a compelling argument.  And as always, she plays out with a great song appropriate to the topic.  Enjoy. You can find the full Research Note here: https://strandconsult.dk/ending-big-techs-free-ride-on-usf-reforming-the-universal-service-fund-to-serve-consumers-and-america/ Roslyn can be contacted via his website or via LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/roslynlayton/ And https://strandconsult.dk/   If you have an interesting topic or story you’d like to talk about on the Good, Bad and Ugly Podcast in the areas of Innovation, Product Marketing, Market Trends, contact me via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paddyflynn/    

I asked John Strand, of Strand Consult, on the Good, Bad and Ugly Telco Podcast after I read his Research Note on the misinformed (and it turned out predictable outcome) takeover of TDC seven years ago.  To give some context to this, TDC was the well capitalised incumbent operator with over a century of service, and it is now facing an uncertain future. To quote John’s Research Note In a significant development, three prominent Danish pension funds ATP, PFA, and PKA are divesting their 50% stakes in TDC to Macquarie[their partner], marking the culmination of a troubled seven-year partnership. This research note examines the flawed strategy behind the 2018 acquisition, the subsequent financial deterioration, and the lessons for the telecommunications sector. Strand Consult’s assessment of the flawed deal from 2018 is validated. John is a very clear thinker and speaker, and he related the full story very well.  It’s even more shocking as he clearly predicted what the outcome would be. The focus on Financial Engineering, as opposed to Customer Innovation and Marketing, ultimately means that the that many billions of Kroner have been written off. You can find the full Research Note here: https://strandconsult.dk/the-three-danish-pension-funds-atp-pfa-and-pka-sell-their-share-of-tdc-to-macquarie-at-a-big-loss-what-went-wrong-and-whats-ahead/ John can be contacted via his website or via LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/strand-consult/ If you have an interesting topic or story you’d like to talk about on the Good, Bad and Ugly Podcast in the areas of Innovation, Product Marketing, Market Trends, contact me via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paddyflynn/    

We were delighted to talk to our good friends Luke and Deryck in this Telco Industry Review Special Luke Kehoe is a well-known Industry Analyst with Ookla, he provides very insightful and data based reporting on the state of the Telco, Mobile and Fixed, and the implications for the future of the industry. Deryck Fay is an experienced Requirements Guru, Product Owner, Agile Transformer and author ‘Connecting A Nation’ which relates the story of the growth of the Telco Industry in Ireland over 160 years and significantly the story of the first Trans-Atlantic cables in the late 1800’s. In a lively and wide ranging discussion we cover all topics from the current slowdown in Data growth to the future markets that will bring growth and new players. Enjoy this one hour special that is available here on Audio and on Video on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/@GoodBadandUglyTelecomsInno-h4t   Thanks to Luke and Deryck for being great guest and analysing the biggest issues in Telecoms today. Luke Kehoe can be contacted at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-kehoe/   Deryck Fay can be contacted at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deryckfay/   Producer - Pat Flynn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paddyflynn/   The Good, Bad and Ugly Theme (less than 30 seconds) was composed by the great Ennio Morricone Music credits to the relevant artist and composers.

We were delighted to talk to our good friend Dr Roslyn Layton talking about how we can ensure that the Mobile and Broadband Industries become attractive for investment.  We are in the sorry state where the long-term Capital Return in the Mobile and Broadband industries are effectively zero or negative. In comparison the Big Tech Industries who are the main users of these Networks have returns up to 9,000% in the long term.  And they are resisting any change in the Telecoms Business Model, a model designed for different times. The Regulatory environment for Mobile and Broadband companies in Europe is not supportive, mergers and shared costs are being resisted by Regulators.  Europe is missing between €50 to €200 Billion in under-investment in its networks today. Roslyn argues that we need flexible two-sided business models where the Consumer of the Data and the Originator of the Data contribute to the Investment in the Network.  Fixing this issue is also one of the most Humanitarian things we can do for developing and poorer markets. Thanks to Roslyn for being a great guest and analyzing the biggest issue and most important issue in Telecoms today.   Roslyn can be contacted via: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roslynlayton/   Producer - Pat Flynn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paddyflynn/   Music credits to the relevant artist and composers.

We were delighted to talk to our good friend Michael Becker about Personal ID and Personal Data online. Michael is an expert and visionary in this important and constantly developing area that is becoming more and more critical to the Digital World. Michael updates us on the Mobile Ecosystem Forum Conference in London on the 21 / 22 May 2024. The conference is free and both in person and online – register below. If you need to know more about Online ID, Online Age verification and managing personal Data, then this is the event that will guide you and answer your questions. Contacts: Michael Becker https://www.linkedin.com/in/privacyshaman/   Register for the Mobile Ecosystem Forum ID and Data Conference in London 21 May.  The Conference is free and also hybrid, so its both “In person and online”: https://mobileecosystemforum.com/event/mef-connects-personal-data-identity/   Producer - Pat Flynn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paddyflynn/          

