2026 Winners and Finalists
View the 2026 winners along with the full list of finalists per category.
Read the article from Phil Harvey, Editor of Light Reading here.
Company of the Year
WINNER
Credo
Finalists:
- Amphenol Network Solutions
- Credo
- Fiber Broadband Association
- LotusFlare
- Nordic Semiconductor
- SiTime Corp.
- Vecima
Executive of the Year
WINNER
Gary Smith, President and CEO, Ciena
Finalists:
- Anurag Dhingra, SVP and GM, Enterprise Connectivity and Collaboration, Cisco
- Nicolas Girard, CEO, OXIO
- Stephen Rose, CEO, Render Networks
- Gary Smith, President and CEO, Ciena
- Åsa Tamsons, SVP and Head of Enterprise Wireless Solutions, Ericsson
- Rajesh Vashist, Chairman and CEO, SiTime.
Most Innovative Agentic AI Product or Solution
WINNER
Altice Labs – NOSSIS Genius SENTINEL & NOSSIS Genius ARISE
Finalists:
- Altice Labs – NOSSIS Genius SENTINEL & NOSSIS Genius ARISE
- Amdocs – Amdocs Cognitive Core
- Comviva – MobiLytix Marketing Studio
- Infovista – VistAI
- InterDigital – AI-enabled Teleoperation
- Kentik – Kentik AI Advisor
- Netcracker Technology – Netcracker Agentic AI Solution
- Nokia – Agentic AI-powered network slicing
- Qualcomm Technologies – Qualcomm Dragonwing Agentic RAN Management Service
- Rakuten Symphony – Rakuten AI for Telecom.
Most Innovative Broadband Product
WINNER
Tarana Wireless – Tarana G2
Finalists:
- AOI – Quantum18
- Calix – Calix One Access with 50G-PON
- Harmonic – SeaStar Optical Node
- Inseego – MiFi PRO M4
- Tarana Wireless – Tarana G2
- Vecima – Entra ERM4 Series
- Vecima – Entra XGS-PON
- WEI – WEI Connect
Most Innovative Cloud Product or Solution
WINNER
Singtel – RE:AI
Finalists:
Calix – SmartMDU
NetLync – Entitlements-as-a-Service
Rakuten Symphony – Rakuten Cloud
Singtel – RE:AI
TNS – TNS Hosted Cloud Connect
Vecima Networks – Entra vCMTS.
Most Innovative Network API Product or Platform
WINNER
LotusFlare – LFAMP
Finalists:
- Cisco – Cisco Cloud Control with MCP-Native Network APIs
- Comviva – NGAGE
- LotusFlare – LFAMP
- Singtel – SingVerify
- Vonage – Vonage Identity Insights API.
Most Innovative New Networking Product (Cloud or Data Center)
WINNER
Ciena – DCOM
Finalists:
- Arrcus – Arrcus Inference Network Fabric (AINF)
- Ciena – DCOM
- Huawei – E9000U AI-Native Infrastructure
Most Innovative Optical Networking Product or Solution (Components)
WINNER
Credo – ZeroFlap Optical Transceivers
Finalists:
- Ciena – Vesta 200 6.4T CPX
- Credo – ZeroFlap Optical Transceivers
- Marvell – 1.6T Optical DSP Platform
- NewPhotonics – NPC505 Series PIC NPO Chiplet
- OpenLight Photonics – 1.6T DR8 Silicon Photonics PIC
Most Innovative Optical Networking Product or Solution (Systems)
WINNER
ZTE – HI-OTN Solution
Finalists:
- Ciena – WaveLogic 6 Extreme 1.6Tbit/s quantum-safe encryption module
- Tejas Networks – TJ1600-D3 Hyper Scalable DCI and Optical Platform
- ZTE – HI-OTN Solution
Most Innovative RAN Product or Solution
WINNER
MaxLinear – Sierra
Finalists:
- Capgemini and Deutsche Telekom – Intelligent RAN Automation
- Cohere Technologies – ECHO
- Cohere Technologies – Pulsone Multi-G
- Freshwave – 5G on Omni
- MaxLinear – Sierra
- ZTE – AIREngine
- ZTE – Full-Scenario Indoor Digitalization Solutions.
