(NOTE: This story was originally posted to CRN.com Dec. 23.)

A Tumultuous Year

If you were to have slept through 2016, you'd wake up today to find a telecom industry quite different from the one you saw at the start of the year. Several major carriers joined forces to better compete in the crowded market. Service providers also sought to branch out from the legacy voice and connectivity services for more strategic services, like hybrid networking and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. At the same time, many carriers finally bit the bullet and sold off their ailing data center assets.

Here are 10 moves that have reshaped the telecom landscape in 2016.