Light Reading's Leading Lights Awards 2024: The Finalists

Light Reading is pleased to announce the finalists in the 20 categories of the 20th anniversary year of the Leading Lights Awards program.

Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief

July 30, 2024

8 Min Read

On behalf of Light Reading's editors, I am pleased to announce the Leading Lights Awards shortlist for the contest's 20th anniversary year.

For two decades, the Leading Lights has been Light Reading's way of recognizing the innovation, technical and market achievements of the rapidly changing global communications industry. 

We celebrate the industry's achievements independently of the events, conferences or trade shows your firm sponsors. That said, no awards system is perfect and we understand the challenges of applying an objective methodology to a subjective process. To pull that off as fairly as possible, you need an engaged group of editors and reporters, an exceptional panel of independent judges, and an audience that supports those efforts and believes in the credibility of our brand.

Twenty years in, we appreciate the broad support for the Leading Lights as one of the top awards programs in this industry. Even though we can't call every entry a finalist, we admire the efforts of the companies and individuals who have entered. Each year, we come away from this process with a renewed enthusiasm for how much innovation is happening in communications networks worldwide.

Now it's time to reveal the finalists our editors and guest judges have picked for the Light Reading Leading Lights Awards. The not-so-shortlist is below:

Leading Lights logo black and white

(Source: The Leading Lights Awards)

Products and services

Most Innovative Optical Networking Product

Awarded to the optical systems vendor or optical components vendor that has provided the most innovative optical networking solution for service provider or webscale customers.

  • Acacia – Delphi DSP ASIC 

  • Adtran Networks SE – Coherent 100ZR Pluggable Series

  • Credo Technology Group – Dove 850 Linear Receive Optics (LRO) DSP

  • Infinera – ICE-X 800G multi-haul intelligent coherent pluggables

  • Lumentum – 800G ZR+ Transceivers

  • Marvell – Orion 800G Coherent Digital Signal Processor (DSP)

  • Precision OT – Genesee Dispersion Compensation ASIC

  • Qualcomm – 10G Fiber Gateway Platform

Most Innovative Routing and Switching Solution

Awarded to the vendor that has launched the most innovative hardware- or software-based routing and switching solution for network operators, enterprises, cloud networks or data center applications.

  • DZS – Saber 2200 Coherent xHaul Ethernet transport switch

  • Juniper Networks – AI-Native Networking Platform 

  • Marvell – Teralynx 10

  • Nokia – 7730 Service Interconnect Router (SXR)

  • RtBrick – FullStack

Most Innovative Service Provider Transport Product or Solution

Awarded to the vendor providing the most innovative transport solution for service provider customers. The range of applications could include satellite backhaul, microwave, mobile network fronthaul and backhaul, as well as traditional telecom WDM.

  • BroadbandOne – Telco-as-a-Service (TaaS)

  • Infinera – ICE-X 400G Single Fiber 

  • IP Infusion – OcNOS 6.4

  • Marvell – COLORZ 800 ZR/ZR+ Pluggable Module

  • Nokia – Coherent Routing Solution for IP-Optical Network Convergence

  • ZTE – Pluggable 800G OTN Solution

Most Innovative Telecom Software Product or Solution

Awarded to the vendor providing the most innovative solution that helps CSPs evolve and improve their IT back office (OSS/BSS/CX), making their networks more efficient and allowing them to deliver a better customer experience.

  • Amdocs – amAIz

  • Infinera – Open Wave Manager

  • Jio Platforms Ltd. – JioBrain

  • Mavenir – Digital Enablement Platform

  • Optiva – Optiva BSS Platform (OBP) on Google Marketplace

  • Rakuten Symphony – Rakuten Site Manager

  • Tata Elxsi – Sky DNE (Digital Network Enabler)

  • Totogi – Charging-as-a-Service

  • Vonage – Network Registry

  • ZTE – uSmartNet

Most Innovative Test & Measurement Product or Solution

Awarded to the systems vendor with the most innovative new solution that aids communications service providers in network testing, measurement, monitoring or assurance.

