2025 Winners and Finalists

Enter The Leading Lights now
Submit your entry by the final deadline: June 26
View the list of winners per category in 2025, along with the full shortlist of finalists.
Rewatch our awards presentation here.
Company of the Year
WINNER
KT
Finalists:
CSG
DriveNets
FiberLight
Openreach Ltd.
SiTime Corp
Skylo
Taara Connect
Vecima
Zayo
Executive of the Year
WINNER
Magnus Ojert, SVP and Head of U.S. Networks Business, Samsung
Finalists:
- Joe Cumello, SVP and GM, Blue Planet (Ciena)
Johnny Hill, COO, Clearfield
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
WINNER
Qualcomm – Qualcomm Dragonwing Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) Gen 4 Elite Platform
Finalists:
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
Most Innovative Cloud Product or Solution
WINNER
AXON Networks – Operator-as-a-Service
Finalists:
Calix – SmartMDU
Cisco Systems – Cisco Programmable Core
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)
WINNER
Nokia – 7250 IXR-18e
Finalists:
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)
TeraSignal – TeraSignal TS9802 Intelligent TIA with TSLink Diagnostics
Most Innovative New Networking Product (Service Provider Network)
WINNER
ZTE – C+L Full-band Integrated OTN
Finalists:
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
Most Innovative RAN Product or Solution
WINNER
ZTE – All-band beamforming suite
Finalists:
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
Most Innovative Telco AI/ML Product or Solution
WINNER
Rakuten Symphony – Rakuten Site Management 2.0
Finalists:
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)
1Finity – 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
SK Telecom and AWS – 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
WINNER
Ciena – Blue Planet's Intelligent Automation Platform
Finalists:
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
WINNER
Spirent – Spirent Landslide CNF Resiliency Test Solution
Finalists:
Keysight – Interconnect and Network Performance 800GE Test System
Mobileum – Mobileum AI Assistant (MAIA)
Menlo Micro – Menlo Micro MM5625
RADCOM – RADCOM Predictive Complaint Resolution 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
WINNER
ZTE – ZTE ISAC for Low-altitude Economy
Finalists:
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
Outstanding Use Case: AI/Machine Learning
WINNER
Mycom and stc – International Roaming Management
Finalists:
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
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
WINNER
Calix – Building the Broadband Workforce of Tomorrow
Finalists:
- Arelion – Boosting Mexico's Economic Growth Through Resilient Connectivity
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
WINNER
Rakuten Symphony – Fiber Manager: An AI-driven unified Solution for Fiber Network Lifecycle management
Finalists:
Qualcomm Technologies – How VNPT's embrace of 10G Fiber and Wi-Fi 7 unlocks next-gen broadband services
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
WINNER
Incognito – Raising the Bar in FTTH Wholesaler Performance
Finalists:
- Hughes, An EchoStar Company – Transforming Retail Network Operations with Hughes SD-WAN at Sportsman's Warehouse
YTL Communications – Yes Managed Wi-Fi
Outstanding Use Case: Customer Experience
WINNER
Netcracker and Odido – Cloud-Native BSS Transformation Powers Brand Consolidation
Finalists:
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
TransUnion – Branded Call Display with 'Call Reason' is Improving Customer Engagement and Boosting Revenue for Businesses
Outstanding Use Case: Driving Digital Transformation
WINNER
Boldyn Networks – The Hola 5G Oulu Project
Finalists:
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
WINNER
Qualcomm – Viettel High Technology Industries Corporation (VHT)’s O-RAN 5G Massive MIMO Network Deployment with Qualcomm Dragonwing Cellular Infrastructure Platforms
Finalists:
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
KT – Nationwide VoNR Launch
Wind River – Wind River Cloud Platform
Outstanding Use Case: Network Automation
WINNER
Netcracker Technology – Netcracker Domain Automation for Swisscom Autonomous Networking
Finalists:
Amdocs – Accelerating Network Automation
Mycom – Mycom and Globe Telecom's Autonomous Networks Assurance Solution
Singapore Telecommunications Limited – Automated 5G SA RAN Slice Assurance
Outstanding Use Case: Telco Cloud
WINNER
Huawei – TICC Cloud-Native Platform Empowering China Mobile's Next-Gen Telco Operations
Finalists:
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