Most Innovative Satellite or Non-Terrestrial Network Product or Solution
WINNER
Mavenir – Full-Stack NTN Platform
Finalists:
- Capgemini – Intelligent Beam Hopping
- Ceva – PentaG-NTN
- Contrivian – Contrivian Constellation
- MatSing and KT Corp – SuperCell UAM Solution
- Mavenir – Full-Stack NTN Platform
- Motive – Motive Entitlement Server
- MTN – StarEdge Horizon
Most Innovative Telco AI/ML Product or Solution
WINNER
Federated Wireless – Spectrum AI
Finalists:
- AirHop – Energy Savings with MIMO Adaptation (ESMA)
- AOI – QuantumLink AI
- AXON Networks – AXON Maestro
- F5 – BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes
- Federated Wireless – Spectrum AI
- stc and Huawei – AI Calling
- Paradise Mobile – Native Agentic AI
- RADCOM – Neura AI Agent Suite
- Red Hat – Telenor AI Factory
- SK Telecom – VISTA.
Most Innovative Telecom Security Product or Solution
WINNER
Singtel – Hybrid Quantum-Safe Network
Finalists:
- Allot – OffNetSecure
- Axiado – Trusted Control/Compute Unit (TCU)
- Mobileum – Conversational AI-driven Voice Threat Detection and Prevention
- OXIO – Advanced Core Routing (ACR)
- Singtel – Hybrid Quantum-Safe Network.
Most Innovative Telecom Software (OSS/BSS) Product or Solution
WINNER
Rakuten Symphony – Rakuten Symphony OSS
Finalists:
- Altice Labs – NOSSIS One with Genius
- Gaiia – gaiia AI Node
- HORISEN – Messaging Operating System
- IDI Billing Solutions – IDI Platform
- Netcracker – Agentic AI Solution
- Rakuten Symphony – Rakuten Symphony OSS.
Most Innovative Test & Measurement Product or Solution
WINNERS
Spirent Communications – Landslide AI Agent
Finalists:
- Keysight – AresONE-1600GE
- Keysight – FITS-8CH
- Spirent Communications – Landslide AI Agent.
Outstanding Use Case: AI-Driven Broadband & Access Networks
WINNER
TIME dotCom and Huawei Technologies – AI-Driven HBB Intelligent O&M
Finalists:
- AOI – Predicting amplifier faults on Charter's Spectrum network
- Huawei and TIME dotCom – Automating home broadband fault resolution in Malaysia
- Netcracker – Streamlining network operations with GFiber
- Plume and TELUS – Cutting support calls with AI-driven digital care.
Outstanding Use Case: 5G/6G Innovation
WINNER
ZTE and China Mobile – Pre6G GigaMIMO
Finalists:
- KT – Prioritizing emergency communications for Korea's National Fire Agency
- Singtel – Replacing office infrastructure with 5G eSIM workspaces
- ZTE and China Mobile – Turning overlapping cell interference into capacity on a live 5G-Advanced network.
Outstanding Use Case: AI/Machine Learning
WINNER
Optus Australia and Ericsson – AI-Native RAN Optimization
Finalists:
- Blue Planet, a division of Ciena – Cutting NOC triage time with an AI-driven IP digital twin
- China Mobile and Huawei – Running a zero-touch core network with multi-agent AI
- Optus and Ericsson – Replacing static RAN rules with real-time AI on a live 5G network
- SK Telecom – Tuning 5G cells autonomously with an AI-RAN optimizer
- ZTE and China Mobile – Automating core network fault, complaint and change handling with AI agents.
Outstanding Use Case: Bridging the Digital Divide
WINNER
Fidium, Lincoln County, and the Maine Connectivity Authority
Finalists:
- EOLO and Qualcomm – Delivering gigabit fixed wireless to Italian towns beyond the fiber map
- eX² Technology and Navajo County – Building open-access middle-mile fiber across rural and tribal Arizona
- Fidium and Maine Connectivity Authority – Bringing countywide fiber to Lincoln County, Maine
- HFCL – Hardening BharatNet's rural backbone with resilient routing
- Vistabeam and Tarana Wireless – Making the nation's first reported BEAD-funded connection in Ogallala, Nebraska
- WOW! – Extending fiber to underserved southeastern Alabama.
Outstanding Use Case: Customer Experience
WINNER
Netcracker Technology – Bringing agentic AI into a Tier 1 US operator's wholesale operations
Finalists:
- Airties and T-Mobile – Optimizing home Wi-Fi continuously for millions of subscribers
- Boingo Wireless – Converging Wi-Fi and cellular at Citi Field for the New York Mets
- BT Group and Amdocs – Streamlining the contract-to-activation journey
- China Mobile Henan and Huawei – Making network benefits visible on the device screen
- e&, Amdocs and NVIDIA – Automating customer care journeys with agentic AI
- Glo Fiber Business – Replacing 12 Internet drops with one fiber backbone at Ford's Colony
- Motive and e& – Raising first-call resolution with unified service management
- Netcracker – Bringing agentic AI into a Tier 1 US operator's wholesale operations
- ZTE and China Mobile – Letting subscribers customize 5G performance in plain language.
