Here’s a sneak preview of all the LEO or “low earth orbiting” satellite news making waves right now, and which will be a big feature of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week, with top Australian tech journalist Chris Griffith explain what the expect from the world’s biggest connectivity show!

t’s time to Welcome Chris Griffith, a legendary award-winning journalist, communications professional, technology reporter, writer, commentator, speaker, tech expert and media personality.

UPDATE 1 March 2024: Chris has been to MWC in Barcelona, the article can be seen here. The NEW video of Chris reporting from MWC 2024 is directly below, the original video and article follow!

Chris is nearly two years into his freelancer career after spending 15 years as the senior writer for technology at our most important newspaper, The Australian, and not only still has articles published there, but is also published regularly at ChannelNews.com.au, and who very generously joined me on my new TNTRadio.live Talking Tech with Alex Zaharov-Reutt TV show, and is joining me again right now, so thank you very much, Chris!

Chris’ article on Mobile World Congress on low earth orbiting satellites and remote communications is at ChannelNews here – please read it!

Here;s the video interview in full, a summary of the questions we spoke about is below:

Here’s a summary of the questions and topics we spoke about:

  1. Chris, this Saturday you’ll be arriving in Barcelona, Spain, to attend the 2024 edition of the Mobile World Congress, which is billed as the world’s latest and most influential connectivity event. Ypu’ve been going for years, and while I’ll definitely be joining you on the ground next year as a fellow media attendee, it will be so cool to speak with you live at the end, over Zoom, when all the action is happening next week. We’ll go onto more MWC details in a moment, but before we do, and ignoring what we expect to see this year – what was the most impressive thing you’ve seen thus far in all the years you’ve been?
  2. Ok, so before we get back to the telecommunications tech nirvana that is the Mobile World Congress show floor, there is going to be a lot of news and activity around satellites in 2024, and specifically of the LEO or low-earth orbit variety. Before we get to the whiz bang new developments, why are low earth orbiting satellites so important, and how are we already using them today before any of these new developments to improve our lives and the planet?
  3. Ok, so who is getting into the LEO satellite business, and what will these new developments allow the telecommunications companies to newly be able to do and offer to end-users?
  4. And Australia’s biggest carrier, Telstra, also made an announcement last week about its new LEO satellite deal with OneWeb – how does this add to the deal Telstra announced with Elon Musk’s Starlink last November?
  5. So when you do think consumers in Australia will actually be able to make calls and use data from regular new compatible smartphones to satellites, whether they’re Starlink, OneWeb or someone else?
  6. Is there anything else we need to know about the coming satellite revolution, and how AI, cybersecurity and more will be involved? 8. Ok, so no doubt MWC 2024 will have tons of 5G news, announcements about 6G networks being developed and to be commercially available in about 5 years time, new hardware, software and Ai optimisations and capabilities, but are there any other hints of what’s to come next week, or are all the really big surprises still under wraps and embargo for next Monday 26 to Thursday 29 February?
  7. Chris, you’ve very generously agreed to join me sometime next week, while you’re on the show floor, via a Zoom interview like this one except you’ll be there live, and it will be fantastic to learn what you’ve discovered, but before we go, is there anything else we need to know about MWC 2024, the journey in getting there, or anything else?
  8. Well, Chris, I really wish you the best of success in attending, reporting on, learning about, networking with, and really, really enjoying MWC 2024, and I said at the top of the program, I’ll make sure I’m there on the ground as a fellow media member with you next year, so thank you so, so much for your time!

Be sure to catch me every week with Chris Smith on TNTRadio.live, he broadcasts from 3 to 5pm AEDT on weekdays, and I join him on Wednesdays after the 4.30pm news – full details of his show here, where all episodes are available to stream on demand. .

You can also watch my show, Talking Tech with Alex Zaharov-Reutt, also on TNTRadio.live, from 6 to 7pm AEDT, and also on demand shortly thereafter every week!