Home grown talents in the telecoms industry lead the way
~2008 Frost & Sullivan Malaysia Telecoms Awards honour the best-in-class companies in the Malaysian telecom sector~



Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 9, 2008 –
Outstanding local and global companies in the telecoms sector were honoured at the 2008 Frost & Sullivan Malaysia Telecoms Awards banquet. In its fourth consecutive year, the Awards recognised 13 exemplary organisations at the banquet officiated by YB Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum, Deputy Minister of Energy, Water and Communications, Malaysia.

A special recognition was also presented to the former TM Group CEO Dato’ Sri Abdul Wahid Omar. Recently taking over the helm at Maybank Group as its president and CEO, Dato’ Sri Abdul Wahid was recognized for his outstanding contribution to the telecoms industry in Malaysia.

The banquet was attended by C-level executives from the award receiving organisations and prominent figures in the local ICT industry, including Dato’ Badlisham Ghazali, CEO of the Multimedia Development Corporation of Malaysia (MDeC).

Speaking at the ceremony, Manoj Menon, partner and Asia-Pacific managing director of Frost & Sullivan, commented on the global competitiveness of the local telcos that have withstood and raised the standards of the industry in Malaysia.

Reinforcing this comment, Nitin Bhat, Asia-Pacific senior vice president, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan said, “A combination of innovation, service differentiation and revenue stream diversification enabled the award recipients to chalk up exceptional performance in the year 2007.

“Critical to their success has been, one – their ability to provide relevant products and services to increasingly demanding customers in Malaysia; and secondly – in venturing outside the country to diversify their business portfolio,” adds Bhat.

Split into three main clusters – equipment vendors, service providers, best of the best – the awards are a reflection of the current market landscape and are carefully examined each year to determine their relevance to the ever-evolving local telecom/ICT industry.

The awards have grown in prestige amongst the ICT community in Malaysia and continue to attract many local and global vendors and operators. The deserving recipients were selected following a meticulous process in which a team of Frost & Sullivan’s leading analysts short listed, researched and evaluated the top contenders in each category, applying the same thorough approach that has been the hallmark of Frost & Sullivan globally.

The findings of the detailed evaluation were then presented to an independent panel of judges comprising influential decision makers from the telecommunications sector, industry leaders and the media, who have in themselves pushed the boundaries of innovation and corporate excellence, in determining the recipients in each category.

The contenders were evaluated based on a variety of actual market performance indicators which include revenue growth; market share and growth in market share; leadership in product innovation; breadth of products and solutions; major customer acquisitions; subscriber base and growth in subscriber base; ARPU (average revenue per user) and growth in ARPU; data strategy; next generation service strategy; and business and market strategy. Benchmarked against the highest standards of measurement criteria, the recipients of these awards indeed represent the best-in-class.

Frost & Sullivan congratulates all the outstanding recipients of the
2008 Frost & Sullivan Malaysia Telecoms Awards

Category Award Recipient
Vendor
2008 Contact Center Applications Vendor of the Year Avaya
2008 Enterprise Telephony Vendor of the Year Nortel Networks
2008 Network Security Vendor of the Year Cisco Systems
2008 Telecoms Equipment Vendor of the Year Huawei Technologies
Service Provider
2008 Mobile Service Provider of the Year
DiGi and Celcom
2008 Mobile Data Service Provider of the Year Celcom
2008 Mobile Content Developer of the Year N2N Connect Berhad
2008 Alternative Voice Service Provider of the Year Telekom Malaysia Berhad for iTalk
2008 Broadband Service Provider of the Year Telekom Malaysia Berhad
2008 Data Communications Service Provider of the Year VADS Berhad
2008 Managed Security Service Provider of the Year e-Cop Pte Ltd
2008 Contact Center Service Provider of the Year Vsource Asia Sdn Bhd
2008 Innovative Applications / Product of the Year FSBM Holdings Berhad for UNOS
Best of the Best
2008 Service Provider of the Year Maxis Communications Berhad
Special Recognition Award
Outstanding Contribution to the Industry                                     YBhg Dato' Sri Abdul Wahid Omar
   

On the panel of judges were:

On the distinguished panel of judges are:
 
1. Nitin Bhat Vice President, ICT Practice, Asia-Pacific, Frost & Sullivan
2. Vino Nair Vino Nair - Editor, Business Today
3. Azizi Hadi General Manager of Technology and Innovation, Malaysia Business, TM
4. Azwan Khan Osman Khan Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Development, Celcom
5. Kenneth Chang Executive Director, U Mobile
6. Kjersti Wiklund Chief Technology Officer, DiGi
7. Lau Bik Soon Chief Executive Officer, REDtone Telecommunications
8. Tan Eng Suan Senior Vice President and Head of New Business Development, Time dotCom
9. Kugan Thirunavakarasu General Manager/Head of Product & Infotainment Business, Maxis
10. Bernard Chiang General Manager, Channels and Enterprise Business, Nortel Networks Malaysia
11. Bill Chang Country Director, Nokia Siemens Networks Malaysia
12 Li Feng Country Director, Huawei Technologies
13. Kumaran Singaram Managing Director, Cisco Systems Malaysia
14. Mohd Asri Hassan Sabri Country President, Motorola Malaysia
15. Pierre Cheyron Country Senior Officer/Managing Director, Alcatel-Lucent Malaysia
16. Zamani Zakariah Head of MyICMS, Technology and Standards Division, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission

The 2008 Frost & Sullivan Malaysia Telecoms Awards is an initiative supported by MSC Malaysia. Sponsors of the banquet are Huawei, e-Cop Surveillance and Nokia Siemens Networks. Business Today and The Malaysian Reserve are media partners for the Awards.

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About the Frost & Sullivan Malaysia Telecoms Awards

The Frost & Sullivan Malaysia Telecoms Awards is held annually to recognize outstanding performance and industry achievements by companies in the field of telecommunications, and information and communications technology (ICT) in Malaysia. The awards are presented to companies that demonstrate best practices in their industry, commending the diligence, commitment, and innovative business strategies required to advance in the global marketplace. Benchmarked against the highest standards of measurement criteria, the recipients of these awards indeed represent the best-in-class in Malaysia. For more information on the awards, research and judging process, and past recipients, please visit www.telecomsawards.com.my


About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Global Growth Consulting Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company's Growth Partnership Services, Growth Consulting and Career Best Practices empower clients to create a growth focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan’s Growth Partnerships, visit visit www.frost.com


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