2014 ACOMMS FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

Sydney, 26 June 2014 – A host of new telco players have become short-listed finalists in the communications industry’s premier awards for excellence, the ACOMMS – highlighting the changing face of the communications sector.

Communications Alliance and Communications Day today announced the finalists for the ACOMMS 2014, which recognise exemplary achievement across 12 categories of endeavour.

The ACOMMS will be presented at a gala industry event in Sydney on 30 July 2014.

The short-listed nominees are indicative of the industry’s transformation from the provision of traditional fixed communications to available-anywhere, advanced services and applications.

Communications Alliance CEO John Stanton said: “the activities underlying the nominations bear testimony to the strength of innovation that is driving the Australian communications industry”.

He also welcomed the inclusion of four new award categories. These new categories will ensure that more industry segments will be rewarded. 

The new categories are;

  • Vendor Innovation (Large)
  • Vendor Innovation (Emerging)
  • Best Marketing Initiative
  • Best Mobile Solution

“There are great stories behind the commitment to excellence on display from all finalists. I congratulate and wish them well for the ACOMMS Awards night.”

The ACOMMS judges, drawn from many facets of industry and public life, were delighted by the diversity and calibre of the nominations.”

Decisive Publishing CEO Grahame Lynch said: “Australia's communications companies continue to demonstrate their world-class standards of excellence in this year's ACOMMS. As a judge for several of the awards, I was particularly impressed with how many of the latest innovations are especially customer-centric."

The 2014 ACOMM Awards finalists are: 

Innovation (large)

  • Optus – ‘FDD/TDD LTE’
  • Telstra Corporation Limited – ‘Connected Stadium’
  • Vodafone Hutchison Australia – ‘Red Plan’

Innovation (SME)

  • ICS Industries Pty Ltd – ‘The Solar Cell on Wheels’
  • NetComm Wireless Limited – ‘3G Smart Meter Modules’
  • Telcoinabox Pty Ltd – ‘New Consumer Service’

Vendor Innovation (Large)

  • Alcatel-Lucent – ‘The Transit Network’
  • Ericsson Australia – ‘Smart Meter’
  • Ericsson Australia – ‘LTE Carrier Aggregation’

Vendor Innovation (Emerging)

  • DGIT – ‘Telflow 3’
  • NetComm Wireless Limited – ‘Light Industrial’
  • Symbio Networks – ‘Traffic Monitoring Tool’

Commitment to Customer Service - Consumer

  • iiNet
  • Optus
  • Telstra Corporation Limited

Commitment to Customer Service – Corporate/Business

  • Alcatel-Lucent
  • Next Telecom Pty Ltd

Services to Industry - Professional Services

  • Gilbert + Tobin
  • Maddocks
  • Thomson Geer

Best Marketing Initiative

  • Telstra Corporation Limited – ‘Thanks’
  • Telstra Corporation Limited – ‘Clever Australian’
  • Virgin Mobile Australia – ‘Game of Phones’

Best Mobile Solution

  • BAE Systems Applied Intelligence – ‘MobileProtect’
  • Optus – ‘My Plan’
  • Telstra Corporation Limited – ‘Telstra 24x7’

Community Contribution

  • Optus – ‘The Digital Thumbprint’
  • Telstra Corporation Limited – ‘Tech Savvy Seniors’
  • Vodafone Hutchison Australia – ‘Vodafone Foundation’

Satellite Provider of the Year

  • NewSat Limited
  • Skybridge (Australia) Pty Ltd

Communications Ambassador

  • Steve Dalby
  • Stuart Lee

The ACOMM Awards are jointly presented by Communications Alliance and Communications Day and recognise excellence among communications industry participants including individuals, service providers, content providers, carriers, technology partners, consultants and third party suppliers.  Telstra is the 2014 title sponsor of the ACOMMS, with Optus, iiNet, VASP, Vodafone, KPMG, DGiT and Austindo also sponsoring the event.

The ACOMMS will be announced and presented at the 8th Annual ACOMMS Dinner on 30 July 2014 at the Sofitel Wentworth, Sydney.  Julia Zemiro will be the Master of Ceremonies.  Registrations for this year’s event can be made at:  http://www.acomms.com.au/register.php

ABOUT COMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE
Communications Alliance is the primary telecommunications industry body in Australia. Through a range of successful programs, events and initiatives, Communications Alliance has a leadership role in facilitating industry-based solutions to sectoral issues and is taking steps to bring to fruition the broadband and digital era, including leading the industry’s involvement in the National Broadband Network implementation. For further information visit 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.   For further information see www.commsday.com

Media information contact:
Kreab Gavin Anderson
Lucy Mudd lmudd@kreabgavinanderson.com 0402 106 613