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The neXt Curve reThink Podcast
The neXt Curve reThink Podcast

Where is Telco going in 2026? (with Sebastian Barros)

26 January 2026 58:29 Leonard Lee

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In this episode, Leonard Lee, Executive Analyst at neXt Curve, and special guest, Sebastian Barros, managing director at Circle, former-Ericsson, and former-Google telco leader, tackle some of the top questions of the telco industry for 2026.

  • Where is Telco going in 2026?
  • What is 6G and what should it be about?
  • Why will GenAI matter in telco and how? What about AI?

Sebastian is one of the bright thought leaders in the telco industry who has and continues to generously shared his insights and analysis at an amazingly prolific level. It was a pleasure to have him on the reThink Podcast to have an unscripted, honest discussion of the state and direction of the telco industry faced with AI hype, hope, prospect for disruption, and opportunity. How much of each will we see in 2026 and beyond, and when?

Leonard and Sebastian unpack the following:
💥 What will the role of the GPU be in the RAN?
💥 Is Open RAN dead, or does it have some life left in it?
💥 What is AI-RAN, and what is its value proposition?
💥 The reinvention of the telco and the telco business model - Telco Neocloud
💥 Addressing the telco industry stagnancy and 5G monetization gap
💥 Was telco and ecosystem readiness the thing that made 5G disappoint?
💥 Will 6G need solution-oriented thinking to be successful?
💥 Does the industry know what innovating on 5G looks like? What about 6G?
💥 How will the volatile geopolitical picture and outlook impact 6G?
💥 Will 6G be able to sustain 5G's greatest success?
💥 5G happiness is all about timing!
💥 Massive AI investments in telco will need to show ROI this year!
💥 Agentic AI will be the big focus and the big AI exploration of the year!
💥 2026 will be the year of the great AI unlearning!

Hit Leonard and Sebastian up on LinkedIn and take part in their industry and tech insights.

Check out Sebastian on LinkedIn and his Substack at https://sebastianbarros.substack.com.

Please subscribe to our podcast which will be featured on the neXt Curve YouTube Channel. Check out the audio version on BuzzSprout or find us on your favorite Podcast platform.

Also, subscribe to the neXt Curve research portal at www.next-curve.com and our Substack (https://substack.com/@nextcurve) for the tech and industry insights that matter.

NOTE: The transcript is AI-generated and will contain errors.

DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for informational purposes only.

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