In the Fourth uarter of 2008, venture investment inthe United States plummeted by more than 25 percent. Even energy and utility companies, which saw enormous growth in investment in 2008, suffered their first quarterly drop-offof the year.rnBut one subsector of the information technology industry, which Venture Wire calls communications and networking, enjoyed an unexpected surge. Indeed, it was the only sector to see an increase in funding over both the previous quarter and the fourth quarter of 2007.rnMuch of that jump was due to two startups that received $100 million each. One of them, Pocket Communications, offers a contractless, flat-rate, unlimited-calling cell-phone plan. The other, Open Range, plans to bring wireless broadband to rural areas but is not yet disclosing any details about its technology. But a number of other companies with innovative technologies also received significant funding.
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