Outstanding Use Case: Energy Efficiency & Sustainability
WINNER
Deutsche Telekom – Full Stack Energy Efficiency
Finalists:
- Deutsche Telekom – Cutting 5G core energy consumption without a hardware refresh
- Huawei and stc – Shrinking telco cloud energy use and footprint in Saudi Arabia
- KT and Palantir – Automating basestation sleep scheduling with AI safeguards.
Outstanding Use Case: Fixed Wireless & Broadband Innovation
WINNER
Nextlink Internet and Tarana Wireless – Tarana G2 BEAD deployments
Finalists:
- Mediacom, Harmonic, ATX Networks and Hitron – Taking DOCSIS 4.0 from the lab to live customers in Moline, Illinois
- Nextlink Internet and Tarana Wireless – Activating the nation's first BEAD-funded tower in rural Louisiana
- RtBrick and Citynet – Scaling an Austrian ISP's broadband with disaggregated routing
- ZTE – Stretching mmWave fixed wireless beyond visual range for EOLO.
Outstanding Use Case: High-Capacity Transport & Optical Innovation
WINNER
HFCL Limited – IBR Microcable Family
Finalists:
- HFCL – Doubling fiber capacity in full ducts for a hyperscale AI buildout
- Seren Juno, Ribbon and Acacia – Proving 20 Tbit/s per fiber pair across the trans-Pacific JUNO cable.
Outstanding Use Case: IoT
WINNER
Deutsche Telekom IoT GmbH and Mavenir – Remote Packet Core for Connected Cars
Finalists:
- Aeris and Orange Business Belgium – Embedding zero-trust security in the cellular network for enterprise IoT
- Deutsche Telekom IoT and Mavenir – Localizing connected car traffic with a distributed packet core.
Outstanding Use Case: Monetization & New Revenue Models
WINNER
Telstra and Ericsson – Telstra Dynamic 5G
Finalists:
- Bango – Bundling subscriptions into new telco revenue at Telenet
- m:tel Montenegro and Whalebone – Turning network security into a mass-market revenue line
- Telstra and Ericsson – Selling guaranteed 5G slices by the hour with a money-back SLA.
Outstanding Use Case: Network API Monetization
WINNER
Motive, Vivo Brazil and Telefónica
Finalists:
- Mobileum – Turning network location intelligence into child-safety services in India
- Motive, Vivo Brazil and Telefónica – Replacing SMS passcodes with SIM-based silent authentication.
Outstanding Use Case: Network Modernization & Automation
WINNER
Deutsche Telekom, Amdocs, HPE, Mavenir and Nokia – Horizontal Telco Cloud
Finalists:
- Blue Planet (Ciena) – Consolidating 30 orchestration engines into one order-to-service platform
- Cisco – Modernizing Levi's Stadium with Wi-Fi 7 ahead of the Super Bowl
- Comarch Communications and ASTRID – Replacing Belgium's public-safety BSS without a moment of downtime
- CSG – Modernizing M1's B2B billing on a cloud-native platform
- Deutsche Telekom – Running fixed and mobile core workloads on one cloud-native platform
- KT – Automating 120,000 wireless network operations a year
- MetTel – Retiring copper at 23,000 US Postal Service sites
- Netcracker and e& UAE – Cutting enterprise service delivery from weeks to days with cross-domain orchestration
- Rakuten Symphony – Digitizing site rollout and management for AT&T, 1&1 and Rakuten Mobile
- Singtel – Rebuilding Nestlé's global network for AI workloads.
Outstanding Use Case: Network Security & Resilience
WINNER
China Unicom, Huawei Technologies and Peking University – CARSI 5G Free-Mobility Private Network
Finalists:
- China Unicom, Huawei and Peking University – Replacing campus VPNs with a federated-identity 5G private network
- CyberRidge – Proving harvest-proof optical transmission with Vodafone
- Mobileum and Airtel Africa – Detecting SIM box fraud in minutes across African markets.
Outstanding Use Case: Private Wireless Networks
WINNER
Extreme Networks and Honda Center
Finalists:
- China Mobile, Huawei and Haier – Running six factories on one 5G-Advanced network with ambient IoT
- China Telecom Nanjing, ZTE and Phoenix Contact – Moving factory PLC control into the cloud over 5G
- Extreme Networks and Honda Center – Lighting up the first US arena on standard-power 6GHz Wi-Fi
- Moso Networks, Khasm Labs, Druid Software and eino – Building a deterministic private 5G network across the Port of Tacoma.