The best and worst of 2008

‘DEALS’ THAT CAME BACK TO HAUNT THEIR DEAL-MAKERS

Yahoo! not getting acquired by Microsoft

The one-time Web giant (with many carrier partnerships) looks to be on its last legs.

Pivot

Sprint's arrangement to provide wireless service to its cable partners fell flat on its face, as all have left to pave their own paths.

Sprint Nextel

Nextel has become Sprint's albatross, draining customers and revenues as well as producing an endless chain of forced acquisitions and legal battles.

AT&T EchoStar

EchoStar was rumored to be next on AT&T's acquisition list, but instead it has been kicked to the curb in favor of DirecTV. In the meantime, EchoStar's DISH Network has had a rough 2008, losing customers, facing another round of legal battles with TiVo over DVR technology, and in August posting the first quarterly net loss for a major U.S. satellite provider.

TOP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

Service prioritization

Although deep-packet inspection is a no-no for public discussion, service providers are exploring ways to use this kind of network intelligence to make more efficient use of their broadband pipes, deliver differentiated services, and provide features such as security and parental controls within the network.

Targeted advertising

Another no-no for public discussion, targeted ads represent a future opportunity for network operators, content owners, advertisers and consumers — if only someone can get the business case right and work out the privacy kinks.

Content delivery networks

CDN diversifies, from traditional vendors such as Akamai to a mix of high- and low-end offerings, as well as from a group spanning Amazon.com to Level 3 to Verizon.

Broadband bonding

Upstarts such as Mushroom Networks and Sharedband ushered in a new wave in broadband bonding, and AT&T vowed to bond VDSL2 before year's end.

Dynamic optical networking

Verizon and Qwest both talked up the promise of provisioning long-haul optical links end to end without having to manually navigate every turn along the way. But Verizon, which called it an optical SS7 equivalent, actually touted a trial across multiple vendors' gear between Atlanta and Chicago.