  • Keysight – AresONE 800GE Dual Interface Model-M

  • Ookla – Downdetector Explorer with AI-Powered Situation Reports

  • RADCOM – Virtual Test Drive

  • RouteThis – Certify

  • VIAVI – INX 760 Probe Microscope

  • Witbe – Quality of Experience and Data Usage Benchmarking Technology

Most Innovative RAN Product or Solution

Awarded to the vendor with the most innovative radio access network (RAN) product or solution that was either launched or significantly improved during the past year.

  • Cohere Technologies and Vodafone – Universal Spectrum Multiplier Software

  • Corning – Everon 5G Enterprise Radio Access Network (ERAN) 620

  • EdgeQ – Base Station on a Chip

  • Globalstar – XCOM Radio Access Network (RAN)

  • Radisys, Lockheed Martin and Intel – 5G Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB)

  • Tejas Networks – TJ1400 Ultra-Converged Baseband Product

  • ZTE – UBR Pioneer

Most Innovative Broadband Product or Solution

Awarded to the company that has launched the most innovative new product or solution to enable the delivery or enhance the user experience of high-speed broadband access.

  • Amazon – eero Max 7

  • ATX Networks – GigaXtend Orchestrator

  • Calix – Calix Broadband Platform Intelligent Access Solution

  • Gfiber – 20 Gig + Wi-Fi 7

  • Harmonic – Beacon Intelligent Speed Maximizer

  • Nokia – Next generation multi-PON toolkit

  • Tarana Wireless – Gigabit 1 (G1) in 6GHz

  • Vecima Networks – Entra EN9000 GAP Node

Most Innovative Cloud Product or Service

Awarded to the service provider, cloud provider or vendor that has launched the most innovative cloud-native, communications-focused product or service during the past year.

  • Arrcus – FlexMCN Egress Cost Control (ECC)

  • Console Connect – Edge SIM

  • Extreme Networks – ExtremeCloud IQ

  • IBM – Hybrid Cloud Mesh

  • Juniper Networks – AI-Native Networking Platform

  • Nokia – Corteca Home Controller

  • Rakuten Symphony – Rakuten Cloud

  • Titan.ium Platform and Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier

  • Wind River – Wind River Studio

Companies and executives

Company of the Year

Awarded to the company (public or private) that stands out from its competitors, innovates constantly, has a track record of earnings stability and has the potential to outperform the market.

  • Amdocs

  • KT

  • Singtel

  • SK Telecom

  • Vecima Networks

  • Zayo Group

Executive of the Year

Awarded to the senior executive who has demonstrated decisive leadership, good judgement and has stood out in the past year as someone who made an unmistakable difference in their company or business unit.

  • Arpit Joshipura, GM, SVP, Linux Foundation

  • Dinni Jain, CEO, GFiber

  • Elif Yenihan Kaya, Director, Network Capabilities, Turkcell

  • Bruce Kelley, SVP and CTO, Netscout

  • Woojune Kim, President and Head of Networks Business, Samsung

  • Igor Leprince, Group CEO, Boldyn Networks

  • Bill Major, CEO, FiberLight, LLC

  • Rajesh Vashist, Chairman and CEO, SiTime Corp.

Outstanding Use Cases

AI/Machine Learning

  • 6D Technologies – AI-driven Customer Value Management Platform

  • Ciena – Blue Planet Network Health Predictor

  • Huawei and China Mobile – ADN Net Master

  • Jio Platforms Ltd. – Forecasting Network Capacity with JioBrain

  • Mavenir – Network Intelligence as a Service (NIaaS)

  • SK Telecom, Nokia, NTT and NTT Docomo – AI-native Air Interface (AI-AI)

  • SK Telecom – On-Device AI for Smartphone Power Saving

  • ZTE and DITO – 3D Radio Composer Solution

Bridging the Digital Divide

  • Baicells – Connecting the Tohono O'odham Tribe in Arizona

  • Calix – Broadband Academy & The Broadband Success Playbook for Tribes

  • Conexon, Washington EMC, Tri-County Electric Cooperative – Conexon Connect Fiber Broadband Impact

