A Year in Review

It’s nearly the end of yet another year, and thus time to take stock of the best and worst that 2007 had to offer.

As I said in one of my recent letters, I’m dubbing 2007 the year of network transformation.

Here’s why.

On the whole, service providers clearly are moving from legacy, circuit-switched/TDM-based networks to IP networks, sometimes based on the IMS architecture. They’re doing this in a move to offer blended services, and to converge multiple networks to save money and allow them to introduce and alter services more easily and quickly.

Going hand-in-hand with the network-layer action is a move to a new generation of service delivery creation and deployment platforms that expose carrier networks to third parties so innovative services can move onto the network in “Internet time” as opposed to “BellLabs time,” as someone recently put it.

Of course, at the same time, service providers want to leverage their previous investments. So there’s a lot of work being done on how to enable service providers to offer new services while at the same time retaining existing network infrastructure whenever possible.

Beyond that, 2007 brought some significant new products and trends — like the green movement, the release of the iPhone and the failure of several key MVNOs. It also offered much of the same in terms of convergence, M&A and bad news for over-the-top VoIP providers.

Because the green movement became a hot topic not just on the Nobel Peace Prize front, but also in communications circles, xchange chose this as its cover story for December. In the piece, xchange editors Tara Seals and Kelly Teal explain Ethernet inventor/VC Bob Metcalfe’s “Enernet” concept, various vendors’ and service providers’ green initiatives, and how an EPA report to Congress on data center power consumption sparked changes in how servers are being engineered and data centers are being designed.

Also in this issue, Bob Wallace offers an update on Web 2.0 and what it means for each sector of the communications industry.

Given the new bandwidth needs required by Web 2.0 and IPTV applications, Bob also analyzes, where we are as an industry, and a country, with broadband access.

Of course, that’s just a flavor of what you’ll find in this, xchange’s Best of/Worst of issue.

Until next time,

Paula Bernier
Editor in Chief

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