Category Awards to iiNet, SOPRANO Design, Vocus Communications, Nextgen Networks, Maddocks Lawyers, NEC Australia, Telstra Enterprise & Government and OptiComm
Deena Shiff Named 2010 Communications Ambassador
The winners of the prestigious 2010 Communications Alliance & CommsDay Awards were announced last night at the Annual ACOMM Awards Dinner which featured Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Communications, Broadband and the Digital Economy, as keynote speaker. The industry’s top honour, the 2010 Communications Ambassador Award, was won by Telstra’s Deena Shiff.
“Congratulations to the finalists and winners of the 2010 ACOMM Awards who represent the best of the best in the Australian communications industry,” said Communications Alliance CEO John Stanton.
“As a fast-paced industry focused on meeting customers’ needs, these Awards provide a well-deserved opportunity to reflect on the industry’s own significant and growing contribution to the Australian economy and to reward those organisations and people who constantly raise the bar professionally. Our 2010 Communications Ambassador, Deena Shiff, is one such person,” Mr Stanton commented.
The winners of the 2010 ACOMM Awards are:
- Communications Ambassador Award – Deena Shiff for her passion, vision, and 21-year contribution to the communications industry.
- Innovation for a Large Company Award – iiNet for its revolutionary BoB™ all-in-one home communications solution.
- Innovation SME Award – Soprano Design and Vocus Communications Soprano Design for its suite of mobile enterprise messaging services and Vocus Communications for its free IPv6 transit services for ISPs and telcos.
- Innovation in Content Delivery and Services - Nextgen Networks for facilitating broadcast innovation through its cost-effective Gbit/s links to sports stadiums.
Services to the Industry Awards
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Professional Services Excellence - Maddocks Lawyers for assisting clients to respond to the changing communications landscape.
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Partnerships for Growth Award - NEC Australia and OptiComm for the wholesale FTTH network being rolled out to 50,000 new homes and businesses.
- Commitment to Customer Service Award - Telstra Enterprise & Government for its unique “Enterprise-grade” customer service model.
The industry’s top honour for individual achievement, the 2010 Communications Ambassador Award is presented to an individual who has made a significant and demonstrable contribution to the Australian communications industry. This year’s winner, Deena Shiff, is widely recognised for her integrity and passion for SME innovation.
Deena has been a key industry figure for 21 years. A lawyer by initial training, she played a key strategic role at OTC Limited and was centrally involved in the formation of Telstra at the beginning of the 1990s before rising to become Telstra’s first Group Managing Director for Wholesale – a role in which she was acknowledged as a champion for the wholesale model and for shifting opinion within Telstra toward wider product access for wholesale customers. While a keen market competitor, she is renowned for her fairness and vision to recognise outcomes that will benefit the wider industry. Deena also uses her strong understanding of the technology needs of SMEs to champion innovation and support online initiatives for small and medium businesses. She is now Telstra Business Group Managing Director.
Decisive Publishing CEO Grahame Lynch said: “Each year the ACOMM Awards represent a new high standard in industry excellence and the 2010 Awards are no exception. The Australian communications sector is constantly meeting new technological challenges in order to serve businesses and consumers and the ACOMM winners should be congratulated for their role in driving the sector’s innovation.”
A comprehensive listing of this year’s ACOMM Award finalists is available at www.commsalliance.com.au
2010 ACOMM Award Finalists and Winners
Category: Innovation - Large Company Award
Finalists: Huawei; iiNet; and Internode
Winner: iiNet
iiNet's BoB™ is an all-in-one home communication solution replacing the modem and standard home phone. BoB delivers twice the range of most other wireless modems; supports up to five handsets; offers ‘plug and play’ capability; and automatically routes phone calls through standard PSTN if power is lost.
