TeleGeography Explains the Internet

This episode features Hunter Newby, a veteran of the telecom industry with experience spanning from LDDS WorldCom to building carrier hotels and neutral internet exchange points. Newby discusses how AI inferencing is reshaping network infrastructure requirements and why geography still matters in the internet age. Key topics covered: From this episode: Akamai Boosts Inference With ‘Thousands’ of Nvidia Blackwell GPUs Podcast HQ: https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast TeleGeography Resources: https://resources.telegeography.com/ Our Research: https://www2.telegeography.com/en/our-research

What are the real bottlenecks in AI infrastructure development? How is this infrastructure boom similar to the 90s internet boom? How do we overcome the pricing paradox in telecom transport where demand keeps rising and service prices keep falling? Today on TeleGeography Explains the Internet, we welcome Luis Colasante, Head of Procurement Strategy for Energy & Infrastructure at Colt Technology Services. Luis brings a perspective from the intersection of energy strategy, critical infrastructure, and capital markets. In this episode, we move beyond the "compute bubble" to discuss why physical infrastructure—from subsea cables to the power grid—has become the primary bottleneck for the AI revolution. Luis explains: Podcast HQ: https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast TeleGeography Resources: https://resources.telegeography.com/ Our Research: https://www2.telegeography.com/en/our-research

Host Greg Bryan welcomes Jason Gintert back to the show. As the incoming President of the U.S. Networking User Association, Jason dives into the current state of AIOps in network management. This includes: Podcast HQ: https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast TeleGeography Blog: https://blog.telegeography.com/ Our Research: https://www2.telegeography.com/en/our-research

Our latest pod series on all things AI continues with Seva Vayner, Product Director for Cloud Edge & AI at Gcore. Seva joins host Greg Bryan to tackle what is perhaps the dominant topic in telecom today: the impact of AI on the network. The pair distinguish between "AI for networking" and "networking for AI," and explore how AI training models are driving a dramatic increase in power consumption within data centers, with rack power capacity rapidly growing over the past few years. Podcast HQ: https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast TeleGeography Blog: https://blog.telegeography.com/ Our Research: https://www2.telegeography.com/en/our-research

It's a new year and the TeleGeography Explains the Internet team is kicking off a multi-episode series all about AI and its impact on global networks. To start, we're joined by Chalan Aras, Senior Vice President at Riverbed to discuss how the rise of Artificial Intelligence is fundamentally reshaping the way we think about the WAN. In this episode, we dive into: Podcast HQ: https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast TeleGeography Blog: https://blog.telegeography.com/ Our Research: https://www2.telegeography.com/en/our-research

TeleGeography experts Jon Hjembo and Patrick Christian answer our biggest questions about recent data center and AI booms. In this final episode of our three-part pod series reviewing the year in telecom—and looking ahead to 2026—we cover: Podcast HQ: https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast TeleGeography Blog: https://blog.telegeography.com/ Our Research: https://www2.telegeography.com/en/our-research

Welcome to the second episode in our three-part series catching up Podcast HQ: https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast TeleGeography Blog: https://blog.telegeography.com/ Our Research: https://www2.telegeography.com/en/our-research

What were the big cable headlines of this year, and what do you need to know about transport networks in 2026? To find out, we're kickstarting our three-episode review of What to Know in the New Year. Joining us for this submarine and terrestrial infrastructure review are friends of the pod Lane Burdette and Paul Brodsky. In this episode of the TeleGeography Explains the Internet podcast, these experts address: Podcast HQ: https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast TeleGeography Blog: https://blog.telegeography.com/ Our Research: https://www2.telegeography.com/en/our-research

While we hear a lot about automated provisioning and NaaS, how long does it really take to get a quote for DIA service? Or more to the point, how long does it take to actually get a circuit installed? What do enterprises really think of their ISPs? In a this episode of the TeleGeography Explains the Internet podcast, Dennis Thankachan, CEO and co-founder of Lightyear, addresses these questions and more. He brings a wealth of findings from Lightyear's Enterprise ISP Experience Guide and gives us a look at what's going on in the ISP market.

Perhaps you've seen the Aurora Borealis. This is a beautiful example of what we call space weather. But did you know that space weather could take out service on submarine cables? Shibaji Chakraborty, a research scientist at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, joins the show to explain how space weather can affect the critical, metallic power-feed cables that run alongside the fiber-optic lines to power repeaters on the ocean floor. Shibaji shares historical examples and discusses the ongoing research and industry collaboration needed to better understand, model, and mitigate these risks. We're adding this special bonus discussion to our submarine cable pod series. Catch up on our other cable conversations over here: All About Cable EconomicsAll About Cable SecurityAll About Cable Faults + MaintenanceAll About Cable RoutingAll About Cable Sensing Podcast HQ: https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast TeleGeography Blog: https://blog.telegeography.com/ Our Research: https://www2.telegeography.com/en/our-research

Tony O’Sullivan, CEO of RETN, joins Greg to discuss network resiliency. They address how providers can build networks that withstand outages, whether from someone who forgot to call the utility company or an anchor dragging on the seafloor. The episode covers: Podcast HQ: https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast TeleGeography Blog: https://blog.telegeography.com/ Our Research: https://www2.telegeography.com/en/our-research

