T-Mobile Leadership Shakeup, Telstra Outage Fallout, and SpaceX’s 100,000-Satellite FCC Filing

Episode 255 of the 6G Podcast features Anshel Sag and Mike Dano discussing major 5G/6G and satellite developments. They cover Verizon’s standalone 5G winning BMW telematics business via KDDI, highlighting shifting connected-car partnerships and growing connectivity demands for autonomy and V2X. The biggest news is T-Mobile’s leadership reshuffle under incoming CEO Srini Gopalan, expanding John Saw’s responsibilities, hiring former AT&T FirstNet architect Chris Sambar as chief enterprise officer, and signaling Mike Katz’s exit. They examine Telstra’s nationwide outage in Australia tied to network timekeeping software, which disrupted emergency calls and broader services. Research notes include Analysys Mason finding mobile data traffic growth rebounding to 22% by end of 2025, driven by fixed wireless access and adaptive bitrate streaming. The episode also reviews SpaceX’s FCC request for up to 100,000 Gen3 Starlink satellites, plus Ookla analysis suggesting US networks allocate relatively little uplink capacity, a potential issue as AI increases uplink demand.00:00 Welcome and Catch Up01:17 Verizon BMW Connected Cars04:17 T-Mobile Leadership Shakeup10:24 Telstra Outage Fallout16:10 Mobile Traffic Growth Returns19:32 Starlink Gen3 100K Satellites25:02 AI Networks Need Uplink30:47 Wrap Up and Subscribe