Light Reading's Leading Lights 2023: The FinalistsLight Reading's Leading Lights 2023: The Finalists
Light Reading is delighted to announce the dozens of finalists in the 22 categories of this year's Leading Lights Awards program.
July 28, 2023

On behalf of Light Reading's editors, I am again pleased to announce this year's annual Leading Lights Awards shortlist.
Now in its 19th year, the Leading Lights is Light Reading's way of recognizing the innovation, technical and market achievements of the evolving global communications industry.
We appreciate your respect for our awards process during the last few years of heightened media distrust. As much as we admire the efforts of the companies and individuals who have entered, we can't put everyone through to the final round, but we have done our best to read each entry with fresh eyes and judge them on their own merits. Based on your feedback, we've returned to a winner-take-all approach to the technical and product categories. And that means that now more than ever if you're a Leading Lights finalist, you should be proud of your ability to stand out.
Our finalist round begins soon and our judging panel will include: Dell'Oro Group's Jeff Heynen and Jimmy Yu; Tantra Analyst's Prakash Sangam; our Informa colleagues James Crawshaw, Roz Roseboro, Pablo Tomasi and Jaimie Lenderman; Rosenblatt Securities' Mike Genovese; US Ignite's Mari Silbey; Vertical Systems Group's Erin Dunne; and our Heavy Reading colleagues Sterling Perrin, Jennifer Clark and Gabriel Brown.
The shortlist
Now it's time to reveal the finalists our editors and guest judges have picked for the Light Reading Leading Lights Awards. The shortlist is below, so start scrolling:
Wireless
Most Innovative 5G Core Deployment
Awarded to the vendor or service provider that has launched the most innovative deployment of a 5G core in a live network with real subscribers during the past year.
Hughes, an EchoStar Company
Cisco Systems
SK Telecom
KT
Most Innovative RAN Product or Solution
Awarded to the vendor that has launched the most innovative radio access network (RAN) product or solution during the past year.
Samsung
Intel
Cohere Technologies
Juniper Networks – with Vodafone, Parallel Wireless and Aira Technologies
Marvell
Red Hat – with NVIDIA
Freshwave – with The City of London
ZTE
Netcracker
Jio Platforms
Outstanding Use Case: IoT
Awarded to the service provider or vendor helping change businesses and improve customer experiences with innovative Internet of Things devices and services.
Comcast's MachineQ
6D Technologies
Mavenir – with Deutsche Telekom IoT GmbH
Singtel
Keysight
Outstanding Use Case: Networked Edge
Awarded to the company that can articulate a compelling example of how it delivered edge computing solutions – either network or customer-facing. For network service providers, this category includes any distributed and dedicated edge solutions in collaboration with hyperscalers.
Nokia
Spectrum Enterprise
SK Telecom – with BICS, Samsung Electronics and AWS
ZTE – with Wuhan Iron and Steel Corp. (WISCO)
World Wide Technology
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.
Celona
China Telecom Americas
BICS – with Airbus
ZTE – with Wuhan Iron and Steel Corp. (WISCO)
Boldyn Networks – with Moray East Offshore Wind Farm
Wireless Technology Vendor of the Year
Awarded to the wireless technology vendor or software provider that is a standout example of all-around excellence.
AMD
Extenet
Amdocs
Tarana Wireless
Overall Excellence
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.
Maryam Rofougaran, CEO, Movandi
Carl Guardino, VP of Government Affairs and Public Policy, Tarana Wireless
Jezzibell Gilmore, Chief Commercial Officer, Connectbase
Mattias Fridström, Chief Evangelist, Arelion
Dr. Loi Nguyen, EVP, Optical and Copper Connectivity Group, Marvell
Mike Finley, CEO, Boingo
Jack Raynor, Co-chair, Telecom Infra Project (TIP) OpenWiFi
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.
Celona
Zayo Group
MATRIXX Software
IP Infusion
Cohere Technologies
Federated Wireless
Tarana Wireless
World Wide Technology
Arrcus
ATX Networks
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.
