Cost of entry

Q1 What is your brand? What does it stand for?
Q2 What have you done to develop your brand in the past 12 months? How will this add to the value of your brand?
Q3 What have you done to promote the brand? How will this add to the business value?
Q4 What revenues does your brand produce? How does that compare commercially with competitors’ brands?
Q5 How else do you measure the success of your brand? How does this compare with competitors in your sector?

Open to
Fixed and mobile operators, service providers and all content providers that have launched or marketed commercial content-based services, and which have achieved success in the marketplace in the past year. The content service may be residential or business-focused.

Criteria
For the Best Content Service award, companies should:
• Describe a content-based service which has produced a commercial return
• Show how they planned the launch and marketing of the service to take account of demand for content services
• Show how the product or service was especially suited to the communications network and the end-users to whom it was delivered to
• Show how they achieved success and recognition for the product or service
• Demonstrate innovation in approach, pricing and technology
• Give evidence that the product or service produced new revenues

Q1 What is the name of your content service and when was it introduced? What does it do?
Q2 Why did you introduce this new service? How did you introduce this service to the market?
Q3 What is special about your service for end-users? What features make your new service stand out from the multimedia competition?
Q4 How many contracts and/or end-users and/or companies have been signed/subscribed for the service?
Q5 What revenues does your service generate? What revenues do you expect this service to produce in the next three years?

Open to
All fixed and mobile operators and service providers.

About this category
In this category the judges will look for evidence of a well designed and successfully implemented customer care strategy that has produced tangible and quantifiable results. This may be in the consumer or business markets.

Criteria
Entrants should be able to demonstrate:
• A pro-active and pervasive customer care culture reporting against and meeting targets
• Application of technology to reinforce customer relationships and extend or enhance the service
• Future plans to improve or enhance the standard of service to customers.
And provide:
• Audited data on churn, responsiveness, and customer satisfaction
• Testimonials from customers

Q1 What is your customer care programme called? When was it introduced?
Q2 Why did you launch a customer care programme? How does it help your customers and/or end users? Give examples of problems it has helped with.
Q3 What makes your customer care programme different? Give examples of improvements in your customer support in response to real customer issues.
Q4 How has your customer care programme helped your company do better business? Give examples.
Q5 What value has your customer care programme added to your business? How will you develop customer care in the next three years?

Open to
All providers of communications services including fixed and mobile carriers; managed network and IT service providers, virtual network operators, and Internet service providers.

About this category
Managed services can encompass a range of offerings from managing WANs, through VPNs (including IP-VPN), managed network services and desktops or applications, to web hosting, web services and mobile enterprise solutions. While service providers don’t have to own or manage the CPE of the end-user, they should be managing the communications through the CPE.

Criteria
Entrants should be able to:
• Outline the scope of the solution including service/services offered
• Explain the capabilities in terms of reach, redundancy, capacity, flexibility, scalability, reliability and levels of service
• Summarise the service provider’s network and technology strengths, security capabilities and customer support structures
• Provide evidence of customer satisfaction ratings, cost savings and other business benefits including elements like proactive response and benchmarking
• Demonstrate success of the solution in terms of market share, revenue growth and/or client wins

Q1 What is your managed service? What does it do?
Q2 How many contracts and/or users and/or companies take your managed service?
Q3 Why do your customers use your service? What does it do for them that other managed services do not?
Q4 What features make your service stand out from the competition?
Q5 What revenues does your service produce? How do you intend to grow revenues and/or business from your managed service over the next three years?

Open to
All operators of mobile communications networks and MVNOs, with national
and/or international business and operations. This category is not open to
manufacturers or vendors of equipment.

About this category
Successful mobile operators have been maintaining voice revenues while driving
up data ARPU by evolving their businesses towards new value-added data and
multimedia services. They have confronted these changes through various
combinations of expansion outside of core markets and business areas, service innovation, aggressive marketing, an emphasis on customer loyalty and relationship management, and strong brand development.

Criteria
The Best Mobile Operator will be judged according to:
• Sound performance, competitiveness and consistency with clear direction and
strategic vision
• Development of new business models and relationships throughout the value chain
• Provision of strong and innovative and attractive service offerings
• Reliability, pricing and customer service
• Evidence of a coherent technology roadmap

Q1 What is the name of your mobile operation? What market[s] do you operate in?
Q2 Who are your customers?
Why do they use your mobile service and not other mobile services?
Q3 What features make your operation stand out from the competition?
How have you responded to customer and/or market changes?
Q4 What have you done to improve your users’ service experience in the past 12 months?
Q5 What revenues does your service produce? How do you intend to grow revenues and/or business from your services over the next three years?

