Global Carrier Awards 2018 winners revealed at gala dinner

CHECK OUT ALL OF THE PICTURES FROM THIS YEAR'S GLOBAL CARRIER AWARDS

Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier, which was recently relaunched, took home awards for Best Global Wholesale Carrier (Data), Best pan-European Wholesale Carrier, and Best European Project. Neutrona picked up awards for Wholesale Innovation Disruptor of the Year, Best Data Service Innovation in an Emerging Market, Best Enterprise Partnership and Best OSS/BSS Deployment.

World record-breaking polar explorer Ben Saunders was the guest speaker at the 2018 GCAs, which took place at the Troxy Theatre in London. Saunders is one of the world’s leading polar explorers, and a record-breaking long-distance skier who has covered more than 6,000km (3,700 miles) on foot in the Polar Regions since 2001.

His accomplishments include leading The Scott Expedition, the longest human-powered polar journey in history, and the first completion of the expedition that defeated Captain Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton, a 105-day round-trip from Ross Island on the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back again.

The night was dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of the carrier community, with a number of carriers bagging two or more gongs at the event. Orange International Carriers (Best Global Voice Carrier and Best Anti-Fraud Innovation), PCCW Global (Best Subsea Innovation and Best Voice Service Innovation – Emerging Market), Epsilon (BestSDN/NFV Deployment and Best Customer Testimony), all took home multiple gongs. So did Colt Technology Services (Best Marketing Team and Best Voice Service Innovation – Mature Market) and C&W Networks (Best Caribbean Wholesale Carrier and Best Marketing Campaign).

The Awards were handed out by Capacity Media CEO Rosalind Irving and Capacity Editor-in-Chief and head judge for the GCAs Jason McGee-Abe. Airtel presented the pan-European wholesale carrier award.

McGee-Abe thanked all of the entrants for their submissions, congratulating the winners and the industry on all of their achievements this year. He said: “Congratulations to all the esteemed nominees and to the very worthy winners of our 14th Global Carrier Awards. We’ve seen a number of key innovations and developments in the wholesale market this year so it was great to take the time to celebrate the exciting companies, projects and partnerships in today’s dynamic wholesale carrier industry. A special thank you also to our sponsors for their continued support."

Liquid Telecom was named Best African Carrier, with Global Cloud Xchange picking up the regional gong for Asia, and Telefonica taking the award for the Latin America region. Etisalat was named best Middle East Wholesale Carrier, while NTT Communications won for North America and OTEGLOBE took the award for Best Eastern European and CIS Wholesale Carrier.

The award for Best Data Centre went to Iron Mountain, while Rack Centre won for Best Data Centre Innovation. Best Internet Exchange was NetIX Communications and DE-CIX took home the trophy for Best Internet Exchange Innovation.

The GCAs also recognised the industry for its projects, with Airtel Business winning for African Project. Tele2 Kazakhstan won for Asia, while NJFX won for North America. Gold Data took the project award for Latam, with Omantel winning for the Middle Eastern Project. Subsea Project of the Year went to Hawaiki Submarine Cable, while Terrestrial Project went to Newroz Telecom.

Marketing and sales both play a key role in how the industry operates. Verizon Partner Solutions were named Best Wholesale Sales Team, while GlobeNet won for Best Social Media Campaign. IXcellerate was recognised for Best Marketing Campaign around Industry Events.

Innovation is often a key topic discussed at Capacity events. In the Innovation category, The Sphere won Best Cloud Innovation, while Ciena won for Best Network Technology Innovation. Virtual1 took the award for Best Data Centre Service Innovation in a mature market, and Dialogic took home the trophy for Best Unified Communications Innovation. Best OTT Partnership went to A1 Telekom Austria and Voxbone bagged the award for Best SMS Innovation.

Finally, the Special Recognition section were given for unique achievements in the industry this year. Tofane Global bagged an award for Best Strategic Acquisition, with Best CSR Initiative going to HGC Global Communications.

Download the full list of winners HERE