BT, JT, Hyperoptic and Others Shortlisted for 2018 World Comms Award

A number of UK based telecoms operators and broadband ISPs, such as BT, Openreach, Vodafone, Virtual1 and Hyperoptic, have recently been named as finalists across various categories in Total Telecom‘s 2018 World Communication Awards, which seeks to recognise “innovation and excellence” in global telecoms.

This year will mark the WCA‘s 20th anniversary and it’s anticipated that roughly 800 senior industry executives will be in attendance from across the world, albeit with around 65% of those coming from Europe. The good news is that UK based broadband and communication providers seem to be reasonably well represented at this year’s event.

In particular we note that JT (Jersey Telecom), Hyperoptic and the Scottish Government (Digital Scotland) are all up for the ‘Broadband Pioneer Award‘, while Virtual1, JT and Openreach are also up for the ‘Best Network Transformation‘ award among others.

A Spokesperson for the WCA Judging Panel said:

“This year the judges were really impressed with the quality and scope of the entries. Whether you’re talking about the emergence of 5G mobile networks, full fibre broadband rollout or smart city and industry initiatives, it’s an exciting time to be involved in the global telecoms sector. It’s been a really challenge to whittle down such a comprehensive list of entries into the shortlist that we are releasing today.”

The operators named as finalists for the event will be judged by a large panel of experts in the telecoms industry, including the bosses of various analyst/consultancy firms, regulators, university professors and a few heads from other providers etc.

The winners are expected to be announced during the Total Telecom Congress event on 31st October 2018, which is being held at the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane Hotel.

2018 WCA Awards Finalists

The Platform Award:
Content Guru: Storm
Telstra: Programmable Network
VMware: vCloud NFV Integrated OpenStack Carrier Edition
Cisco Jasper: Control Center
PCCW Global: Console Connect

Woman In Telecoms Award:
Metaswitch Networks: Micaela Giuhat, VP of Product Management
Sigma Systems: Catherine Michel, CTO
The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia: Dr. Nino Kubinidze

The Social Contribution Award:
Turkcell: Dronecell for Emergency Cases
Smart Communications: Smart School-in-a-Bag
Digicel Group: Building Dominica Back Better
Viettel Group: Operation Healthy Heart
Mahindra Comviva: EcoCash powered by mobiquity Money

The Innovation Award – Operator:
Vodafone UK: V by Vodafone
Deutsche Telekom AG: The European Aviation Network (EAN)
NTT Communications Corporation: COTOHA
HGC Global Communications Limited
Singapore Telecommunications Limited: Singtel Flagship Store Transformation
Virtual1 Ltd: Software Defined UK Carrier Network

Best Operator In An Emerging Market:
GlobeNet
Telin
Smart Communications
Orange
Ooredoo Myanmar

Digital Lifestyle Award:
Ooredoo Maldives
Ooredoo Myanmar: M-Pitesam
PCCW Global: Mobile Payment Solutions

CTO of the Year:
Telin: Nanang Hendarno
Virtual1: James Hickman
Airtel: Abhay Savargaonkar
Turkcell: Gediz Sezgin
BT: Howard Watson

Best Network Transformation Initiative:
Virtual1 Ltd: Software Defined UK Carrier Network
Epsilon: Infiny
China Mobile Hong Kong (CMHK) & Huawei: Core Network Cloud Transformation
JT: Full-Fibre Network
Openreach: Ethernet Services
Ooredoo Qatar: Live 5G Network

Best Wholesale Operator:
Vodafone Carrier Services
Deutsche Telekom AG: International Wholesale Business
PCCW Global
Verizon: Partner Solutions
Telia Carrier
Colt Technology Services: Optical Product Portfolio

Digital Transformation Award:
Evolving Systems: Orange Thank You Loyalty Program
Saudi Telecom Company: STC WBU BSS Digital Transformation
Airtel Business: Carrier Digital Platform
Netcracker Technology: NEC/Netcracker NaaS
HKT in partnership with Huawei: Project Earth

Best Operator:
NTT Communications Corporation
Ooredoo Group

Best Enterprise Service:
Singapore Telecommunications Limited: Singtel Managed Security Services
Bridge Alliance: Regional Mobility Central Service Tools
Orange Business Services: Flexible SD-WAN
Telstra: Managed Security Service
Airtel Business: Content Distribution Service

The UX Award:
Telia Carrier
Taiwan Mobile: Customer Service App (TWM CS App)
TM: Service Culture Internalization
Far EasTone Telecommunications: The FET CCIPS

Regional Wholesale Operator:
Liquid Telecom
GlobeNet
Optus Wholesale
Orange Wholesale France
Deutsche Telekom International Wholesale Business

The Cloud Infrastructure Award:
Colt Technology Services: Dedicated Cloud Access On Demand
CITIC Telecom CPC: SmartCLOUD & SmartCLOUD Professional Service
Equinix: Cloud Exchange Fabric (ECX Fabric)
GlobeNet: Expanding IaaS and Cloud Solutions in the Americas

Most Innovative IoT Solution:
Huawei: Building Fully Connected World With Huawei NB-IoT
NCS Pte Ltd: Bridgestone Tirematics
Cisco: Kinetic
Tata Communications: MOVE
Vodafone UK: V by Vodafone

CEO of the Year:
Hyperoptic: Dana Tobak
Telin: Faizal Rochmad Djoemadi
Ooredoo Group: Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al Thani

The NFV Innovation Award:
Centina: vSure 2.0
Netcracker Technology: NEC/Netcracker NaaS
VMware: NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud
Verizon: VISDM
MYCOM OSI: Experience, Analytics and Assurance (EAA)
Huawei: MEC@CloudEdge Solution

The Innovation Award – Vendor:
Openet: Digital Business Platform
Accedian: SkyLIGHT PVX
MYCOM OSI: Experience, Analytics and Assurance (EAA)
Huawei Technologies Co, LTD: 5G Oriented LTE Capacity Evolution Solution
Content Guru: Storm
Sigma Systems: Create-Sell-Deliver Portfolio
Mojio: Open Platform and Mobile Apps for Connected Cars
Dali Wireless: Dali Matrix

The Smart Cities Award:
CBNL: Smart City Network in Rzeszow, Poland
Ooredoo Qatar
Trafficware and SWIM.AI: TidalWave
Cisco: Kinetic for Smart Cities

5G Leadership Award:
Worcestershire 5G Consortium
Ooredoo Qatar
BT: 5G Global Mission Critical Use Cases
5G-Crosshaul
KT: Pyeongchang 5G

The Broadband Pioneer Award:
GlobeNet: PoP-to-Pop capacity upgrade of the LatAm Network
JT: Gigabit Project
Hyperoptic Ltd
The Scottish Government: Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband
ZTE Corporation: eWBB Solution

The Users’ Choice Award:
AT&T Communications
BT Global Services
NTT Communications
Orange Business Services
Singtel
Tata Communications
Telefonica
Verizon