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Leading Lights Awards
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Winners Announced September 10.

FINALISTS

See below the finalists, chosen from hundreds of entries in the 20 categories making up this year's Leading Lights Awards.

Company of the Year

  • CSG

  • DriveNets

  • FiberLight

  • KT

  • Openreach Ltd.

  • SiTime Corp

  • Skylo

  • Taara Connect

  • Vecima

  • Zayo

Executive of the Year

  • Joe Cumello, SVP and GM, Blue Planet (Ciena)

  • Johnny Hill, COO, Clearfield

  • Magnus Ojert, SVP and Head of U.S. Networks Business, Samsung

  • Rajesh Vashist, CEO, SiTime Corp.

  • Michael Bordash, SVP for R&D, Syniverse

  • Dr. Kumar N. Sivarajan, CTO and Co-founder, Tejas Networks

  • Gregory Gundelfinger, CEO, Telna

Most Innovative Broadband Product

  • AgileTV – AgileTV, powered by United Teleports and BNS

  • Airvine – Airvine WaveCore

  • eero – eero Outdoor 7

  • Amdocs – Amdocs FiberONE

  • Calix – Unlimited Subscriber GigaPro p6dx

  • Ciena – Campus PON (Passive Optical Network)

  • MetTel – MetTel SD-WAN over Starlink

  • Netsia Inc. – Netsia Broadband (BB Suite)

  • Nokia – Nokia Lightspan MF-8

  • Panduit – Panduit FTTH Pedestal Solution

  • Qualcomm – Qualcomm Dragonwing Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) Gen 4 Elite Platform

Most Innovative Cloud Product or Solution

  • Calix – SmartMDU

  • Cisco Systems – Cisco Programmable Core

  • AXON Networks – Operator-as-a-Service

  • MATRIXX Software and OXIO – OXIO Telecom-as-a-Service (TaaS) Platform with MATRIXX Software

  • Rakuten Symphony – Rakuten Cloud

  • Vecima Networks – Entra vCMTS

  • White Label Communications – CPaaS with Programmable UCaaS

Most Innovative New Networking Product (Cloud or Data Center)

  • Arrcus – Arrcus ACE-AI for Inferencing

  • Credo – 800G HiWire ZeroFlap AECs

  • Extreme Networks – Extreme Platform ONE

  • F5 – F5 BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes deployed on NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs

  • Lumentum – R300 Optical Circuit Switch (OCS)

  • Marvell – Marvell Custom AI Accelerator with Co-Packaged Optics

  • NEC – NEC SpectralWave WX-T

  • NewPhotonics – NPG102 LPO+ PIC Transmitter on Chip with Integrated Optical Equalizer

  • Nokia – Event-Driven Automation (EDA)

  • Nokia – 7250 IXR-18e

  • TeraSignal – TeraSignal TS9802 Intelligent TIA with TSLink Diagnostics

Most Innovative New Networking Product (Service Provider Network)

  • Acacia – Acacia's Bright 400G Ultra Long-haul Coherent Module

  • Arrcus – Arrcus TGAX Telco Grade AI Ethernet Switch

  • Calix – Intelligent Access Solution Aggregation Service Manager (ASM) Portfolio

  • Ciena – WaveLogic 6

  • F5 – F5 BIG-IP Next CNFs deployed on NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs

  • floNET – floNET with Local Breakout Service

  • Marvell – Aquila 1.6 Tbps Coherent-lite DSP

  • Ribbon – NPT 2714 Fully Redundant Aggregation Router

  • RtBrick – Multiservice Edge Routing Software

  • Vecima Networks – Entra vPON Manager

  • ZTE – C+L Full-band Integrated OTN

Most Innovative RAN Product or Solution

  • Baicells – Aurora454 n41

  • DeepSig and Viettel High Technology Industries Corporation (VHT) – OmniPHY-5G: Carrier-grade O-DU with AI-improved PUSCH

  • EdgeQ – EdgeQ's 5G Network-on-a-Chip

  • Freshwave – Freshwave's Omni Network on the Andrew RP5000

  • Qualcomm – Qualcomm Dragonwing X100 Accelerator Card for O-RAN virtualized Distributed Units

  • Radisys – Radisys and Kratos Cloud-Native 5G-NTN Solution for Seamless Satellite Access

  • Red Hat and SoftBank – AITRAS, an integrated AI and RAN solution built on Red Hat OpenShift

