OPEN Networks in the News Press Releases 2005

4 August 2005 - OPEN Networks finalists at SPAN Awards

The Service Providers Association and Communications Day announced the finalists for the prestigious 2005 SPAN CommsDay Awards. OPEN Networks has been announced as a finalist in the "Excellence in Innovation - SME" category.

SPAN Chairman John Kranenburg said "The Shortlist Committee was very impressed by both the quantity and quality of the nominations received. Clearly, the telecommunications industry has both strengthened and gained momentum during the past financial year as evidenced by extremely solid achievements on a number of fronts. Corporate users and residential customers alike are benefiting from increased access to a greater diversity of both broadband and advanced mobile services."

"In the face of such widespread achievement, it has been hard work to narrow the field to the twenty-nine shortlisted individuals and organisations being announced today."

The Platinum sponsorship for the 2005 SPAN CommsDay Awards is being shared between Macquarie Telecom and Alcatel Australia. The awards are designed to recognise the excellence of both companies and individuals across nine award categories. The ‘Excellence in Innovation’ and ‘Excellence in Competition and Growth’ awards feature separate contests for large firms and SME organisations.

There are two ‘Excellence in Services’ awards, one reserved for the industry’s top technology vendor and the second to be awarded to the top company operating in the professional services domain. Individual awards include the ‘Architect of Competition’, the ‘Innovator of the Year’ and the ‘Ambassador of the Year’ recognitions.

Commenting on the shortlist, Chief Editor of Communications Day Natalie Apostolou, said, "The announced finalists are all deserving of our accolades. Their actions and accomplishments have set them apart from their industry peers."

The task of selecting the nine award winners from the announced finalists will be undertaken by a second judging panel. Panel members include Grahame Lynch, the knowledgeable and respected Publisher of Decisive Publishing, Noel Robertson, SPAN Board member and Managing Director of Orion Telecommunications, Tim Smart of Macquarie Bank, one of the industry’s most insightful analysts, Natalie Apostolou, Chief Editor of Communications Day, and John Kranenburg, Chairman of SPAN.

Award winners were announced at the SPAN Annual Dinner on 1 September in Sydney. For more information, please visit the SPAN Website www.span.net.au.

For the complete SPAN Awards shortlist click here.

The above article was published in Communications Day, Thursday 4 August 2005, published by Decisive Publishing Pty Ltd. For enquiries or subscriptions, please contact Sally Lloyd sally@commsday.com.au.