Singapore, April 12, 2011 – Japanese wireless operator Softbank Mobile, Hong Kong’s CSL and the Axiata Group clinched the top awards in the 14th Telecom Asia Awards tonight.
Softbank Mobile, a division the Softbank Group, won the trophy for the Best Asian Telecom Carrier for a second year in a row while CSL won the Best Mobile Carrier category, both carriers impressing the judges for “driving change” in two very competitive markets.
XL Axiata’s CEO Hasnul Suhaimi was voted Telecom CEO of the Year for his performance at the helm of the Axiata subsidiary, which claimed Best Emerging Market Carrier, while its parent company Axiata won the Best Regional Mobile Group for the second straight year -- for its operational excellence in multiple Asian markets.
Executives from 10 award-winning companies from across the Asia-Pacific region were presented with their trophies in a ceremony at the Intercontinental Hotel, Singapore.
Singapore's NBN was named the Most Innovative Telecom Project, with executives from OpenNet and Nucleus Connect both on hand to jointly accept the award. Roshan's M-Paisa picked up the Best Community Telecom Project. These two awards were presented for the first time this year.
Other winners included Hong Kong Broadband Network for Best Fixed-line and Broadband Carrier, BT Global Services for Best Managed Services Provider and NTT Communications for Best International Wholesale Carrier. Both HKBN and BT are repeat winners from 2010.
The awards this year emphasized innovation and leadership, said Per Dahlberg, chairman of the judging panel. “Tonight’s winners were chosen because they’ve demonstrated the ability to create fresh opportunities for themselves and to execute on them.”
“I congratulate all of this year’s winners. I also thank the members of the judging panel for their hard work and their insights into Asian telecom markets.”
Softbank Mobile chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said: “We are very pleased to have received this award for a second consecutive year and that the industry is recognizing our continued success in delivering on our core vision of 'making people happy through the Information Revolution'.
XL Axiata president director Hasnul Suhaimi said: “Last year was another very successful year for the group, reporting a 17% year-on-year revenue increase on the back of robust performance in Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh. We would like to thank Telecom Asia for the acknowledgement. It is a great honor to receive this accolade, given the competition in the region.”