Leading Lights 2016: The FinalistsLeading Lights 2016: The Finalists

I'm pleased and proud to announce that this year's Leading Lights Awards attracted a record number of entries -- more than 300 in total.

It's also worth noting that the standard of entries is improving dramatically, the passion shown by the entrants has at times reached fever pitch (especially when it came to the final hours before the deadline) and the range of companies entering is getting ever broader.

All of this has made the judging process not only incredibly tough but also very insightful. Finally, though, we have our shortlists and, believe me, each and every one of them deserves to be there.

The winners, and the identities of this year's Light Reading Hall of Fame inductees, will be announced at the Leading Lights awards dinner, which will be held during the evening of Monday, May 23, at the Hotel Ella in Austin, Texas, the evening before the doors open to the Big Communications Event.

Space at the awards dinner is limited, so don't delay in booking your seat or table: All the details and contacts you need can be found right here.

Figure 1:

So, who's in the running to pick up an award this year? Below are the categories for this year's awards. Click on the name of the category to see the list of finalists. In the coming weeks the Light Reading team will write about the finalists and provide some insight into the shortlisted submissions.

Best New Product (Cable)
Awarded to the company that has developed a potentially market-leading product that, through engineering and technical excellence, enables the deployment of profitable next-generation cable services.

Best New Product (Mobile)
Awarded to the company that has developed a potentially market-leading product that, through engineering and technical excellence, enables the deployment of profitable next-generation mobile services.

Best New Product (Telecom)
Awarded to the company that has developed a potentially market-leading product that, through engineering and technical excellence, enables the deployment of profitable next-generation telecom services.

Most Innovative SMB Service
Awarded to the communications service provider (cable, fixed, mobile) that has launched the most innovative business service for small or medium-sized corporate users during the past year.

Most Innovative Enterprise Service
Awarded to the communications service provider (cable, fixed, mobile) that has launched the most innovative business service for enterprise corporate users during the past year.

Most Innovative Wireless Service (3G, 4G, Carrier WiFi)
Awarded to the communications service provider that has launched the most innovative wireless/mobile service (2G, 3G, 4G, carrier WiFi) for its customers during the past year.

Most Innovative Carrier Cloud Service
Awarded to the communications service provider (cable, fixed, mobile) that has launched the most innovative Carrier Cloud service (SaaS, IaaS, PaaS) for its customers during the past year.

Most Innovative Ethernet/Optical Service
Awarded to the communications service provider (cable, fixed, mobile) that has launched the most innovative Carrier Ethernet or optical transport service for its customers during the past year.

Most Innovative Video Service
Awarded to the communications service provider (cable, fixed, mobile) that has launched the most innovative video/TV service for its customers during the past year.

Most Innovative NFV Deployment Strategy (Network/Data Center Operator)
Awarded to the network or data center operator that has devised the most innovative network functions virtualization (NFV) strategy during the past year.

Most Innovative NFV Product Strategy (Vendor)
Awarded to the technology vendor that has devised the most innovative network functions virtualization (NFV) product strategy during the past year.

Most Innovative SDN Deployment Strategy (Network/Data Center Operator)
Awarded to the network or data center operator that has devised the most innovative software defined networking (SDN) strategy during the past year.

Most Innovative SDN Product Strategy (Vendor)
Awarded to the technology vendor that has devised the most innovative software defined networking (SDN) product strategy during the past year.

Most Innovative Security Strategy (Service Provider)
Awarded to the communications service provider (cable, fixed, mobile) that has unveiled the most innovative security strategy during the past year.

Most Innovative Security Strategy (Vendor)
Awarded to the vendor that has unveiled the most innovative security product/platform strategy during the past year.

Most Innovative Gigabit Broadband Service
Awarded to the communications service provider (fixed, cable, utility, municipality) that has launched the most innovative Gigabit broadband service offering during the past year.

Most Innovative IoT/M2M Strategy (Service Provider)
Awarded to the communications service provider (cable, fixed, mobile, IoT/M2M specialist) that has unveiled the most innovative Internet of Things/Machine to Machine (IoT/M2M) strategy during the past year.

Most Innovative IoT/M2M Strategy (Vendor)
Awarded to the vendor that has unveiled the most innovative Internet of Things/Machine to Machine (IoT/M2M) strategy during the past year.

Most Innovative 5G Strategy *NEW*
Awarded to the company that has outlined and clearly communicated an innovative, market-leading 5G strategy.

Outstanding Transformation Strategy (Service Provider) *NEW*
Awarded to the communications service provider that has devised and implemented a transformation strategy of any kind (business, technical, cultural) that will improve its business potential and competitiveness in the coming years.

Outstanding Components Vendor
Awarded to the components vendor that stands out from its competitors, innovates constantly, helps set the industry trends, makes investors proud, and makes employees happy.

Outstanding Test & Measurement Vendor
Awarded to the telecom test and measurement vendor that stands out from its competitors, innovates constantly, helps set the industry trends, makes investors proud, and makes employees happy.

Outstanding OSS/BSS Vendor
Awarded to the OSS and/or BSS vendor that stands out from its competitors, innovates constantly, helps set the industry trends, makes investors proud, and makes employees happy.

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.

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.

Best Deal Maker
Awarded to the company that has consistently demonstrated good timing, judgment, and execution in high-profile acquisitions, partnerships, joint ventures, and other multi-company financial arrangements.

Women in Comms awards
We also, for the first time, had three Women in Comms (WiC) categories this year: