Award Categories

This award recognises an exemplary product or service in the field of Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning applied within the telecoms ecosystem.

This award will recognise the best innovation of the past year in the Anti-Fraud sector. Please note that this award relates to a specific project, innovation, program or technological development.

This award recognises cutting edge solutions in the Anything as a Service (XaaS) space, this includes but not limited to, Communications Platform as a Service, Contact Center as a service, Unified communications as a service and Infrastructure as a service.

This award will recognise the best innovation of the past year in the blockchain and security sector – this includes general network security as well, not just related to blockchain. Please note that this award relates to a specific project, innovation, program or technological development.

This award will recognise the best innovation of the past year in the Cloud sector. Please note that this award relates to a specific project, innovation, program or technological development.

The award in this category will celebrate the most innovative product, solution or initiative related to data centres or edge service provision.

This award will recognise the year's best innovation in data services (please note that B2C-related projects will not be considered). This award relates to a specific project, innovation, program or technological development.

This award will recognise the year's outstanding initiative in the IoT space – a project, innovation, program, technological development, or any other initiative related to any stage of IoT, whether supplier or client-side.

This award will recognise the year's outstanding innovation in mobile and 5G service. As this relates specifically to network service provision, projects that focus on B2C service delivery will be accepted for this category.

The award in this category will highlight the most significant deployments, innovations, projects, service improvements or initiatives in network technology – this can be network disaggregation, zero-touch provisioning, zero-trust security, SDN/NFV, or any other development 'under the hood'.

The awards in this category will reward the spirit of innovation and technical, technological and service improvements that bring real added value to our connected marketplace. This specific category focuses on innovations in the subsea sector.

This award will recognise the best innovation of the past year in the Voice or SMS sector. Please note that this award relates to a specific project, innovation, program or technological development.

The award in this category will reward the spirit of innovation and technical, technological and service improvements that bring real added value to our connected marketplace. This specific category focuses on innovations in the digital infrastructure ecosystem.

This award will recognise the best innovation of the past year in the telecoms hardware space. Please note this award relates to telecoms vendors as a commercial supplier of hardware, excluding handsets, personal devices and does not include resellers.

This award recognises outstanding performance in the African connectivity market. Companies do not have to be based or headquartered in this region to enter – any company operating in the region is eligible.

This award recognises outstanding performance in the Asia-Pacific connectivity market. Companies do not have to be based or headquartered in this region to enter – any company operating in the region is eligible.

This award recognises outstanding performance in the Central & Eastern European connectivity market. Companies do not have to be based or headquartered in this region to enter – any company operating in the region is eligible.

This award recognises outstanding performance in the Latin American or Caribbean (please note, this does not have to be in both markets) connectivity market. Companies do not have to be based or headquartered in this region to enter – any company operating in the region is eligible.

This award recognises outstanding performance in the Middle Eastern connectivity market. Companies do not have to be based or headquartered in this region to enter – any company operating in the region is eligible.

This award recognises outstanding performance in the North American connectivity market. Companies do not have to be based or headquartered in this region to enter – any company operating in the region is eligible.

This award recognises outstanding performance in the entire European connectivity market. Companies do not have to be based or headquartered in this region to enter – any company operating in the region is eligible.

This award will recognise the best data centre provider of the past year. This can be related to service excellence, technical or organisational innovation, business transformation, or anything else – either general or related to specific projects.

The award in this category will be given to the company with the most dynamic performance within the Voice ecosphere – this can encompass general performance, service improvement, or exciting new initiatives.

The award in this category will be given to the company with the most dynamic performance within the Data ecosphere – this can encompass general performance, service improvement, or exciting new initiatives.

This award will recognise the best internet exchange provider of the past year. This can be related to service excellence, technical or organisational innovation, business transformation, or anything else – either general or related to specific projects.

This award recognises the best independent fibre-optic connectivity provider, operating in-country on a regional basis with infrastructure independent of their in-country incumbent. Entrants can operate anywhere globally and should highlight excellence in quality of service.

This award will recognise the best satellite operator of the past year. This can be related to service excellence, technical or organisational innovation, business transformation, or anything else – either general or related to specific projects.

This award will recognise the best subsea operator of the past year. This can be related to service excellence, technical or organisational innovation, business transformation, or anything else – either general or related to specific projects.

This award recognises marketing excellence in digital infrastructure and communication – it can be a well-executed campaign, an outstanding marketing operation, a digital sales success story, a viral social media campaign or a combination of any of the above. Campaigns on any media, in any language, and from anywhere in the world are eligible for submission.

This award recognises the most dynamic, successful and effective marketing team in the business. The judges are looking for evidence of continued success with campaigns, strategy and execution across the whole year.

This award will recognise the most outstanding sales team in the connectivity business. Judges are looking for evidence of commercial success, fantastic relationship-building, and business development.

Bestowed at the judges discretion.

This award will recognise the most ingenious, visionary and demonstrably impactful digital infrastructure project of the year – be it subsea, terrestrial, satellite or wireless. There is no limit to the size or scope of the project, and it can be from any region of the world.

This special category recognises initiatives that are changing the world in the environmental, societal, state and government spheres. This can include charity initiatives, corporate environmental commitments either now or for the future, or anything in the CSR space.

In partnership with the Empowered Network and the Women in Tech World Series, this award recognises the year's best diversity and inclusion initiative – a vital part of business. Entries can cover any kind of initiative, whatever the focus.

This award will recognise the year's outstanding M&A transaction or strategic acquisition – the deal that improved service provision, enhanced market standing, or led to a high level of excellence among both parties. Submissions should include rationale for the acquisition and what it means for the market and the companies involved.

This award spotlights a noteworthy digital infrastructure investment (data centre, tower, subsea, terrestrial fibre, satellite) over the last 12 months. Please note that this relates to private equity, governmental, funds or banking as well as independent industry investors and/ or entrepreneurs.

This award is designed to publicly recognise individual and company-level contributions to our industry. It is awarded annually by the Chair of the GLF to an individual who has gone above and beyond to deliver collaborative action on behalf of the industry.

In partnership with the Women's Tech Forum, this award celebrates an individual who actively champions the message of inclusion and diversity in the technology and connectivity industry.

This award is dedicated to the brightest up-and-comer, recognising how they are innovating and driving change in the space and why they are ones to watch for the future. Nominees must be working in a junior or entry-level role, relevant to our industry.