Open to
All fixed and mobile operators and service providers.

About this category
This category will recognise the carrier or service provider that has launched, within the past 12 months, what the judges consider to be the best new service. This can be retail or wholesale, voice or data, fixed or mobile, basic or value-added, consumer or enterprise.

Criteria
Entrants should be able to:
• Explain the unique features that make the service the best of the new crop
• Outline any new technology and/or service aspects involved
• Demonstrate new thinking in design, development, usability and market appeal
• Where possible, show evidence that the new service has been successful in terms of
revenue generation and/or customer take up.

Q1 What is your new service and when was it introduced? What does it do?
Q2 Why did you introduce this new service? How did you introduce it to the market?
Q3 What features make your new service stand out from the competition?
Q4 How many contracts and/or end-users and/or companies have been signed/subscribed for the new service?
Q5 What revenues do you expect this service to produce in the next three years?

Open to
All fixed and mobile operators and service providers with all or part of their business within a developing market.

About this category
The winner of this category will be the operator that has best used or overcome developing market characteristics to achieve commercial success and/or further development of their market.

Criteria
Entrants should be able to:
• Demonstrate local investment in infrastructure and/or employment
• Provide evidence of growth, performance and current or projected profitability
• Demonstrate an innovative or market-leading strategy designed or adapted for specific conditions in your developing market.

Q1 In which developing market is your operation? When was it launched?
Q2 What are the main characteristics of the developing market in which you operate? How do you meet the specific requirements of the market?
Q3 What makes your operation innovative or market leading? Give examples and testimonials that show how you have responded to customer and/or market changes.
Q4 What investments have you made in your operation and the market? How do you maintain and improve quality of service?
Q5 What revenues does your operation produce? How do you intend to grow revenues and/or business from your market over the next three years?

Open to
Any network operator or services company, or systems/software or equipment supplier that has been directly involved in managing a project for a major customer in the past year. That customer could be a corporate user or a telecoms service provider. The project could involve provision and integration of corporate private network or applications services. Or it could be a telecoms infrastructure build or OSS implementation. The category is open to partnerships, but not to companies that have only supplied equipment or software for network projects.

About this category
This category provides for an award for high standards in system or business process integration services, project services delivery and project management in a communications networking environment. The award will be made to the entry that demonstrates the highest skills and best results in managing their project.

Criteria
Entrants should be able to:
• Demonstrate that they have exceeded the customer’s requirements e.g. for completion times or cost or operational outcome.
• Show how they met the requirements given in the RFP
• Outline the management controls that ensured the successful completion of the project
• Provide evidence of the outcome and results from the project including exceeding benchmarks if appropriate.
• Show how they gave feedback to the customer, and how they kept the customer informed of the financial and operational benefits of their investment

Q1 What is the name of your project? What is it designed to achieve? What organisations and/or departments are involved?
Q2 Briefly describe the planned stages in your project. How does it reach the stated aim?
Q3 What management controls were put in place throughout your project? How did you measure performance at key stages in your project?
Q4 How has your project benefited your customer? Give examples of communication and feedback from the customer?
Q5 How do you measure the success of your project? Describe and quantify the results or outcome against these criteria.

Open to
All fixed and mobile operators and service providers, as well as equipment vendors and developers of software solutions.

About this category
This award will go to the individual or organisation that has shown the greatest foresight in developing or fostering the development of a technology used or able to be used in delivering or receiving communications services via carrier networks.

Criteria
Entrants should be able to demonstrate:
• The development of a technology with potential for far reaching effect on business or consumer markets
• That the technology and/or its application is the original work of the entrant
• That it represents an innovative approach to an existing aspect of communications networks or services, or opens up an entirely new area
• That the technology works and has potential in a commercial environment

Q1 What is the name for your technology? What does it do?
Q2 How does your technology or product help end users and/or companies do better business with their customers or clients? Why should they buy it?
Q3 What features make your technology easy to use or install?
Q4 What features make your technology stand out from other technologies that do a similar job?
Q5 What revenues do you expect your technology to produce? How do you intend to grow revenues and/or business from your technology or product over the next three years?

Sponsored by:

Open to
Wholesale telecoms providers in wireline, fixed wireless, mobile or converged markets

About this category
The judges will be looking for the most innovative business model, successful partnering strategy or new technology deployment behind the most successful wholesale carrier business. They will take into account revenue growth and other KPIs, but not exclusively.

