The Connectivity Podcast

The number of Internet users in Japan is expected to increase to 116.4 million by 2026. With many of Japan’s businesses at the cutting edge of technology, there is a demand for scalable connectivity to connect local businesses to a global network of customers and partners. How is Japan’s Internet market developing? What are the traffic trends? What role does organizations like JPNAP and APIX play in this region? And what can be done to mitigate connectivity outages following natural disasters like earthquakes?

In this episode, Mattias Fridström is joined by Katsuyasu Toyama, COO at JPNAP, the biggest Internet exchange in Japan. 

Maxie Reynolds started her career as an offshore underwater robotics pilot and subsea engineer working in Norway, Venezuela, Australia, Italy, Russia, Nigeria and the US. She then transitioned into cyber security, working in ethical hacking, social engineering and red teaming. She also published a best selling book titled ‘The Art of Attack: Attacker Mindset for Security Professionals.’ In 2021, she moved back to the field of subsea engineering and founded Subsea Cloud – a data center infrastructure company that places data centers underwater. 

In this episode, she and Mattias Fridström talk about deploying subsea data centers pods, using robotics for maintenance, the importance of mindset among new talent, scaling your business, and proving sustainability through transparency.

Maxie Reynolds started her career as an offshore underwater robotics pilot and subsea engineer working in Norway, Venezuela, Australia, Italy, Russia, Nigeria and the US. She then transitioned into cyber security, working in ethical hacking, social engineering and red teaming. She also published a best selling book titled ‘The Art of Attack: Attacker Mindset for Security Professionals.’ In 2021, she moved back to the field of subsea engineering and founded Subsea Cloud – a data center infrastructure company that places data centers underwater. In this episode, she and Mattias Fridström talk about subsea engineering, physically breaking into high security facilities like headquarters and prisons, and the idea of putting data centers underwater (and challenges that come with that).

Neal Elinski, General Manager of Software Engineering at Cologix is back to share insights on the development and trends in the colocation market. Together with Mattias Fridström, he talks about what factors impact the selection of where to put a data center, physical and data security trends, finding skilled people in competition with for example the hyperscalers, remote working in the wake of the pandemic, how to prove your sustainability and becoming even more sustainable, and how the colocation market will develop in the next couple of years. 

Cologix is a leading network-neutral interconnection and hyperscale edge data center company.

In this episode, our guest is Neal Elinski, General Manager of Software Engineering at Cologix, a leading network-neutral interconnection and hyperscale edge data center company. Mattias Fridström and Neal talk about trends and challenges in the cloud services market, real or virtual cross connects and how much needs to be pre-built to be fast, edge computing and keeping control of your data, consolidation of the data center market, and supply chain issues in the industry. 

Jesse Robbers, Director Industry & Digital Infrastructure at Quantum Delta NL is back to discuss Quantum Networks with Mattias Fridström. Who is supporting and funding the development of Quantum Internet? Has COVID-19 had any impact on this work? How does the industry compete with the hyperscalers and others in finding skilled people? What security trends do we see in Quantum Internet? Will Quantum Internet have an impact on sustainability?

Quantum Delta NL is a joint effort by a team of specialist from quantum research institutes, coordinating bodies, and a range of exciting industrial partnerships and startups.

This episode features Jesse Robbers, Director Industry & Digital Infrastructure at Quantum Delta NL, a joint effort by a team of specialist from quantum research institutes, coordinating bodies, and a range of exciting industrial partnerships and startups. Mattias Fridström and Jesse Robbers discuss the development in Quantum Internet: How is this work progressing in the lab and in the real world? How close are we to some really cool stuff in this area? What is the Quantum Internet Alliance?  Should Quantum Internet be considered in current network plans stretching to 2030?

In this episode, Mattias Fridström continues speaking to Katia González, Head of Fraud & Advanced Analytics at BICS, member of GSMA Fraud and Security Group, and Chair of i3 Forum’s Fight Against Fraud workgroup. 

Learn about:

• The estimated loss to fraud of 28 billion € / year
• Who is losing this money?
• Using crowd sourcing in fraud prevention
• Pandemic’s impact on frauds
• Trends in the overall voice business
• What is GSMA doing in the fraud prevention space?
• The future fraud market and telecoms development

EP27: Preventing frauds in the telecoms industry 

In this episode, Mattias Fridström meets with Katia González, Head of Fraud & Advanced Analytics at BICS, member of GSMA Fraud and Security Group, and Chair of i3 Forum’s Fight Fraud Workstream. 

