"ET phone home" has never been more relevant. We're seeing a wave of phone calls to space, or at least space connectivity from relatively ordinary cell phones.

• Apple added SOS

• T-Mobile is working with Starlink

• AT&T is working with AST SpaceMobile

Why? And where is this going?

To answer, we chat with a senior director from Ciena. It's a networking giant that supports 85% of the world’s largest telcos, with customers like AT&T, Amazon, Google, Deutsche Telekom, Verizon, and the U.S. DoD.

Formerly with Nortel, his name is Brian Lavallée.