2018 ACOMM AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

David Tudehope - 2018 Communications Ambassador

Category Award Winners:  Telstra, Coevolve, National Narrowband Network Co, NetComm Wireless, Huawei Technologies, Reekoh, amaysim Australia, Speedcast International, Fulton Hogan, Optus Satellite and Thinxtra

Sydney, 30 August 2018 – The winners of the prestigious 2018 Communications Alliance Awards were announced last night at the 12th Annual ACOMM Awards Dinner in Sydney.  Attended by more than 450 industry leaders, the evening’s keynote address was delivered by Senator the Hon. Mitch Fifield, Federal Minister for Communications and the Arts.

The individual category awards were taken out by a star-studded line-up of Australian service providers - featuring long-established players and ‘new faces’. The growing pervasiveness and high innovation levels of the Internet of Things is evidenced by the fact that IoT-oriented companies – Reekoh, Thinxtra and NNNCo - took out awards in three separate categories.

The Chief Executive of Macquarie Telecom Group, David Tudehope, has been named Australian Communications Ambassador 2018 for helping shape the competitive, regulatory and consumer environment of the telecommunications industry in Australia. David founded Macquarie Telecom in 1992 as a provider of voice services and has guided the company’s development to become a fully integrated carrier; supplying voice, mobile, data networks & managed hosting solutions to business and government users in Australia and Asia.

“David was a pioneer in the early days of the liberalisation of the Australian telecommunications market and remains a highly influential customer and industry champion,” said Communications Alliance CEO, John Stanton.

“The ACOMM Awards represent the pinnacle of achievement for the Australian communications industry and I congratulate all the winners and finalists in the 2018 ACOMMS,

“Excellence in innovation is a pervasive trait in the achievements of the 2018 ACOMM winners.”

The winners of the 2018 ACOMM Awards are:

• COMMUNICATIONS AMBASSADOR – David Tudehope

• Innovation - Large Company - Telstra for their new 5G Innovation Centre at Telstra’s Southport exchange on the Gold Coast. It is the only centre of its kind in Australia. This centre will be the home for testing the next generation of mobile technologies in Australian conditions to support the early commercial deployment of 5G.
• Innovation - SME – Coevolve and National Narrowband Network Co for Coevolve an Integrated SD- WAN Service (now deployed for client sites in 54 countries) and for National Narrowband Network Co for their N2N IoT Platform.
• Vendor Innovation – NetComm Wireless for their Distribution Point Unit (DPU) and Network Connection Device (NCD) are a world-first innovation. The DPU connects four homes to fibre, and the NCD combines a modem and reverse power unit to optimise the nbn FTTC network with network-grade diagnostics, remote management and an optimal customer experience.
• Internet of Things Start Up - Reekoh for developing and commercialising an original IoT Data and API Management Platform-as-a-Service and suite of tools aimed at solving the growing problem of complexity with integrating IoT solutions and enterprise systems and services.
  
• Commitment to Customer Service – Telstra for their introduction of the Telstra Smart Modem, their investment in better in-home Wi-Fi and the rollout of new customer support initiatives have been key to their strategy to improve the experience for their home broadband customers, with a focus on the nbn.
• Services to the Industry, Professional Services – Huawei Technologies for their Seeds for the Future is a collaborative undergraduate program, offering a unique platform for students to visit Huawei’s global R&D facilities and engage at an international level. The tripartite partnership between Huawei, the Australian Technology Network and the Federal Government provides practical experiences aiming to increase students’ skill-set, broaden horizons and industry networks.
• Best Mobile Solution – amaysim Australia for introducing its $10 Unlimited mobile plan featuring 1GB of data plus unlimited talk & text on the Optus 4G Plus network.
• Community Contribution – Speedcast International and Fulton Hogan Speedcast - for saving internet connectivity on Christmas Island, reactivated the network and now provides wireless and 4G network services to the island residents and business.
  Fulton Hogan - for including Indigenous employment on the NBN project, as well as in other sectors of the business. The partnership has been nothing short of a success story by valuing and enhancing the contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in business, as well as promoting cultural diversity within NBN and its contractors.
• Satellite Provider of the Year Award - Optus Satellite for installing Satellite Small Cell units across Australia, which extend the Optus mobile network into difficult to reach remote and regional locations using Optus’ satellite backhaul service.
  
• Best Marketing Initiative – Thinxtra for launching the Smart Council Program to accelerate the deployment of IoT solutions with Councils. To do so, they are bringing for free IoT LPWAN infrastructure (based on Sigfox technology) and free trials of solutions to the Councils to prove the benefits of IoT. Making Councils smarter the easy way.