We were delighted to talk to Matthew Hewston, who is Co-Founder of PassionFruit.  Matthew has a background in Marketing and spent five years at Google developing his skills and networks. We’ve often lamented the lack of marketing innovation in the Telecoms and the PassionFruit team have come up with a great proposition to totally change the marketing of Telecoms services. The availability of eSIMs and the tried and tested MVNO business model can be allied with the Marketing Power of the community of new Creators out there.  We talk in some detail about how this works and it’s a great idea in my opinion. Let’s listen and learn and think about how this can refresh Telecoms marketing.  Enjoy! Contacts: Matthew Hewston https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewhewston/   https://www.netinfluencer.com/passionfruit-verizon-att-mobile-networks/   Producer - Pat Flynn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paddyflynn/          

We were delighted to talk to James Williams, well known Telecoms Industry Enabler and Communicator.  James is now VP Business Development for XConnect (a Somos company). We talk about James’s career and how he moved into Telecoms.  We discuss the power of Mobile Operator Brands and how the potential market share for Messaging Services in the SME sector is still not being tapped into fully. James points out the importance of the Phone Number, which can be argued to be more important than a National ID card, for example. Finally we finish on James’s surprising hobbies and how he relaxes when at home. It was great to get James’s insightful comments delivered in a very clear manner.  Finally, as always, we play out on James’s choice of a floor filler song.  Enjoy. Contacts: James Williams: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrconnectivity/   Producer - Pat Flynn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paddyflynn/          

We have a very interesting guest on the Podcast this week.  Deryck Fay has written a fascinating book about the history of Telecoms in Ireland called “Connecting a Nation” and it’s a very surprising history.  Its starts in the 1850s, yes, when the first sub-sea cables were being laid and Ireland was the natural hub for the first Transatlantic cables.  Later its proximity to Nova Scotia made it the natural hub for the first Marconi radio services. We then talk about the state of Telecoms during the rise of the new, and in fairness not well off, Irish state. Finally, we get on to the last decades when there was huge investment in Telecoms and there was the tremendous growth of Mobile and the Internet and Ireland became a leader in many ways. Deryck is a great raconteur and he tells the story with clarity and insight that I found fascinating. I couldn’t quite find the music that Deryck wanted but you’ll see I got a close second with a famous clip of Albert Reynolds talking about a plane hijacking.  The other voice briefly in the background is the late great Charlie Bird, journalist. Enjoy

We were delighted to talk to Luke Kehoe, Telecoms Analyst and World Traveler.  Luke has moved to Beijing to study, and he gives us his impression of the city, the food, and the consumer digital ecosystem.  Luke updates us on a range of important Telecoms Industry topics. He comments on the state of the Global RAN market, contrasting growth across the various regions. Luke gives us his views on where the European Mobile Telecoms Market is going in relation to business pressures, competition, and the regulatory regime. His has interesting thoughts on how previously MNOs differentiated by infrastructure and that they are moving to differentiation by services with the failure of the 5G business model to deliver returns. There has been a hollowing out of the Mobile Operators businesses as they have struggled to maintain profitability and we discuss where this will lead. There are also some very interesting and surprising new market entrants with strong brand recognition coming from different business sectors.  It was great to get Luke’s insightful comments delivered in a very clear manner.  Finally, as always, we play out on Luke’s choice of a classic and inspirational song.  Enjoy. Contacts: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-kehoe/ http://www.lukekehoe.com/   Producer - Pat Flynn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paddyflynn/          

We were delighted to talk to Niall Norton, ex-CEO of Openet (an Amdocs company)  about the success that Openet is now. Niall talks about his early career and how he gained experience across a number of industries before deciding to move into the Telecoms Software Infrastructure space. Over the years Niall and the Openet team built the company into an incredible success and secured some of the largest Mobile Operators in the world as customers. Niall touches on a number of key points that made the company successful including the quality of engineering, seamless deployment and an excellent product management function. Niall also talks about his plans for the next step in his career in terms of Mentoring, Advising, Teaching with his Consulting Vehicle, Clever Communications.  He prefers to be ‘deep’ with a small number of people rather than ‘shallow’ with a wide number of people and is looking forward to his new projects. Finally, as always, we play out on Niall’s choice of a classic and inspirational song.  Enjoy. Contacts: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niallnorton/ https://www.openet.com/data/          

We were delighted to talk to Neil Wisdom, CEO of Siprotect about Fraud and Hacking in Voice and VOIP. Neil's company provides a comprehensive suite of solutions to detect and prevent this hacking, using a range of techniques such as their software solution which implements Firewalling, Session Border Controllers and the latest intelligence on what’s actually happening in the wild.  Neil also talks about the impact of DORA and the NIS 2 Directive on Operators and Enterprises in general. He discusses the Honey Pot information gathering that Siprotect has implemented and how the company can lock down specific User Agents. Ultimately, Neil believes that human analysis of the data and the risks is still important for an top down view Finally, as always, we play out on Neil’s choice of a humdinger of a record.  Enjoy.   Contacts: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilwisdom/ https://siprotect.com/        