Learn about:

• What types of fraud are common in the telecoms industry?
• What solutions could help?
• Who are behind these frauds – private actors, organizations or even countries?
• Trends among attackers in terms of technology and targets

In this episode, Mattias Fridström is meeting with Mike Kavis, Chief Cloud Architect at Deloitte Consulting, author of Accelerating Cloud Adoption & Architecting the Cloud, and host of The On Cloud podcast. 

Learn about: 

• The impact of COVID-19 in the cloud space
• Sustainability in the datacenter market
• If there’s a need for more clouds
• Cloud at the edge
• Mike’s authorship 
• The development of the cloud market and telecoms in general over the next years

In this episode, Mattias Fridström is meeting with Mike Kavis, Chief Cloud Architect at Deloitte Consulting, author of Accelerating Cloud Adoption & Architecting the Cloud, and host of The On Cloud podcast. 

Learn about: 

• How Mike became one of the pioneers in the cloud industry
• Whether cloud has become a mainstream solution
• Best advice to someone that wants to start using the cloud
• Major mistakes companies do when moving to the cloud
• If people really understand connectivity to the cloud (and do they need to?)
• The trend towards major cloud providers touching the connectivity space

In this episode, Mattias Fridström is meeting with Funke Opeke, founder and CEO of MainOne, the leading provider of telecom services and network solutions for businesses in West Africa. With its 7,000km subsea cable system, including landing stations in Nigeria, Ghana and Portugal, and its growing metropolitan infrastructure and data center ecosystem, MainOne is uniquely positioned to accelerate the development of digital infrastructure in the region. In April 2022, Equinix announced that it’s entering Africa by closing the acquisition of MainOne.

Learn about: 

• The story of MainOne
• Challenges of running a data center and a network in Africa
• The building on MainOne’s subsea cable to Europe some 15 years ago
• Status of the African market: data centers, connectivity on land, international sea cables 

In this episode, Mattias Fridström is meeting with Funke Opeke, founder and CEO of MainOne, the leading provider of telecom services and network solutions for businesses in West Africa. With its 7,000km subsea cable system, including landing stations in Nigeria, Ghana and Portugal, and its growing metropolitan infrastructure and data center ecosystem, MainOne is uniquely positioned to accelerate the development of digital infrastructure in the region. In April 2022, Equinix announced that it’s entering Africa by closing the acquisition of MainOne.

Learn about: 

• The recent entrance of hyperscalers to Africa
• Sustainability within the data center market in Africa
• The regional impact of COVID-19 in the industry
• If people really realize how important connectivity is
• The future of the data center market and telecom development in Africa

In this episode, Stephen Alexander, CTO at Ciena and Mattias Fridström discuss the industry trend towards open and disaggregated networks, the latest developments in IPoDWDM, hyperscalers building their own gear, sustainability in networking, and the future of the optical development. 

In this episode, Stephen Alexander, CTO at Ciena and Mattias Fridström discuss how the optical networking industry has developed over the last decades, trends in enterprise networking such as the increased demand for raw bandwidth, the global component shortages, and the pandemic’s impact on network design. 

In this episode, Johan Gustawsson, Senior Director MIG Routing at Cisco and Mattias Fridström discuss what the disaggregation in the industry is all about, the role that IPoDWDM plays in this development, and how this can change the world for operators. They also speak about sustainability in the networking industry and how this can be improved.

In this episode, Johan Gustawsson, Senior Director MIG Routing at Cisco and Mattias Fridström discuss the usage and development of routing silicon, and why this is important to operators. They also speak about Moore’s law and what this means for Life Cycle Management in the networking space. 

Mattias Fridström and Rudolf Gordon-Seymour, Head of International Funding at Télécoms Sans Frontières discuss the NGO’s responses to the 2020 Beirut port explosion and the 2020 Moria refugee camp fire, attracting talent and funding as well as getting hold of new technology as a non-profit organization, and the impact of COVID-19 on the organization’s work.

Mattias Fridström and Rudolf Gordon-Seymour, Head of International Funding at Télécoms Sans Frontières discuss challenges of enabling communications in disaster areas, the NGO’s educational programs to increase digital skills in these areas, preventing bandwidth heavy applications and data by using custom-engineered communications kit, and the possibilities of satellite broadband. 

