News
This year, the World Communications Awards 2018 received a record number of nominations across 23 categories
The winners of the 2018 World Communication Awards have been revealed, at a glittering ceremony in London’s West End.
Celebrating innovation and achievement across the full spectrum of the telecoms value chain, the awards recognised some of the biggest projects and initiatives in the industry.
"We’ve been really impressed with the quality and scope of the entries this year. Whether you’re talking about the emergence of 5G mobile networks, full fibre broadband rollout or smart city and industry initiatives, it’s an exciting time to be involved in the global telecoms sector. Whittling down the entries to produce a shortlist was a really challenging task. We want to congratulate the winners and the highly commended entries – the standard this year has been incredible," said a representative for the WCA Judging Panel.
CEO of the Year
Hyperoptic’s, Dana Tobak, scooped the CEO of the Year award for her tireless work and advocacy for the rollout of full fibre FTTH services across the UK. Her company recently raised £250m to finance the rollout of 5 million FTTH connections by 2025.
"The recent £250 million we secured in funding is going to fuel another period of fast expansion of both our network and team. [We] will ensure that we scale and employ capital efficiently and effectively. Hyperoptic’s successful growth is not just great for us – ultimately it means that we can Gigabit Britain faster," Tobak said.
CTO of the Year
Competition was particularly fierce in the much-coveted CTO of the Year award, with BT’s CTO Howard Watson claiming the prize.
Watson was commended on his work in planning and developing BT’s smart hybrid network, which looks to combine the power of the company’s mobile, fixed line and WIFI networks to deliver ubiquitous, next generation connectivity across the UK.
With BT looking to be the first operator in the country to rollout commercialised 5G services and deliver 10 million FTTH connections through its network subsidiary Openreach, Watson is sure to have his work cut out over the coming months.
The World Communication Awards 2018 Roll of Honour
The UX Award – Telia Carrier
Digital Lifestyle Award – PCCW Global
Best Enterprise Service – Orange Business Services
Cloud Infrastructure Award – Colt Technology
NFV Innovation Award – Verizon
Most Innovative IOT Solution – Vodafone UK
Innovation Award – Operator – Deutsche Telekom
Innovation Award – Vendor – Openet
Social Contribution Award – Smart Communications
Broadband Pioneer Award – Hyperoptic
Best Network Transformation Initiative – CMHK & Huawei
Digital Transformation Award – HKT & Huawei
Platform Award – Cisco Jasper
Smart Cities Award – CBNL
Regional Wholesale Operator – Liquid Telecom
Best Wholesale Operator – Telia Carrier
5G Leadership Award – KT
Best Operator in an Emerging Market – Orange
Best Operator – NTT Communications
Users’ Choice Award – AT&T
Woman in Telecoms Award – Catherine Michel, Sigma Systems
CTO of the Year – Howard Watson, BT
CEO of the year – Dana Tobak, Hyperoptic
For a more in depth analysis of each of the categories and winners, don’t forget to download your copy of the WCA 2018 Winners Magazine by clicking here.
