Special Report: Telephony's Best and Worst of 2007

Top Tech Trends

HOT!

WiMAX: It promises fat wireless pipes that are cheaper and easier to deploy than Wi-Fi, and mobility as well.

Peer-to-Peer Distribution: What's this? Even Verizon sees the virtues of using set-tops for P2P content distribution nodes? What's next, an open wireless network?

Smartphones: Everybody has a phone with a screen these days, from teens (Sidekicks) to business people (Treos) — even hipsters (iPhones).

Service Delivery Platforms: Telcos have begun to use this new technology in a effort to take the “if you can't beat 'em” approach in their continuing battle against the Web companies on the services front.

Customer Data Management: Owning customer information and determining how that info is used will be a make-or-break issue for carriers.

Alternative Energy Sources: Companies are going green to power central offices and remote sites.

NOT!

WiMAX: Sprint's financial troubles cooled its immediate prospects considerably. Can it recover? Wait 'til next year on this one.

BitTorrent: Network operators have become smart (or evil) and are throttling back piggish BitTorrent consumers. There's even talk of an open-source protocol replacement.

Smartphone Envy: Anyone can afford an iPhone now, so don't plan on impressing anyone with that big device in your pocket.

IMS: Can we get a yawn? After touting the regenerative wonders of IP multimedia subsystem for two years, the technology appears to have fallen on its face. Several operators have deployed elements of IMS, but so far they've failed to produce the services and network transformation promised.

Customer Privacy: Service providers still have to crack the code on how to use customer information in a way that doesn't get the ACLU's shorts in a twist.

Top Tech Trends: Consumer Edition

So 2006: Video on your PC
So now: Video on your mobile

So 2006: Watching your TV
So now: Interacting with your TV

So 2006: YouTube
So now: Blowtorch

So 2006: Using a DVR to skip ads
So now: Watching targeted advertising

So 2006: In-house middleware
So now: Outsourced middleware

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