Hong Kong, March 11, 2014 – Telecom Asia today announced the finalists in its 17th Telecom Asia Awards, with 23 judges nominating their top choices in 12 categories.
This year the balance shifted strongly to developing markets with operators in the Philippines receiving 10 nominations, followed by Malaysia with seven and Indonesia with four. Globe Telecom jumped to the top, receiving a total of seven nominations. It had just three last year.
NTT Communications and SingTel both had four while PLDT/Smart and Pacnet each was nominated three times. Receiving two nominations were AT&T, BT Global Services, Celcom, CSL, Digi, HGC, Indosat, SK Telecom, Softbank Mobile and Telekom Malaysia (TM).
The Best Telecom CEO of the Year category covered a mix of developing and developed markets, with nominations going to SK Telecom’s Sung Min Ha, Softbank’s Masayoshi Son, Globe’s Ernest Cu, PLDT’s Napoleon Nazareno and Vinod Kumar from Tata Communications. But for the Best Mobile Carrier the finalists were the usual suspects -- SK Telecom, Softbank Mobile, SingTel and CSL – except for China Mobile.
Malaysia had three finalists in the Most Innovative Partnership Strategy category (Celcom, Digi and YTL), with China Unicom and Globe rounding out the top five. Four telcos from Southeast Asia placed in the Most Advanced Approach to CEM (Celcom Axiata, Globe, Indosat and TM), with AT&T as the lone advanced market player.
The most hotly contested categories, receiving between 10 and 14 nominations each, were Telecom CEO of the Year, Best Mobile Carrier, Most Innovative Telecom Project, Most Innovative Partnership Strategy and Best Managed Services Provider. Across all categories, Telecom Asia received a record number of self-nominations, which the judging panel reviewed before finalizing their own nominations.
“The volume and quality of submissions from telcos definitely shot up this year. I’ve been inundated with queries for two months,” said Telecom Asia group editor Joseph Waring. “This response has given judges more specific data in which to base their nominations.”
There were no nominations this year for the Best Asia Telecom Carrier, as we’ve made it a best-of-the-best award that goes to the company receiving the most points across all categories during voting.
Now in its 17th year, the awards are the region’s longest-running and most prestigious telecom industry awards. They reward innovative and outstanding performance by Asian service providers and industry executives. The awards are held in conjunction with Telecom Asia's Telco Strategies conference. The theme for 2014 is "At the crossroads: Innovation strategies to profit in the digital world."
Final selection is made by an independent panel of industry experts, who will cast votes on the basis of innovation, financial performance, technology, market leadership and corporate governance. Winners will be notified in April. The awards will be presented at a ceremony on May 7 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Jakarta.