From Brain Fades to Breakthrough Plays

Why do telcos keep chasing the wrong opportunities—or is there really such a thing as a wrong opportunity?In this episode, we unpack some of telecom’s most persistent “brain fades”: from telcos’ costly attempts to become media companies, to network vendors stretching into industrial markets, to the long-misunderstood promise of IoT.But this isn’t just a post-mortem.We flip the lens to what’s emerging now: how AI is reshaping the value stack, where real opportunities are forming, and why this time the winners may look very different from the past. If the last decade was defined by missed signals, the next one may be defined by who finally reads them right.A sharp, honest look at strategy, hype cycles, and the gap between ambition and execution.