A pair of high-profile bankruptcy exits – one done and one pending – continued to make big headlines in October.

The channel wonders what the future will hold for Frontier, as the communications giant prepares to emerge from chapter 11 early next year. Meanwhile, Windstream hopes to turn a chapter now that it is out from behind bankruptcy protection. Will it be a stronger company as it promises? And how will its channel fare?

Windstream also made news last month for introducing a new channel chief. But Brad Smith isn’t the only new channel boss in town. CCaaS provider Ujet also made headlines for doing the same.

There’s little doubt that 5G holds great promise, but the big carriers took heat for the speed of their nascent networks. AT&T also got pressure from its largest union and advocacy groups over discontinuing DSL service.

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But which story in October was No. 1? Bankruptcy exits? The 5G controversy?

Once you’ve clicked through the gallery below to see what was No. 1 in channel news for October, check out last month’s countdown featuring SD-WAN and SIP rankings, plus more Windstream.

Follow executive editor @Craig_Galbraith on Twitter.