A year ago, I made some predictions for 2013.  Let’s see how I did.

1. My first prediction was that we’d have a 2013.  That is, the Mayan calendar ended on December 21, 2012 and there were many claiming the world would end.  I predicted we’d have a 2013.  Yes, I know there are a few days left, but you know, so far so good.

Grade: A

2. I also predicted Mobile Congestion will continue to be a story in 2013.  Even though we have seen the predictions in mobile data traffic come true, we haven’t seen mobile congestion catch on as a big story in 2013.  The networks, and the infrastructure, have been able to handle it.

Grade: F

3. I also predicted there wouldn’t be any significant movement to the PSTN sunset in 2013.  There has been movement, with various announcements from folks that it’s coming to an end. But it’s kind of gone the way I thought with talk happening in preparation of decommissioning.

Grade:  B

4. VoIP is moving into the mobile arena and people will actually start to use these mobile VoIP apps more in 2013.  Yes, certainly this is happening with mobile version of Skype and Lync.  I use them, as well.

Grade: B

5. If you haven’t heard of WebRTC (Web Real Time Communication) you will by the end of 2013.  WebRTC did generate a lot of buzz in 2013 I would say if you read my blogs you’d certainly know about this by now.  But even if you don’t regularly read them, there are seemingly tradeshows and webinars weekly around WebRTC.  It’s in the hype phase now but is definitely gaining traction.

Grade: A

6. The role of the Session Border Controller will continue to evolve.  Due to the vast types of media passing through SBCs (video and voice in different types of formats) and the number of networks these SBCs need to interface with (4G, WiFi, SuperWiFi, DSL, Cable, etc.) the “evolved” SBC will need to deal with different interconnectivity and media conversions.  We have seen many announcements in 2013 about transcoding and virtualized SBCs.  This is definitely an evolving area.

Grade: A

Overall, I think I did OK, but I did have one major flop there.  Next week, I’ll make my predictions for 2014.