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Light Reading is delighted to announce the winners emerging from hundreds of entries and dozens of finalists in the 24 categories that make up this year's Leading Lights Awards program.
December 2, 2022
The Leading Lights is Light Reading's flagship awards program, returning for its 18th year to recognize the industry's top companies and their executives for outstanding achievements in next-generation communications technology, applications, services, strategies and innovation.
The judging process is never easy, with so many good entries and competition in this ever-evolving industry. We'd like to thank our panel of judges for the 2022 Leading Lights. Our judges included Dell'Oro Group's Jeff Heynen; Tantra Analyst's Prakash Sangam; our Informa colleagues James Crawshaw, Roz Roseboro, Pablo Tomasi and Jaimie Lenderman; Rosenblatt Securities' Mike Genovese; Vertical Systems Group's Erin Dunne and our Heavy Reading colleagues Sterling Perrin, Jim Hodges, Jennifer Clark and Gabriel Brown.
Check out our Leading Lights-related podcasts in Light Reading's "What's the Story?" podcast series:
Our list of finalists follows, along with the Leading Lights winner and the Editor's Choice winner, if awarded:
Figure 1:
Best New Video/Media Product or Service
Awarded to the company that has launched the most innovative streaming video or other media product or service during the past year.
The Finalists
24i – 24iQ
MediaKind – MediaKind Engage
Comcast Technology Solutions – VideoAI
Sportsnet (Rogers Sports & Media) and Quickplay – SN NOW
Vonage – Interactive Broadcast with Experience Composer
Spectrum Enterprise – Spectrum Enterprise TV Streaming Access
The Winner
Comcast Technology Solutions – VideoAI
Company of the Year (Private)
Awarded to the privately held firm that stands out from its competitors, innovates constantly, makes investors proud and makes employees happy.
The Finalists
Celona
CUJO AI
EFFECT Photonics
Transaction Network Services
Segra
DriveNets
Cohere
Colt Technology Services
Arrcus
Vapor IO
The Winner
DriveNets
Editor's Choice
CUJO AI
Company of the Year (Public)
Awarded to the publicly listed firm that stands out from its competitors, innovates constantly, makes investors proud and makes employees happy.
The Finalists
Ciena
A10 Networks
CSG
Clearfield Inc.
Amdocs
Ooredoo Group
Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison
Calix
Comcast Business
The Winner
Calix
Outstanding Digital Enablement Vendor
Awarded to the next-generation OSS/BSS/CX, analytics or digital commerce systems vendor that stands out from its competitors, innovates constantly and helps set industry trends.
The Finalists
LotusFlare
Lifecycle Software
EnterpriseWeb
Nokia
Netcracker
ZIRA
MATRIXX Software
Spectrum Enterprise
Connectbase
The Winner
EnterpriseWeb
Outstanding Test & Measurement Vendor
Awarded to the communications networking test and measurement, monitoring or assurance systems vendor that stands out from its competitors, innovates constantly and helps set the industry trends.
The Finalists
Tektronix
Juniper Networks
Mobileum
Infovista
Incognito Software Systems
Triveni Digital
Selector
Xena Networks
Accedian
Viavi Solutions
Menlo Micro
LitePoint
The Winner
Infovista
Editor's Choice
Incognito Software Systems
Outstanding Use Case: Customer Experience
Awarded to the company that used its communications technology or network to deliver a superior customer experience.
Qwilt
Orange
Minim Inc.
Spectrum Enterprise
Plume
DZS
GTT
Fujitsu Network Communications and HFR Networks
China Telecom (Americas) Corporation
Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison
The Winner
DZS
Editor's Choice
Fujitsu Network Communications and HFR Networks
Outstanding Use Case: Edge Computing
Awarded to the company that can articulate a compelling example of how it delivered edge computing solutions – either network- or customer-facing.
The Finalists
EnterpriseWeb
ZTE
American Tower
Vapor IO
The Winner
ZTE
Editor's Choice
Vapor IO
Outstanding Use Case: Private Wireless Networks
Awarded to the company that can share the most compelling example of building and/or operating a private wireless network on behalf of a corporate or municipal customer.
The Finalists
Anterix
Comba Telecom Network Systems Limited
Betacom
Boingo Wireless
Federated Wireless
ExteNet Systems
Expeto
The Winner
Anterix
Outstanding Use Case: Service Provider AI
Awarded to the company that is innovatively using artificial intelligence to improve network performance, customer service or business operations.
The Finalists
RADCOM
Juniper Networks
ZTE Corp
Comviva
Microsoft
Vitria
Amdocs
NEC
Nokia
Cox Edge
Plume
The Winner
Comviva
Editor's Choice
Microsoft
Figure 2:
Outstanding Use Case: Innovative IoT
Awarded to the service provider or vendor helping change businesses and improve customer experiences with innovative Internet of Things devices and services.
MachineQ for Asset Management
SAM Seamless Network
Ooma AirDial
Flashnet and 1NCE Light Up Washington, DC
Telia Global IoT Connectivity
Morse Micro Wi-Fi HaLow
The Winner
Flashnet and 1NCE Light Up Washington, DC
Outstanding Use Case: Service Provider Cybersecurity
Awarded for a compelling example of a network operator or other service provider delivering exceptional security products or services.
The Finalists
BT and Toshiba – Quantum secured metro network
CUJO AI and Comcast – CUJO AI On-The-Move
SecurityGen and STC – Saudi Arabia for SecurityGen ACE
Hughes Network Systems
SK Telecom – Quantum cryptography service
GTT Communications – Cloud-based cybersecurity services
Comcast Business – Secure network solutions
The Winner
BT and Toshiba – Quantum secured metro network
Outstanding Use Case: SD-WAN
Awarded to the service provider or vendor that can articulate a compelling example where they helped to provide an exceptional SD-WAN service to a customer.