Criteria
Entrants should be able to provide evidence of:
• A national, regional or global business with a focus on growth sectors and/or markets
• Differentiation in areas such as cost, quality, connectivity, geographical reach, level of service and/or customer care
• Retail partner appeal and satisfaction
• Technology and /or business innovation

Q1 What is your wholesale business called? Where does it operate?
Q2 How many carriers/service providers and/or users take your wholesale service? What do they spend with you?
Q3 Why do your customers use your service? What does it do for them that other wholesale services don’t?
Q4 What features make your wholesale service stand out from the competition? Give examples of unusual new business won.
Q5 How do you intend to grow revenues and/or business from your wholesale service over the next three years?

Open to
All fixed and mobile network operators or service providers. Entrants do not need to operate internationally, as long as they can demonstrate organizational strategy and procedures of a truly global standard.

About this category
Traditional values such as quality of service, reliability, and customer service always score highly in this category. These are likely to be weighed against a strong service portfolio, technological innovation, evidence of strong and disciplined management providing a sound business footing, and strategic direction and future scope for development of the company.

Criteria
Entrants for Best Global Operator will be judged on the degree to which they fulfill the following conditions:
• Address customer needs in terms of quality, reliability and customer service
• Provide strong and innovative service offerings
• Show sound management, clear strategic direction and strong performance
• Demonstrate revenue generation/growth

Q1 What is the name of your operation? When was it launched?
Q2 Who are your customers? Why do they use your service? What do they say about it?
Q3 What features make your operation stand out from the competition? How have you responded to customer and/or market changes?
Q4 What investments have you made in your operation in the past 12 months? How do you maintain and improve quality of service?
Q5 What revenues does your service produce? How do you intend to grow revenues and/or business from your operation over the next three years?

Open to
All fixed and mobile network operators or service providers.

About this category
The winner of this category will already have been recognised as the best in their region. The shortlist for Best International Carrier will be formed of the Best Regional Operators from each of five key areas: Europe; Middle East & Africa; Asia/ Asia Pacific; North America; Latin America and Rest of the World.

The judges will be looking for a strong service portfolio, well matched to the needs of their local customer base. The winning operator may work in a single country or across a region, and may be company headquartered in the region, or a local division of a larger / global player.

Criteria
Entrants for Best International Carrier should set their sites first and foremost on being recognised as Best Regional Operator for their region. Success at this level will ensure inclusion in the shortlist for Best International Carrier. Entrants will be judged on the degree to which they fulfil the following conditions:
• Match their service offerings to the local needs of their customers and innovate to meet their future requirements
• Provide outstanding customer service quality offerings and reliability
• Demonstrate clear strategic direction and sound management
• Demonstrable revenue generation/growth

Q1. What is the name of your operation? When was it launched?
Q2. Who are your customers? Why do they use your service? What do they say about it?
Q3. What features make your operation stand out from the competition? How have you responded to customer and/or market changes?
Q4. How do you maintain and improve quality of service?
Q5. What revenues does your service produce? How do you intend to grow revenues and/or
business from your operation over the next three years?

Open to
All fixed and mobile operators and service providers.

Q1 What is the name of your CSER programme? When was it launched?
Q2 What issues are addressed by your programme? How do these benefit stakeholders?
Q3 How do you measure the success of your programme? How successful have you been to date?
Q4 How do you assess future CSR / CSER requirements?
Q5 What business benefits have you seen from your focus on corporate social & environmental responsibility?

---

Best Change-Maker

About this category
This award recognises individuals and teams within telecoms organisations who have made a difference to the business—by developing and driving the launch of new products and services, or taking existing products and services into new market or geographic sectors.

It is not for CxOs—it is for the people managing teams and projects within their organisation who have really made business change happen 2007/2008. The judges look for demonstrable innovation, creativity and outstanding effort in developing new contracts, partnerships or product / service rollout. The team or individual and come from any discipline within a communications provider or from a supplier to a communications provider."
 
Criteria
Q1.Précis, including:
            - name of nominee(s)
            - company worked for
            - job description
            - 100 word summary of why they deserve to win the award
Q2. Name up to three projects or ventures that this individual or team has been involved with (no more than 200 words each), detailing:
            - the partners involved
            - objectives
            - how they were managed and monitored
            - outcome
            - evidence of original or innovative approach by individual or team

---

Person of the Decade

An online poll will determine the Person of the Decade. This award is free to enter.

Voting will open shortly - check back for more details

---

 

Malin Frenning of TeliaSonera Internatinal Carrier presents Barbara Dalibard of Orange Business Services with the award for Best Global Operator.

Award schedule The Awards are now open for entries. Please visit Categories for a full list of the World Communication Awards. Entry deadline EXTENDED: 18th July 2008  Shortlist annouced: September 2008 Gala awards evening: 26th November 2008 Please email wca@totaltele.com for further information and to receive email updates on the latest developments regarding the World Communication Awards 2008.