  We have a great Podcast with Sheila Kavanagh, who is Chief Network Officer of Vodafone Ireland. We start by learning about Sheila’s career, she started with Eircell and that was ultimately taken over by the Vodafone Group.  Being a Network Engineer at the time, she was delighted to get the assignment to develop the Roaming Business as this gave her great International Experience and travel opportunities. Later in her career, Sheila got the opportunity to become Chief Technical Officer for Vodafone Malta, she and her family moved there and she really enjoyed that assignment and learned a lot over four years in a sunnier climate (!). Moving back to Dublin just before COVID, Sheila took up the Chief Network Officer role and we talk about the issues that face her in this job, such as: Building a Sustainable Business – we talk about Reduce, Reuse and Resell, even of the Network Equipment Sheila talks about a project to reduce energy usage using Artificial Intelligence, which is quite interesting The impact of 5G particularly on the Enterprise Market using Mobile Private Networks and how Vodafone brings value to Customers using Industry 4.0 principles Vodafone’s plans in the area of O-RAN and the progress they have already made. We talk about how Sheila was successful in her career as a female executive in technology and how she works with her teams today, mainly she ensures that the teams emphasise Customer Focus as their main priority. Finally, we play out with a banger of tune that we all know well. Thanks for being a great guest Sheila. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheila-kavanagh-0ba6394/  

There was very big news in the Messaging Industry last week, after a decade since Apple launched iMessage and Google had standardised on RCS, Apple announced that it plans to support RCS in 2024.  This will mean messaging interoperability between iOS and Android phones.  But what does it mean for the A2P or Rich Messaging Business (RBM)? We reached out to Bill Dudley of Sinch to get his informed opinion about what it means.  Bill has a very good analysis of what we know, what it means and what it could ultimately mean. We talked about The probably timing of the roll out The support for Universal Profile The impact of the EU DMA Act While P2P is announced, what does it mean for A2P (or C2B strictly) The future of SMS – is there one? We want to thank Bill for coming on as a very informed guest at short notice to give us all a heads up on the enormous implications of this shift in the market. Bill can be contacted at the following: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamdudley/ https://william-dudley.com/ https://www.sinch.com/   Lyrics for Bull Mountain Ridge Music and Lyrics © Paul Thorn Stone Fox Dan was a Romeo man Made a livin’ sellin’ marijuana He went around turnin’ all the good lookin’ women on He wore a feather in his hat and drove a big black Caddy He was always lookin’ for a party He played Big Daddy to the women when the men wasn’t home Well now, Bull Mountain Hawk was the cock of the walk He said Stone Fox Dan needed killin’ When he got to drinkin’, he was meaner than a copperhead He was leader of the clan…took the law in his hands When he caught Stone Fox with his woman Guess who’s sleepin’ at the bottom of the cold waterbed? And the Hawk said, “Take him on down below the Bull Mountain Bridge Tie his hands and throw him in the river You might as well give him his farewell party night” He said, “Knock him in the head…he’s better off dead Break his arms and throw him in the river If anybody asks, just tell `em he committed suicide” And the Hawk said, “Take him on down below the Bull Mountain Bridge Tie his hands and throw him in the river You might as well give him his farewell party night” He said, “Knock him in the head…he’s better off dead Break his arms and throw him in the river If anybody asks, just tell `em he committed suicide” And the Hawk said, “Take him on down below the Bull Mountain Bridge Tie his hands and throw him in the river You might as well give him his farewell party night” He said, “Knock him in the head…he’s better off dead Break his arms and throw him in the river If anybody asks, just tell `em he committed suicide” “If anybody asks, just tell `em he committed suicide”

We have a great guest with Patrick Lopez, Telecoms Analyst, who provides us with insights into how Mobile Operators can fully exploit the opportunities provided by 5G Network-as-a-Service Patrick has vast amount of experience in Telco and Cloud implementation and he advises on strategy -  his experience includes working as a vendor, an operator and an analyst Among the topics discussed we cover How Slicing, RIC and Network-as-a-Service enables Enterprise Customers to build new Services for their particular requirements Why the RIC is the key gateway to enabling this How, in North America, one particular customer is already driving the Operators to adopt to these requirements Patrick also talks about his Report “Open RAN, RIC and Apps”, which is available now with a one day workshop, check out his website As always, we finish on how Patrick enjoys his music and he plays out with a classic song, certainly one of the best in my opinion. Patrick can be contacted at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/plopez/ https://www.coreanalysis.ca/  

We’re delighted to talk to John Strand of Strand Consult, based in Copenhagen Denmark.  John has extensive experience of providing Consulting services to the Mobile Industry, John relates the intriguing story of Huawei and TDC in Denmark and how pressure was applied to the Danish Government to lobby TDC to choose Huawei Infrastructure. To the question “Is Huawei Dangerous?” John has a very simple example of the answer. We also cover the origins of the Premium SMS industry and we end on John’s view of what the future is for the Mobile Industry.  John’s opinion is that the current business model is not sustainable and it needs to be reinvented. Finally, we learn how John relaxes and we talk about his favourite music, and, as always, we play out on a song that means a lot to him. John is a lively and informed guest and we had good fun recording the podcast.  Enjoy! The Good, Bad and Ugly Telecom Podcast is Sponsored by Nettzer - https://nettzer.com/ Digital ID, Authentication and Onboarding