RADCOM
Amdocs
Tejas Networks
Keysight
SiTime
Vecima Networks
Fortinet
Outstanding Use Case: Customer Experience
Awarded to the company that used its communications technology or network to deliver a superior experience to business, consumer or government customers.
6D Technologies
Optiva
Mirada
Lifecycle Software
JMA Wireless
Whale Cloud – with DITO Telecommunity
Sandvine
Freshwave – with Three UK
Best Public-Private Partnership
Awarded to the organizations working together to expand broadband access and other technology services to help narrow the digital divide for municipalities and community institutions, including school districts, nonprofits and other public sector organizations.
Consolidated Communications and the Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA)
Cradlepoint and The City of Peachtree Corners, Georgia
Cradlepoint and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT)
Telecom Infra Project (TIP) OpenWiFi – with Dublin City Council, ThinkWiFi, and Mawingu
Digital Equity All-Stars
Service provider, vendor or technology company working to broaden access/reduce barriers to connectivity, devices and services for hard-to-reach and otherwise marginalized communities. We're looking for any effort (one-off, recently started or ongoing) that demonstrates a drive to both increase access to connectivity and reduce barriers to affordability and/or education using digital tools and services.
Calix
World Wide Technology
Ribbon
Tarana Wireless
Ookla
Render Networks
Broadband
Broadband Service Provider of the Year
Awarded to the network operator or other broadband service provider that had the best year ever.
Frontier Communications
Ogi – with Nokia
Most Innovative Broadband Access Solution
Awarded to the company that has launched the most innovative product or service that will enable the delivery of high-speed broadband access via fixed wireless, satellite, fiber or cable.
Infinera
Kontron
DZS
Vecima Networks
Mavenir – with Quickline Communications
Radisys
Calix
Outstanding Use Case: Consumer 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.
Render Networks
Juniper Networks – with NEC and Tele Columbus AG
Zyxel Communications – with DIGI Spain
LotusFlare – with Globe Telecom
Outstanding Use Case: Home Network Intelligence
Awarded to the company that offered superior Wi-Fi management, home security, ad blocking, entertainment or other digital experience used to enhance home broadband.
CUJO AI
DZS – with TalkTalk Group
Nokia
Incognito Software Systems
Digital Transformation
Outstanding Use Case: AI/Machine Learning
Awarded to the company that is using artificial intelligence or machine learning in an innovative way to improve network performance, customer service or business operations.
ZTE
Plume
Cox Communications
EnterpriseWeb
P.I. Works – with Turkcell
RADCOM
Juniper Networks
Mavenir
Comviva
Outstanding Use Case: Network and Service Automation
Awarded to the company that uses new technology to reduce the time it takes to set up, deploy, integrate, scale or secure network infrastructure, network services or applications. This category can include uses of SD-WAN, SASE and SSE, if relevant.
MYCOM OSI
Console Connect
Amdocs – with VodafoneZiggo
EnterpriseWeb
TransUnion
IBM – with BT Business
Federated Wireless – with California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly)
stc (Saudi Telecom Company)
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.
Witbe
Netcracker
Mavenir
A10 Networks
Juniper Networks
Rakuten Symphony
Amdocs
Fixed Telecom and Cable Infrastructure
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 customers.
Fujitsu Network Communications
CommScope
Ciena
Marvell
Infinera
Nokia
Ribbon
Radisys
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.
Nokia
Cisco
Ciena
Arista
Juniper
KYRIO
Lumentum
DriveNets
Arrcus
Varnish Software
Most Innovative Cable Network Technology
Awarded to the company that has developed innovative products or solutions that help network operators extend the life of their hybrid-fiber coaxial networks as they either compete with or transition to all-fiber networks.
Vecima Networks
ATX Networks
Technetix Group Ltd
OpenVault
Congratulations to all our finalists and, again, thanks to everyone who entered the Leading Lights.
— Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading
About the Author(s)
You May Also Like