Category: Innovation – SME Award
Finalists: Allegro Networks; Mach Communications; Soprano Design; and Vocus Communications
Joint Winners: SOPRANO Design and Vocus Communications
SOPRANO Design accelerates enterprise messaging for mobile network operators around the world through providing tailored, industry specific software, streamlining SMS, MMS and email business processes and generating revenue for their mobile telecommunications provider. SOPRANO Mobile Enterprise Messaging Suite 5.0 provides Mobile Network Operators and Mobile Service Providers with a suite of web accessible mobile messaging applications to drive their enterprise, business and government (SMS, MMS, Email, Voice) messaging revenue.
Vocus Communications is an independent wholesale voice and data provider. In August 2008, it committed to providing free IPv6 transit services to all ISPs and telecommunications companies, allowing any provider access to IPv6 at no cost and also allowing providers to offer these services to corporate and residential customers. Vocus is encouraging early transition to IPv6 addresses and delivers an easy to access alternative to IPv4 transit addresses. It is currently responsible for routing almost all IPv6 connectivity in Australia.
Category: Services to Industry - Professional Services Award
Finalists: Herbert Geer; Maddocks; and Truman Hoyle
Winner: Maddocks
Maddocks is a leading Australian law firm, providing legal services across the infrastructure, government, financial and services sectors. In the past 12 months Maddocks has worked with clients to develop their regulatory and commercial response to changes in the telecommunications landscape. Maddocks also advised on the development of the 'FireNet' fibre optic cable network that is utilised by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade and Country Fire Authority in Victoria.
Category: Partnerships for Growth Award
Finalists: Alcatel-Lucent & Telstra; Clarity & TelstraClear; Huawei & Optus; and NEC Australia & Opticomm
Winner: NEC Australia & Opticomm
NEC Australia is a leading supplier and integrator of information and communication technology solutions to carriers, government and businesses. With its Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) technology, NEC Australia is helping OptiComm, a Hills Industries joint venture company, roll out Fibre-to-the-home broadband networks to more than 50,000 new homes and businesses across Australia. NBN Co Tasmania has selected OptiComm as the supplier of NEC’s GPON FTTP and as the operator for the first stage deployments of NBN rollout in Tasmania.
Category: Commitment to Customer Service Award
Finalists: Internode; Optus; Telstra Enterprise & Government; and Westnet
Winner: Telstra Enterprise & Government
Telstra Enterprise & Government provides network services and solutions to more than 200 of the world’s top 500 companies. In October 2009, it launched Telstra Enterprise-grade Customer Service™, a unique customer service model supporting the distinct needs of large corporate and government customers.
Category: Innovation in Content Delivery and Services Award
Finalists: Internode; Nextgen Networks; and Pacnet
Winner: Nextgen Networks
Nextgen Networks is a national Telecommunications carrier specialising in high performance data services. On behalf of a customer, it has established a ‘game-changing’ broadcast network with cost-effective Gbit/s links to sports stadiums around Australia that realises a new generation of High Definition TV (HDTV) capabilities, efficiencies and consumer outcomes. Through this initiative, Nextgen is facilitating ongoing innovation in the broadcast industry and ultimately, a superior viewer experience.
Category: 2010 Communications Ambassador Award
Finalists: Matt Healy; Deena Shiff; and David Spence
Winner: Deena Shiff
Deena Shiff is Group Managing Director of Telstra Business. She has been a leader in Australian telecommunications since she first entered the industry in the late 1980s and has been at the forefront of innovation and development of new services to better serve Australia businesses. Whilst maintaining a reputation as a ‘quiet achiever’, Deena’s strategic vision and passion for communications is recognised throughout the business community.
ABOUT COMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE
Communications Alliance is the peak body for the Australian communications industry. It presents a unified voice for its members in public policy, facilitates industry solutions to industry issues, and provides up-to-date information on industry issues. Communications Alliance is also leading the industry's response to the National Broadband Network implementation. For further information see www.commsalliance.com.au
ABOUT COMMS DAY
Communications Day Australasia is Australia and New Zealand’s most respected source of daily telecom industry news and commentary published under the Decisive Publishing stable. It is regarded by many as the bible of Australia's telecom industry and boasting a subscriber list that reads like a who's who of the industry.
For further information see www.commsday.com