The Finalists
VMware
GTT Communications
MetTel
Hughes Network Systems
Fortinet
The Winner
Hughes Network Systems
Outstanding Systems Integrator
Awarded to the vendor helping communications service providers modernize and manage their networks and businesses with innovative IT solutions.
The Finalists
NEC
Amdocs
World Wide Technology (WWT)
The Winner
Amdocs
5G Service Provider of the Year
Awarded to the network operator or other 5G service provider that had the best year ever.
The Finalists
SK Telecom
Rakuten Mobile with Rakuten Symphony
The Winner
SK Telecom
5G Technology Vendor of the Year
Awarded to the 5G technology vendor or software provider that is a standout example of excellence.
The Finalists
Amdocs
Mavenir
AMD and Xilinx
World Wide Technology
Netcracker
Rakuten Symphony
Wind River
The Winner
Wind River
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.
The Finalists
Nokia – Cloud Native Communication Suite
Mavenir – Mavenir Telco Cloud Strategy
Juniper Networks – Mist WAN Assurance
Rakuten Symphony Symworld Cloud (formerly Robin.io)
VMware – VMware Telco Cloud Automation
Amdocs – Amdocs Digital Brands SaaS Suite
F5 Inc. – BIG-IP Next Cloud-Native Network Functions (CNF)
DZS – DZS Cloud
Qualcomm Technologies Inc.
Fortinet – FortiCNP
Arrcus – Flexible Multi-Cloud Networking (FlexMCN)
The Winner
Mavenir – Mavenir Telco Cloud Strategy
Editor's Choice
Rakuten Symphony Symworld Cloud (formerly Robin.io)
Most Innovative Open RAN Product or Solution
Awarded to the vendor that has launched the most innovative open RAN product or solution during the past year.
The Finalists
VMware
AccelerComm
Picocom
Qualcomm Technologies Inc.
JMA Wireless
NEC
The Winner
JMA Wireless
Editor's Choice
NEC
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.
The Finalists
Cisco Systems Inc. – Cisco Routed Optical Networking
Juniper Networks – Cloud Metro Solution
Kyrio – Adaptive Route Control (ARC)
DriveNets – DriveNets Network Cloud
Titan.ium Platform LLC – TITAN.IUM 5G Signaling Core
Arrcus – ACE Platform
The Winner
Cisco Systems Inc. – Cisco Routed Optical Networking
Editor's Choice
Juniper Networks – Cloud Metro Solution
Most Innovative Service Provider Transport Solution
Awarded to the optical systems vendor or optical components vendor providing the most innovative optical transport solution for service provider customers.
The Finalists
Ciena
ZTE
Colt Technology Services and Ciena
DZS
Marvell
The Winner
Marvell
Editor's Choice
Ciena
Light Reading MVPs
Awarded to the communications industry individuals, at any corporate level, who made an unmistakable difference in their company, community, culture – or all three.
The Finalists
Gary Bolton, President and CEO, Fiber Broadband Association
John Baker, Senior Vice President of Ecosystem Business Development, Mavenir
Tonya Stopke, SVP, Global Service Provider, World Wide Technology
Joe Madden, Chief Analyst, Mobile Experts
John Mezzalingua, CEO, JMA Wireless
Ganesh Shenbagaraman, Head of Integrated Products and Ecosystems, Radisys
The Winners
Gary Bolton, President and CEO, Fiber Broadband Association
Joe Madden, Chief Analyst, Mobile Experts
Outstanding Use Case: Broadband Deployment
Awarded to the company that has delivered an exceptional high-speed broadband access experience in the past year – via fixed wireless, satellite, fiber or cable.
The Finalists
IP Infusion
Tarana Wireless
Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative
Liquid Intelligent Technologies and Project Taara at X, Alphabet's moonshot factory
Mediacom Communications and Casa Systems
Cox Communications
The Winner
Liquid Intelligent Technologies and Project Taara at X, Alphabet's moonshot factory
Most Innovative Home Networking Solution
Awarded to the vendor or service provider that has launched the most innovative home networking devices or platforms in the past year.
The Finalists
Radisys
Incognito Software Systems Inc.
MaxLinear
Fortinet
Plume
The Winner
MaxLinear
Most Innovative Broadband Access Solution
Awarded to the company that has launched the most innovative product or service to deliver high-speed broadband access via fixed wireless, satellite, fiber or cable.
The Finalists
CommScope – Prodigy Hardened Connectivity Solution
Tarana Wireless – Tarana G1 Next-Generation Fixed Wireless Access Platform
DZS – DZS XCelerate
TIP OpenWiFi – TIP OpenWiFi
Incognito Software Systems Inc. – Broadband Command Center
Harmonic – Harmonic's MAC Anywhere FMA Offering
Qualcomm Technologies Inc. – Qualcomm 5G Fixed Wireless Access Platform Gen 2
Calix – Broadband Performance Testing Solution
The Winner
Tarana Wireless – Tarana G1 Next-Generation Fixed Wireless Access Platform
Best Public-Private Partnership
Awarded to the organizations working together to expand broadband access and help narrow the digital divide for municipalities and community institutions, including school districts, nonprofits and other public sector organizations.
The Finalists
Fiber Broadband Association
Neos Networks
Consolidated Communications
Kajeet inc.
STL (Sterlite Technologies Ltd)
FiberLight
Hughes Network Systems
GTT Communications
The Winner
FiberLight
Editor's Choice
Fiber Broadband Association
Congratulations to all the finalists and winners for your hard work and thank you to everyone who submitted an entry.
— The Editors, Light Reading
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