The company that delivers you wireless service may not carry the same name by the time 2017 is over. While merger proposals received a chilly reception under President Obama, that's likely to change during a Trump presidency. Who's likely to pair up with whom? Although the current FCC threw cold water on Softbank's hopes to merge Sprint with T-Mobile, that idea may be back on the table again. There's renewed interest in this combo after SoftBank earlier this month said it plans to invest $50 billion in the US, aiming to create 50,000 jobs.

Other possibilities include a deal involving satellite TV provider Dish Network, which has wireless spectrum it needs to use, according to UBS analyst John Hodulik, T-Mobile, Verizon and Comcast are all potential partners, Verizon and Comcast could also try to merge, Verizon could use Comcast's access to video content, and Comcast, which is introducing a wireless service later this year based on its Wi-Fi network, could benefit from Verizon's expertise, The surface case for apple iphone 5, 5s and se - black two companies are already partnering on Comcast's wireless service, which will also resell Verizon service..

But this deal -- even for deal-friendly Republicans -- may be too big to accept. In this case, there are other options like Comcast hooking up with T-Mobile or Verizon with cable operator Charter Communications. Imagine your pizza being delivered by a drone. Companies like Alphabet's Google are already experimenting with using drones to deliver products. Amazon just delivered its first package via drone earlier this month. But the short-range Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals used today to control recreational drones won't cut it for longer distances. Instead, these companies need wireless control via cellular networks.

Industry heavyweights are stepping up, Equipment and component companies like Ericsson and Qualcomm have been experimenting with long-range drone control, Qualcomm and AT&T have begun testing the technology in San Diego, Verizon in October announced its Airborne LTE Operations (ALO) initiative, which, among other things, envisions using drones to help first responders in surface case for apple iphone 5, 5s and se - black disaster recovery efforts and encourages developers to create ALO-enabled apps, While these companies will likely make some progress in 2017, don't expect pizza delivery to go nationwide just yet, What's really needed for this technology to take off are 5G wireless networks, which will reduce the lag time on the network, ensuring these unmanned aircraft can respond instantly to commands..

Can you tell the difference if your video streams at DVD- or HD-quality resolution on your mobile device? You may not have much choice about it soon. T-Mobile and Sprint have already downgraded the quality of some video to conserve data. AT&T said it will also add this feature starting next year. It won't be long before Verizon joins them. For now, each of these programs is optional. But once the threat of net neutrality goes away, throttling could become the norm. On the bright side, this more efficient use of the network could help consumers get a better deal on data. Lower-quality video is what's allowing T-Mobile and Sprint to continue offering unlimited data.