Satellites, network slicing and social media

Telecoms.com Podcast

Sep 01

Overview Shownote Highlights Transcript Chapters Pins

Shownote

The lads have just about finished their summer breaks but this is still a remote one because Scott is in the Canaries. They start by assessing the plausibility of claims made by super-entrepreneur Elon Musk that his satellite-based mobile communications te...

Highlights

This episode explores how ambitious technology claims hold up against practical constraints, commercial realities, and public expectations. It moves from satellite connectivity and telecom innovation to the wider debate over technology’s social consequences.

11:26

Commercialization matters more than grand ambition.

27:32

Satellite capacity cannot match dense terrestrial networks.

1:06:35

Prioritizing some users can worsen service for others.

1:28:53

Moral panic turns social problems into censorship

Chapters

Can Musk’s satellite network really take on the mobile giants?

00:00

Why Starlink is more likely to fill coverage gaps than replace carriers

19:13

EE’s Fast Lane puts the business case for network slicing under pressure

51:20

Separating genuine social-media risks from the latest moral panic

1:22:49

Transcript

Scott: Biggest thing that occurs to me, whether you're talking direct-to-device or this cunning plan of beaming stuff to sort of mini base stations on people's houses. I just don't see how you can have anything close to the capacity, the bandwidth, just th...