Ericsson’s API aptitude; T-Mobile US’ acquisition appetite; Juniper Network’s potential to jumpstart Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) telecom juju; Verizon's vendor bankruptcy blow up; and EchoStar electing to remove VMware from its virtualized 5G environment highlighted the most read SDxCentral telecommunication-focused stories in 2024.

While the telecommunications market itself continued to list along over the past 12 months, buoyed by some progress toward open network initiatives and upcoming technology advances that could finally propel new 5G-based capabilities and services, there remained an underlying tone that those advances remain tepid and investments remain down the road.

That’s not to say there was not any excitement this year. In fact, outside of that underlying malaise was a year’s worth of ecosystem excitement and intrigue within the 5G, radio access network (RAN), and cloud-focused telecom space.

Below are the five telecom-related stories that drew the most attention from readers in 2024.

Ericsson CEO takes blame for Vonage fiasco but pleads for patience Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm fell on his sword for the company having to write off nearly its entire $6.2 billion investment in Vonage Holdings, but pleaded with the investment community to withhold final judgement on the deal until the enterprise API market matures. Read more

T-Mobile name-drops UScellular as acquisition target T-Mobile US reported mostly strong results for its fiscal fourth quarter of 2023, but management raised future-looking eyebrows by stating the carrier was potentially looking at an acquisition of a rival or 5G network-bolstering fiber assets. Read more

HPE’s Juniper deal will jumpstart its 5G telecom efforts Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) pending $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks is set to bolster the ability for both to better penetrate the 5G telecommunications market — a market that remains in desperate need of network management support. Read more

Verizon 5G vendor Casa Systems files for bankruptcy – what went wrong? Casa Systems filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with plans to sell off its main business units, which includes a 5G core system used by Verizon to power that carrier’s private network offering. The bankruptcy filing also comes just months after Casa Systems’ management told SDxCentral it was making progress toward financial stability. Read more

Is EchoStar set to ditch Broadcom’s VMware? EchoStar’s Boost Mobile division is set to ditch a platform vendor in a move that could put the carrier’s open-network architecture to the test and comes as it’s putting a bigger focus on becoming a competitive player in the domestic mobile telecommunications space. Read more