AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) appear to have both benefitted from the recent internecine ad campaign in which the two bickered over whose 3G wireless coverage was superior — though Verizon may have gained more than its rival.

According to a survey released today by YouGov Brand Index, Verizon Wireless’ brand awareness among adults 18 to 34 shot from 37.1% in early November to 62.2% in early December. AT&T’s awareness in the same group rose from 41.2% to 54.5% in that time. Toward the end of November, as the holiday shopping season kicked into full swing, Verizon Wireless had surpassed AT&T in terms of awareness.

That mutual benefit is fortunate for the two companies, since the war brought attention to weaknesses in both of their offerings and underscored the limits of today’s 3G networks. But it also may encourage the two to try to repeat the phenomenon. We haven’t seen the last of Luke Wilson.

The companies and individuals who bore the brunt of criticism in 2009 were:

•  Most unfair scapegoat: U.S. telcos as anti-net-neutrality invaders or privacy and unfair business practitioners
•  Google, which is destroying multiple industries so that they can be rebuilt for the digital age.

More after the break… more

Just a few weeks after Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) finished its 2009 WiMax rollout, competing 4G technology long-term evolution (LTE) landed its first network – in Sweden. TeliaSonera launched in two cities – the first LTE launches ever – today, promising wireless download speeds of up to 100 megabits per second. The wireless operator used equipment from Ericsson and Huawei to roll out the service in Stockholm and Olso, respectively. more

This year will be most remembered as:

•  The year we all survived – well at least mostly.

• Everyone opened an app store. Applications continued the insane momentum they started last year, but this year, no one was satisfied with just an app. Every handset maker, carrier, operating system and third-party wanted to own the storefront to shop them.

• The year everyone focused on broadband stimulus and nobody got any.

Keep reading to see the rest of our responses, as well as the best from our readers… more