Best UK Rural and Urban ISP Finalists Named for Digital Challenge Awards

The annual 2013 Next Generation Digital Challenge Awards, which will run alongside the NextGen Conference in London (14-15th October), has unveiled a shortlist of potential winners for its Best Fixed Rural Network and Best Fixed Urban Network category. Broadband ISPs CityFibre, Cotswolds Broadband, Hyperoptic and others are all in with a chance.

The awards are designed to recognise UK projects that deliver “the best in next generation digital access infrastructure innovation“. Last year’s event saw broadband providers and network developers like CityFibre, Hyperoptic, B4RN, Cambium Networks and AllPay Broadband all picking-up gongs for various achievements (here) and some of those names have made a return for 2013.

Fixed Rural Networks Category

• Cotswolds Broadband – an innovative approach to raising investment for digital infrastructure
• Emtelle – supporting alternative operators like B4RN
• Essex County Council – programmes in both infrastructure and skills to give the county an economic boost
• Synchronoss Technologies – showing how local authorities can get better value for public funding of broadband
• Tove Valley – rural Fibre to the Premises scheme
• Village Networks – overcoming copper line deficiencies with wireless

Fixed Urban Networks Category

• Accelerate Aberdeen, Abderdeen City Council – improved digital connectivity for the city and surrounding area
• CityFibre – fibre to the premises for businesses and households
• Hyperoptic – delivering 1Gb/s ultrafast broadband to apartments
• KCOM – fibre to the premises in Hull and East Yorkshire
• Magnet Networks – enabling the Smart City of Wembley
• MS3 – fibre choice and competition for business users in Hull

Mobile and other Wide-Area Networks Category

• Digital Birmingham – large-scale public WiFI for the City
• Calnex – boosting 4G/LTE deployments with better testing kit
• Airband Community Internet and Cambium Networks – improving broadband in rural Worcestershire
• SES Broadband – a satellite broadband solution for rural areas
• Open Signal – using crowd-sourcing for info on performance of mobile networks to make customer choices easier
• Stream communications – improving the resilience of mobile networks

Open Data Category

• eeGeo – a 3D mapping service using live data feeds
• HPC Wales – high performance supercomputing for businesses
• opencorporates – making data on companies easier to access
• REgenerate – support for communities to build Open Data sources.
• Food Trade – boosting markets for small suppliers
• Transfaction – performance measures for transport networks

Digital Innovation Category

• Digitonic – a mobile marketing agency
• Keypoint Technologies – making text input easier for users
• PocketApp – personal medical diagnostics and health guide
• Polkadot Factory- Trigah Project – boosting cinema going by more accurate distribution to audiences
• Seetok Ltd – a video messaging product to humanise communiication
• Mobbra – improving massive use of mobiles at sporting and other major events

Digital Skills Category

• ConnectMK – low-cost computer loan scheme re-utilising old ICT kit from large employers
• Digital Housing Hub – bringing social housing and digital inclusion projects together
• Glasgow Housing Association – improving the digital skills of social housing tenants
• Intergenerational Project – library-based ICT courses for over-50’s run by young people
• Social Media Surgeries – sharing digital skills in an informal setting
• Skills@Work – mobile based learning for business compliance requirements

As usual the winners from each category will be announced and trophies presented at the NextGen13 conference dinner on 14th October 2013 in London.