In this episode, Mattias Fridström and Phartiban Kandappan, CTO at Infinera discuss the strategy of hyperscalers building their own gear, dealing with the Shannon limit, if the development of fiber is important to optical suppliers, and how telecom cables are used to predict earthquakes.

More information:
The Connectivity Podcast webpage
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In this episode, Mattias Fridström and Parthiban Kandappan, CTO at Infinera discuss the recent years’ significant changes in optical networking, the impact of Covid-19 on network design, openness and disaggregation in the telecom industry, and IPoDWDM.

In this episode, Mattias Fridström and Lisa Lorenzin, Senior Director of Transformation Strategy at Zscaler discuss if 5G will change the security design again, whether companies really care how they connect to the cloud, how much companies know about the public Internet, if security standards are important, and why DevSecOps will shape the implementation of security within the new few years.

In this episode, Mattias Fridström and Lisa Lorenzin, Director of Transformation Strategy at Zscaler discuss challenges in enterprise networking, how the Covid-19 pandemic gave organizations an opportunity to consider alternative security models in terms of for example cloud security, automation and VPN connections, the potential of SASE, and what zero trust is all about. 

In this episode, Mattias Fridström and Tom ‘The Networking Nerd’ Hollingsworth discuss if 5G will change the enterprise networks, weather enterprises understand how the cloud is connected, using the public Internet, DDoS and RPKI, and sustainability in networking. 

In this episode, Mattias Fridström and Tom ‘The Networking Nerd’ Hollingsworth discuss network design, automation, working from home, firewalls, using public Wi-Fi, and much more. 

In this episode, Mattias Fridström and David Jacoby, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky Lab discuss trending cyber threats, why the re-use of passwords is a bad idea, the fragility of the connected society, and raising your children in a digital world. 

In this episode, Mattias Fridström and David Jacoby, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky Lab discuss how the threat landscape has evolved over the last two decades, the biggest concerns as everything gets connected, and how COVID-19 has affected cyber security.

In this episode, Mattias Fridström and Christian Koch, Director Product Management at Digital Realty and co-founder of NYNOG discuss what is needed for full IPv6 adoption, how 5G is affecting the Edge and where this will ultimately be, and how to build a better Internet. 

In this episode, Mattias Fridström and Christian Koch, Director Product Management at Digital Realty and co-founder of NYNOG discuss the state of Internet, the trust-based Internet model, the role of IX points, if Internet connectivity is a commodity, and sustainability in the networking industry. 

In this episode, Mattias Fridström and Sabine Sitterli, VP Network Infrastructure at Akamai discuss how to prepare for traffic peaks next year in conjunction to events like the Olympics, the importance of an Internet ecosystem, achieving a better Internet experience, and sustainability in networking.

In this episode, Mattias Fridström and Sabine Sitterli, VP Network Infrastructure at Akamai discuss how to increase diversity in the tech industry, challenges of working from home, and coping with the traffic surge due to covid-19. 

In this episode, Mattias Fridström and Jérôme Fleury, Director of Network Engineering at Cloudflare discuss how to prevent route hijacking, if the Internet’s trust-based model has a future, whether companies should use the public Internet for connectivity, if the Internet is really the same everywhere, and the future of IX’s. 

In this episode, Mattias Fridström and Jérôme Fleury, Director of Network Engineering at Cloudflare discuss when the transition to 400G ports will really happen, if we’ll ever see a slowdown of Internet traffic growth, what needs to happen for full IPv6 adoption, how the Internet coped with the traffic surge following the Covid-19 pandemic, and how to build a better Internet. 

In this episode, Mattias Fridström and Mark Thiele, CEO of Edgevana talk about data center sustainability, if there’s a need for more fiber, whether some cloud providers have become too dominant, the need for automation in the wake of COVID-19, and why we should be talking more about WFA instead of WFH.

In this episode, Mattias Fridström and Mark Thiele, CEO of Edgevana discuss the adoption rate of cloud, different ways to connect to the cloud, whether security in the cloud is a good idea, and if the data center location really matters. 

In The Connectivity Podcast, networking guru Mattias Fridström, Chief Evangelist at Telia Carrier, and industry experts discuss all things Internet, networks, cloud and connectivity.  Stay tuned for the first episode launching soon!