SINGAPORE – The winners of the MetroEthernet Forum (MEF) Carrier Ethernet Service Provider Awards for the Asia-Pacific region have been announced. Recognized as a celebration of excellence and leadership in the development, marketing and delivery of Carrier Ethernet Business & Wholesale Services, these awards are presented annually for the Global market and APAC, North America, EMEA, and Caribbean and Latin American regions.
The judging panel for the global and regional awards was comprised of senior analysts from IDC, Infonetics, Vertical Systems, Gartner, Frost & Sullivan, and Ovum.
This year’s awards encompassed four specific categories to encourage the widest range of submissions, regardless of company size or network footprint.
“Best Carrier Ethernet Business Application” recognizes partnerships between service providers and their clients in the delivery of Carrier Ethernet services for application verticals. This year’s winner of the APAC Award was Tata Communications, out of fellow finalists Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) and Vertel.
“Best Wholesale Ethernet Service” is awarded to the service provider with the most robust wholesale service offering extending the reach of Ethernet services, including Mobile Backhaul and Business Ethernet Services. The APAC Award went to Singapore Telecommunications Limited, over fellow finalists PLDT and Tata Communications.
“Best Marketing” is awarded to the service provider that run the most successful marketing campaign to promote their Ethernet service portfolio in the period from September 2012 onward. This includes assessment of marketing campaign goals and objectives, how companies differentiated their services, and the results gained. In the APAC Awards, Philippines-based PLDT took the honors, with finalists Singapore Telecommunications Limited and Tata Communications close behind.
“Service Provider of the Year” is awarded on the basis of the cumulative score from the above three categories plus ratings related to coverage, partnerships/interconnects and access technologies for a provider that is headquartered in and offering Ethernet services primarily within the APAC region. The winner was Tata Communications, which scored ahead of finalists Singapore Telecommunications Limited and PLDT.
“Out of all the geographic regions, APAC had the largest number of companies competing in this year’s awards program, so rising to the top of this list is a great achievement,” said Nan Chen, president of the MEF. “We congratulate the teams at award winners Tata Communications, SingTel, and PLDT for their demonstrated commitment to continued Carrier Ethernet service innovation and value-creation for their customers.”
The MEF is an industry alliance comprising more than 220 organizations including telecommunications service providers, cable MSOs, network equipment/software manufacturers, semiconductors vendors and testing organizations. The MEF’s mission is to accelerate the worldwide adoption of Carrier-class Ethernet networks and services. The MEF develops Carrier Ethernet technical specifications and implementation agreements to promote interoperability and deployment of Carrier Ethernet worldwide.