  • ZTE – All-band beamforming suite

Most Innovative Telco AI/ML Product or Solution

  • Amdocs – Amdocs Network Agents

  • Axiado – Axiado AI-TCU: Silicon-Rooted Security with Embedded Intelligence

  • F5 – F5 BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes deployed on NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs

  • Federated Wireless – Federated Wireless Adaptive Network Planner (ANP)

  • Fujitsu – Accelerated Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

  • InterDigital – AI-Enabled Sensing for Human Localization and Activity Detection

  • Jio Platform, Ltd. – JioBrain

  • Mavenir – Mavenir's Network Intelligence-as-a-Service (NIaaS)

  • Optiva – Optiva Agentic AI for BSS

  • Qualcomm – Qualcomm Dragonwing RAN Automation Suite

  • Rakuten Symphony – Rakuten Site Management 2.0

  • SK Telecom – AI-RAN Orchestration with AI/ML trained on Live Network Data

  • ZTE – Heterogeneous Computing-based AIR RAN

Most Innovative Telecom Software (OSS/BSS) Product or Solution

  • Ciena – Blue Planet's Intelligent Automation Platform

  • Constellation SaaS – End-to-End BSS/OSS Ecosystem for Broadband Providers

  • Gaiia – gaiia

  • Globalgig – Orchestra Insight

  • IDI Billing Solutions – IDI Billing & OSS Platform

  • Infovista – Enhancing Customer Experience through AI-powered OSS/BSS integration

  • Netcracker – Netcracker Broadband Experience Solutions Suite

  • Oracle – Oracle Digital Business Experience

Most Innovative Test & Measurement Product or Solution

  • Keysight – Interconnect and Network Performance 800GE Test System

  • Mobileum – Mobileum AI Assistant (MAIA)

  • Menlo Micro – Menlo Micro MM5625

  • RADCOM – RADCOM Predictive Complaint Resolution Solution

  • Spirent – Spirent Landslide CNF Resiliency Test Solution

  • Vecima Networks – Entra Automation Solutions: Entra Access Test Platform and Entra Access Simulators

  • VIAVI – FVAM-2000 Benchtop Microscope

  • VIAVI – mFVU-3000 Connector Microscope

Outstanding Use Case: 5G/6G Innovation

  • Ericsson – SailGP

  • Inseego – Inseego/Tractor Supply

  • Huawei – Huawei CloudMSE Solution for Telkomsel Indonesia

  • Radisys – Orange Programmable Network APIs Powered by Nokia and Radisys

  • Samsung Networks – Samsung & Hyundai Motor Company Private 5G deployment and RedCap trial

  • Singapore Telecommunications Limited – Singtel Enterprise Mobile Protect and 5G+ Priority

  • Vonage – Vonage Protection Suite - Providing Global 5G Innovation for Network-Powered Fraud Protection

  • YTL Communications Sdn Bhd – Yes Managed Wi-Fi

  • ZTE – ZTE ISAC for Low-altitude Economy

Outstanding Use Case: AI/Machine Learning

  • Huawei – Autonomous Core Network Transformation Practice

  • InterDigital – Over-the-Air Federated Learning for Energy-Efficient Wireless Intelligence

  • Jio Platforms Ltd. – JioDiscover: India's First Industry-Agnostic Generative AI Discovery Engine

  • KT – AI-based 5G Core Network

  • Mycom and stc – International Roaming Management

  • Rakuten Symphony – Detection of Sleeping Cells in Mobile Networks

  • SK Telecom – AI Routing Technology for Hybrid AI

  • SoftAtHome – Home Audit Assistant

  • Whale Cloud and DITO Telecommunity – Intelligent Transformation with GenAI Chatbot

  • ZTE – ZTE AIR RAN Empowering All-Scene Innovation & Business Expansion

Outstanding Use Case: Bridging the Digital Divide

  • Arelion – Boosting Mexico's Economic Growth Through Resilient Connectivity

  • Calix – Building the Broadband Workforce of Tomorrow

  • Clearfield – Connecting the Hawaiian Islands: Bridging the Digital Divide through Fiber and Partnership

  • Fiber Broadband Association – Bridging the Gap: FBA's Regional Impact and National Reach for Fiber Broadband

  • Fidium – Fidium Brings Fiber to Underserved Greater East Grant Region (Maine)

  • Kinetic – Resilience Through Connectivity: How Kinetic Helped Greenfield Rebuild and Reconnect

