NEW YORK, NY, Jan. 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Light Reading (www.lightreading.com), the market-leading online community for the global communications sector, today announced that the 2018 edition of Leading Lights, the telecom industry's most prestigious awards program, is now open for nominations.
Now in its 14th year, Leading Lights provides a broad range of opportunities for the communications industry’s innovators and leaders to showcase their efforts during the past year and be recognized for their achievements. The program comprises 24 regular categories, three special Women in Comms (WiC) categories and the latest additions to Light Reading's Hall of Fame.
This year's Leading Lights program has been updated to include five new categories:
- Most Innovative SD-WAN Service
- Most Innovative SD-WAN Product Strategy (Vendor)
- Most Innovative Automation Strategy (Network/Data Center Operator)
- Most Innovative Edge Computing Strategy
- Most Innovative 5G Strategy
"The past year has been transformative in the communications networking and services industry, with accelerated developments related to 5G and IoT, the dramatic introduction of mass market SD-WAN services, further innovation around distributed cloud, SDN and NFV and the rise of automation as a key goal for network operators,” said Light Reading Editor-in-Chief Ray Le Maistre. "The updated Leading Lights line-up, with additional categories that reflect these developments alongside a host of more familiar awards, provides everyone in the industry a chance to highlight they're key achievements from the past year. I look forward to wining, dining and celebrating with the winners at our annual Leading Lights gala dinner, which is once again in the fabulous city of Austin, on May 14."
The complete list of categories is:
- Most Innovative Cable/Video Product or Service
- Most Innovative Mobile/Wireless Product or Service
- Most Innovative Telecoms Product (Optical/IP/Carrier Ethernet/FTTH)
- Most Innovative Gigabit/FTTx Service
- Most Innovative Business Cloud Service ·
- Most Innovative SD-WAN Service **NEW** ·
- Most Innovative SD-WAN Product Strategy (Vendor) **NEW** ·
- Most Innovative NFV Deployment Strategy (Network/Data Center Operator)
- Most Innovative NFV Product Strategy (Vendor)
- Most Innovative Automation Strategy (Network/Data Center Operator) **NEW**
- Most Innovative Edge Computing Strategy **NEW**
- Most Innovative Security Strategy ·
- Most Innovative IoT/M2M Strategy (Service Provider)
- Most Innovative IoT/M2M Strategy (Vendor) ·
- Most Innovative 5G Technology ·
- Most Innovative 5G Strategy **NEW** ·
- Outstanding Transformation Strategy (Service Provider) ·
- Outstanding Components Vendor ·
- Outstanding Test & Measurement Vendor
- Outstanding Digital Enablement Vendor
- Outstanding Communications Technology Vision
- Company of the Year (Private)
- Company of the Year (Public)
- Best Deal Maker
- Hall of Fame *FREE TO ENTER*
The three Women in Comms awards are:
- Most Inspiring Woman in Comms *FREE TO ENTER*
- Female Tech Pioneer of the Year *FREE TO ENTER*
- Female-Led Startup to Watch *FREE TO ENTER*
As it has done since 2010, Light Reading will be expanding its Hall of Fame, which recognizes those individuals, both the famous and the infamous, who have made a notable contribution to the global telecom sector. Nominations can be submitted for the Hall of Fame, although the individuals considered for this particular award may also be nominated by Light Reading's editorial team.
The Leading Lights Awards winners and Light Reading Hall of Fame inductees will be announced at an awards dinner in Austin on May 14 at Brazos Hall, the evening before the Big Communications Event (http://www.bigcommunicationsevent.com). The deadline for Leading Lights entries and Light Reading Hall of Fame nominations is Friday March 16. Finalists for the Leading Lights Awards will be announced on Light Reading by April 5. Judging is conducted by Light Reading's editors and the analyst team from Heavy Reading (http://www.heavyreading.com).
For further details about the awards, including links to the entry submission forms and the frequently asked questions page, visit https://tmt.knect365.com/leading-lights/
To find out who won the Leading Lights in 2017, visit http://www.lightreading.com/bce/leading-lights-2017-the-winners/d/d-id/732837.
To see which individuals were inducted into the Light Reading Hall of Fame in 2017, visit
For information on Leading Lights sponsorship opportunities, email sales@lightreading.com.
About Light Reading
Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) combines its research-led online communities and targeted events portfolio to help those in the global communications industry make informed decisions. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for telecom analysis for more than 400,000 subscribers each month, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content and reputation. Light Reading produces targeted communications events and focused one-day and two-day conferences each year for cable, mobile and wireline executives.