In our final episode of this special podcast series about undersea cables, we're exploring the rapidly evolving technology of using fiber optic cables as remote sensors. We welcome Mark Englund, CEO of Fibersense. Mark explains the fascinating world of Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), and how this emerging technology is turning existing fiber optic cables into sentient, continuous sensors. We explore: Podcast HQ: https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast TeleGeography Blog: https://blog.telegeography.com/ Our Research: https://www2.telegeography.com/en/our-research

Today's bonus podcast welcomes Tim Urban, author of the blog Wait But Why (https://waitbutwhy.com/) and the book "What's Our Problem?" For a change of pace, this episode focuses on what happens *on* the consumer internet, not just the underlying technology and business of the web. You'll quickly see that Tim is an astute observer of human trends, with a wealth of insight on how the internet has complicated communication and contributed to humans' tendency to fall into tribalism. Host Greg Bryan relates these insights to the structure of the global telecom industry as the pair considers the breadth of human history and how our brains, in some ways, are ill-equipped to handle the environment in which we find ourselves in the 21st century. This discussion covers: Podcast HQ: https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast TeleGeography Blog: https://blog.telegeography.com/ Our Research: https://www2.telegeography.com/en/our-research

Where do operators physically place their submarine cables, and why does that matter? Even among those familiar with the undersea cable market, many don't give much thought to where precisely the cables lie on the seafloor and what factors determine this geography. Today's guest knows a thing or two about how it gets done. We welcome James Porter, Cable Route Engineer at Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN). James spends his days studying maps to route submarine cables, ensuring ease of maintenance and compliance with guidelines. He joins Greg to discuss the challenges of seabed congestion, particularly in deep-water areas where new cables must be laid at a safe distance from existing ones to ensure they can be repaired in the future. The pair also discuss: 🎧 Podcast HQ: https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast 💻 TeleGeography Blog: https://blog.telegeography.com/ 📊 Our Research: https://www2.telegeography.com/en/our-research

When submarine cables hit the mainstream media, it might be because something has gone wrong. Especially when faults lead to a bottleneck that slows down or, in rare cases, even stops internet traffic for some people. Our guests today presented a paper at SubOptic 25 detailing their study on global submarine cable maintenance and recommendations for the industry. Mike Constable, Principal at Infra-Analytics, and Alan Mauldin, Research Director here at TeleGeography, joined the pod to discuss their review of cable faults and the readiness of the industry to fix problems over the coming years. 🎧 Podcast HQ: https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast 💻 TeleGeography Blog: https://blog.telegeography.com/ 📊 Our Research: https://www2.telegeography.com/en/our-research

Let's talk about keeping submarine cables secure. Ferris Adi, Chief Information Security Officer at Trans Americas Fiber System (https://transamericasfiber.com/), joins to discuss specific threats to submarine cables and how best to build resiliency against them. We also cover various regulatory and compliance issues that submarine cable operators face when landing in different countries, as well as geopolitical threats to cable systems. 🎧 Podcast HQ: https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast 💻 TeleGeography Blog: https://blog.telegeography.com/ 📊 Our Research: https://www2.telegeography.com/en/our-research

We're kicking off a brand new mini-series all about *submarine cables.* To start off the series, we couldn't think of a better guest than Senior Research Analyst Lane Burdette, an expert (and nerd) when it comes to cables. She and host Greg Bryan discuss the economics of submarine cables. The conversation covers: 🎧 Podcast HQ: https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcast 💻 TeleGeography Blog: https://blog.telegeography.com/ 📊 Our Research: https://www2.telegeography.com/en/our-research

Joining us today is FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington. Commissioner Simington has served on the Commission since late 2020. He brings a diverse background to the role, including experience with the NTIA. The Commissioner and Host Greg Bryan cover several key issues facing the FCC: 👉 Several issues surrounding spectrum allocation and use. We talk about how FWA and LEO fit in spectrum plans, CBRS, unlicensed spectrum, and, of course, a bit on spectrum auctions. 👉 BIL and broadband development and the role wireless can play in closing the digital divide. 👉 The FCC’s role in submarine cable development and the Commissioner's views on ensuring submarine cable security. 👉 The Cyber Trust Mark and the FCC’s role in securing the ever-expanding threat perimeter and the Commissioner's views on how to get OEMs invested in keeping users safe. https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-explains-the-internet-podcasthttps://blog.telegeography.com/https://www2.telegeography.com/en/our-research

Today on TeleGeography Explains the Internet, we welcome Michael Martin, formerly a global network and security architect at McKinsey. Michael has extensive experience and knowledge in the enterprise network space. We get his take on the industry's state of implementation of network automation among enterprises. More Good Stuff on Network Automation: Upskilling Network Architects for the Automated NetworkWhat Network Managers Should Know About AI and Machine LearningHow NaaS Relates to SDN and AutomationWhat Makes a WAN Truly Secure?

We're pumped to have Dennis Thankachan, Co-Founder and CEO of Lightyear, back on TeleGeography Explains the Internet. This time around, we discuss their State of Connectivity Report, which dovetails nicely with many of the issues we research here at TeleGeography. (Perhaps this read is a perfect companion to our State of the Network? A match made in heaven, etc.) In this episode, we first discuss how Lightyear has seen network prices react to global inflation, in some cases bucking the very long-term trend that telecom prices always go down. We also talk about point-to-point service in the enterprise network and how DWDM is emerging as a more common product for enterprise customers. Related Good Stuff: Are These WAN Sourcing Trends Real or Just Hype?A Deep Dive Into Global Pricing Trends PricingWhat You Need to Know About Network as a Service in 2025