  • DZS, Connect2First, Irby Utilities – City of Cabot Fiber Network

  • Fibertime Networks, Nokia and VulaCoin – South African Internet Access

  • HFCL – Baidabettu and Baslambi Villages

  • Hughes and Mexico's SICT – Isla Santa Margarita Smart Village Project

  • Hughes, Microsoft and Colombia's MICT – Juntas de Internet: Connectivity Communities

  • Tarana Wireless and Choice Broadband – Navajo Nation project

  • Veea – Veea Digital Divide Solution for Argamukti, Indonesia

Customer Experience

  • Arelion – OSTTRA's Ethernet Services

  • Comba Telecom and Highline – Viracopos International Airport's 5G Indoor Network

  • DZS and UScellular – Self-Install 5G CPE

  • Frontier Communications – Marcus Communications' Business Fiber

  • HFCL – Customer Loyalty 

  • PearlComm and Conexon – Pearl River Valley EPA Fiber Network

  • Spectrum Enterprise – Texas State Aquarium

Network Energy Efficiency

  • Amdocs and Claro Argentina – Mobile Network Energy Efficiency

  • Mavenir – Energy-Efficient 5G UPF

  • Nokia Mobile Networks – Virtual Power Plant Solution

  • SK Telecom, Intel and Nokia – AI-Assisted Network Energy Efficiency Solutions

Networked Edge

  • Graphiant and Rampart CIO – New Network Edge

  • Qwilt, Cirion – Media Delivery for Content Publishers in Latin America

  • Rakuten Symphony – Stateful Edge with Rakuten Cloud

  • Singtel – Paragon for Telcos

Private Networks

  • Anterix – 900 MHz Private Wireless Ecosystem for Utilities

  • Nokia, Solis Tower de Brasil – Vera Cruz do Xingu Farm

  • Trilogy NextGen, Microsoft and Ericsson – TBN Studio

RAN Deployment

  • Freshwave – Princess Alexandra Hospital 

  • Mavenir – Paradise Mobile

  • P.I. Works – Telus

  • Skylo – D2D Satellite Service

Network and Service Automation

  • Airties – Airties Orbit

  • Ciena – Spectrum Defragmentation App

  • Huawei and China Mobile Zhejiang – ICN Master Solution

  • Nokia – Multi-Access Network Slicing

  • Radisys, Dense Air and EdgeQ, Inc. - Millennium Lakeside Garage Network Pilot

  • ZTE and China Mobile Fujian – Network Optimization

IoT

  • Cradlepoint – City of Las Vegas Smart Park

  • Infovista and Italgas – Automated Smart Meter Monitoring and Assurance

  • Skylo, Murata and Sony – 5G-Ready Narrowband IoT Over Satellite

  • ZTE, China Mobile and Guangdong Limited – China Southern Power Grid (Shenzhen)

Driving Digital Transformation

  • Boingo Wireless – MTA, LIRR Cellular Expansion

  • Comba Telecom – Smart Transport Service

  • LotusFlare and Globe Telecom – GFiber Prepaid

  • Matrixx Software – One New Zealand LaunchPad MVNE

  • Spectrum Enterprise – Paul Miller Ford

Congratulations to all our finalists and, again, thanks to everyone who entered the Leading Lights.

Read more about:

Leading Lights

About the Author

Phil Harvey

Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

Phil Harvey has been a Light Reading writer and editor for more than 18 years combined. He began his second tour as the site's chief editor in April 2020.

His interest in speed and scale means he often covers optical networking and the foundational technologies powering the modern Internet.

Harvey covered networking, Internet infrastructure and dot-com mania in the late 90s for Silicon Valley magazines like UPSIDE and Red Herring before joining Light Reading (for the first time) in late 2000.

After moving to the Republic of Texas, Harvey spent eight years as a contributing tech writer for D CEO magazine, producing columns about tech advances in everything from supercomputing to cellphone recycling.

Harvey is an avid photographer and camera collector – if you accept that compulsive shopping and "collecting" are the same.

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