  • Liberty Networks – Internet Boards: Empowering Community Connectivity (Juntas de Internet – Comunidades de Conectividad)

  • Tarana Wireless – Empowering Osage Nation with Next-Gen Broadband

Outstanding Use Case: Broadband Deployment Excellence

  • Qualcomm Technologies – How VNPT's embrace of 10G Fiber and Wi-Fi 7 unlocks next-gen broadband services

  • Rakuten Symphony – Fiber Manager: An AI-driven unified Solution for Fiber Network Lifecycle management

  • Render Networks – Fiber Fast-Tracked: How Render + ADB Digitally Transformed Broadband Deployment

  • Tarana Wireless – The Cleveland Comeback: From Worst to First with DigitalC and Tarana

Outstanding Use Case: Broadband Enablement Solution

  • Hughes, An EchoStar Company – Transforming Retail Network Operations with Hughes SD-WAN at Sportsman's Warehouse

  • Incognito – Raising the Bar in FTTH Wholesaler Performance

  • YTL Communications – Yes Managed Wi-Fi

Outstanding Use Case: Customer Experience

  • Boingo – Boingo's Converged Network at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

  • Boldyn Networks – Wi-Fi Upgrade at Rice-Eccles Stadium

  • MediaKind – MediaKind Multiview Solution

  • Cognitive Systems Corp. – Caregiver by Cognitive

  • Freshwave – Midland Metropolitan University Hospital

  • GOCare and ETC Communications – Broadband Outage Management

  • RouteThis – Kinetic's Whole Home Wi-Fi

  • Huawei and stc Group – Intelligent Customer Service Call Center

  • Netcracker and Odido – Cloud-Native BSS Transformation Powers Brand Consolidation

  • TransUnion – Branded Call Display with 'Call Reason' is Improving Customer Engagement and Boosting Revenue for Businesses

Outstanding Use Case: Driving Digital Transformation

  • Boldyn Networks – The Hola 5G Oulu Project

  • Ericsson – Jaguar Land Rover's Digital Manufacturing Transformation

  • Etiya and Turk Telekom: AI-Powered Orchestration for Agile Customer Operations

  • MediaKind – MediaKind MK.IO with new cloud portability offering

  • MetTel – MetTel's POTS Transformation (plain old telephone service) for the US Postal Service

  • Netcracker Technology – Netcracker and Zain KSA – Cloud-Native Comprehensive BSS and OSS Transformation Solidifies Zain's Position as Leading Digital Service Provider

  • Ocient – Ocient DRDS Empowers Large Telco to Meet Stringent New SLAs

  • Oracle – Deploying Oracle Converged Policy and Oracle Cloud Scale Charging for Rakuten's Mobile network

  • Singapore Telecommunications Limited – Singtel CUBΣ

Outstanding Use Case: Mobile Network Deployment

  • Comarch and 450connect – Building a Future-Proof 450 MHz Frequency-Based Critical Infrastructure in Germany

  • HFCL – Mobile Data Offload and Wireless Backhaul Solution at the MahaKumbh 2025 Event

  • Paradise Mobile – Virtualized Cloud Native O-RAN

  • Qualcomm – Viettel High Technology Industries Corporation (VHT)’s O-RAN 5G Massive MIMO Network Deployment with Qualcomm Dragonwing Cellular Infrastructure Platforms

  • KT – Nationwide VoNR Launch

  • Wind River – Wind River Cloud Platform

Outstanding Use Case: Network Automation

  • Amdocs – Accelerating Network Automation

  • Mycom – Mycom and Globe Telecom's Autonomous Networks Assurance Solution

  • Netcracker Technology – Netcracker Domain Automation for Swisscom Autonomous Networking

  • Singapore Telecommunications Limited – Automated 5G SA RAN Slice Assurance

Outstanding Use Case: Telco Cloud

  • Huawei – TICC Cloud-Native Platform Empowering China Mobile's Next-Gen Telco Operations

  • Jio Platform Limited – JPL's Telco Cloud: Orchestrating 5G, Private MEC & Intelligent Automation at Scale

  • Rakuten Symphony – Automation and Orchestration of the Stateful Edge & 5G Network with Rakuten Cloud

  • Viettel High Technology Industries Corporation (VHT) – VHT Telco Cloud: Cloud-Native Transformation for 4G/5G Core Network Functions

  • Virgin Media O2 – Accelerating Telco Cloud Innovation at Virgin Media O2