What a year

What a perfectly odd year it has been. Indeed, I think 2007 will go down as a year filled with surprises in the wireless space.
A few of the major twists and turns this year:
● A cellphone with a closed operating system, running on a second-generation network, from a new handset manufacturer is the year’s top gadget. (And don’t even get me started on the fact that we couldn’t get Steve Jobs for an interview as RCR Wireless News’ Person of the Year. Apple is a different animal, that’s for sure.)
● Carriers came under attack for controlling their bought-and-paid-for wireless networks. Skype asked the FCC to force carriers to allow any device to operate on their networks as long as the device didn’t harm the network. Crazy talk, certainly. But by the end of the year, Verizon Wireless announced plans to open its network, while AT&T Mobility assured the general public it already had an open network. Although I don’t think this is all smoke and mirrors, wireless networks will continue to be limited by fussy details like spectrum, technology and which chipsets are installed in devices.
● The lone nationwide carrier that had pledged to launch an open network, Sprint Nextel, ended up under fire for a number of reasons. Indeed, 2007 was the year WiMAX finally was considered a legitimate technology and the year it could be in peril of not being deployed by the very carrier that made it legitimate. As I write this, Sprint Nextel has committed to launching three markets, but speculation runs the gamut about whether a new CEO will stay the course on WiMAX.
● The 700 MHz auction threw us for a few loops this year. In the end, the slices of spectrum up for grabs look similar to a proposal made by Morgan O’Brien, who was RCR Wireless News’ Person of the Year in 2006. (Pretty good pick on our part, right?)
● I was also surprised by the executives who were unceremoniously dumped in 2007. Top of the list is Sprint Nextel’s Gary Forsee, followed by Motorola’s Ed Zander. Forsee was such a golden boy in 2003 that Sprint negotiated with BellSouth for the right to hire him. Zander, our Person the Year in 2005, enjoyed only a short honeymoon before coming under pressure.
Here’s hoping for a prosperous 2008.