Questex’s Fierce Telecom Announces the U.S Broadband Awards Finalists


Winners to be revealed November 16 at U.S. Broadband Awards Gala in Washington, D.C. during the U.S. Broadband Summit

NEW YORK, Oct. 03, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Questex’s Fierce Telecom today announces the finalists for the inaugural U.S. Broadband Awards, which honors and celebrates the best solutions, programs, use cases, technology, and individuals working to connect everyone across the United States through broadband.

The finalists were chosen based on effectiveness, technical innovation, financial & community impact, individual efforts in driving broadband investment and true innovation in addressing the digital divide.

Alejandro Piñero, Head of Content, Fierce Technology Group at Questex said, “The breadth and quality of the submissions is testament to the incredible work the telecommunications industry is carrying out to connect the underserved and unconnected. We congratulate all of our finalists especially given the high level of candidates for each award category.”

The 2023 finalists:

Best Broadband & Data Mapping Solution or Initiative 

  • ArcGIS: Leveraging Location Intelligence to Bridge the Digital Divide: Esri Inc. 
  • ChatGIS and WiROI db Geospatial SaaS Platform: Wireless 20/20 
  • Connected Nation Geospatial Services: Connected Nation 
  • Visualizing the Road to Broadband: NoaNet's Broadband and Digital Equity Mapping Initiative: Northwest Open Access Network (NoaNet) 

Best Converged Solution – Cable & Connectivity 

  • Calix DOCSIS Provisioning Connector: Calix 
  • Harmonic cOS™ Broadband Platform: Harmonic 
  • PHYTunes Saturn Wi-Fi Solution: PHYTunes Inc.
  • Reach 

Best Municipal Connectivity Program 

  • Consolidated Communications and Maine Connectivity Authority: Bringing Fiber to Rural Maine: Consolidated Communications 
  • EPB: Bringing the World's Fastest Community-wide Internet to the Chattanooga Area: EPB 
  • Montgomery County, MD 
  • Pulse Fiber Internet 

Best use of 5G FWA For Remote/Rural Connectivity 

  • Casa Systems' AurusLINK: Casa Systems, Inc. 
  • Decreasing Spend and providing rapid installation with 5G Technology: Granite Telecommunications 
  • Ohio Transparent Telecom with Ericsson 
  • Radisys Connect 5G FWA/Broadband Convergence: Radisys 

Enabling Connectivity - Middle Mile Award 

  • Diamond State Networks 
  • Mid-Atlantic Broadband Boosts Capacity, Minimizes Cost with Routed Optical Networking: Cisco Systems 
  • Scalable and efficient middle mile traffic aggregation leveraging point-to-multipoint ICE-X coherent pluggables: Infinera 
  • Zayo's Middle Mile Strategy: Zayo 

Excellence in FTTH Deployment 

  • Blue Ridge Communications 
  • Connect2First connects their Arkansas communities in record time: Render Networks 
  • Frontier Communications 
  • Midwest Energy & Communications 
  • WOW! fiber Internet Deployment in Central Florida: WOW! Internet, TV & Phone 

Excellence in Wireless Neutral Host Networks 

  • Boldyn Networks Provides NYC Free Public WiFi through Link5G Kiosks: Boldyn Networks 
  • Celona Private Wireless Neutral Host Service: Celona 
  • Kajeet Smart Private 5G™️ Neutral Host Solution: Kajeet 
  • Dense Air and Radisys - ORAN Based Actively Shared 5G Small Cell Infrastructure Software Solutions: Radisys 

Impact Award - Greatest Technical achievement in connecting the unconnected (Individual) 

  • Gary Bolton, Fiber Broadband Association 
  • Robert L. Hance, Midwest Energy & Communications 
  • Tommy Jacobson, MCNC 

Impact in Broadband Affordability 

  • American Connection Corps: A Program of Lead For America: Lead For America 
  • Honest Networks 

Innovation in State Broadband Deployment Award 

  • Kansas Office of Broadband Development   
  • Arcadian Infracom and the California Department of Technology Announce Innovative Middle-Mile Fiber Partnership: Arcadian Infracom
  • Vermont Community Broadband Board 

Open Infrastructure & Networking Award 

  • Ciena's Broadband Solution: Empowering Open Access Service Providers: Ciena 
  • High-speed business services over an existing PON infrastructure leveraging ICE-X intelligent coherent pluggables: Infinera 
  • RtBrick 
  • SiFi Networks   

Public Services Deployment 

  • NoaNet Supports Next Generation 911 Network for Washington State: Northwest Open Access Network (NoaNet) 
  • Nationwide managed SD-WAN rollout brings savings and simplicity to one of the nation’s largest delivery services: Granite Telecommunications 

Regional Operator of the Year 

  • C Spire 
  • Frontier Communications 
  • Lumos 
  • SCTelcom   

The judging panel included experts from leading companies in the wider broadband industry, including Tantra Analyst LLC, Mobile Experts, Inc., Impact Broadband and AvidThink. See the full list of judges here.

The winners will be announced at the U.S. Broadband Awards Gala on November 16 at the Renaissance Washington, D.C. Downtown as part of the U.S. Broadband Summit, which takes place November 15-17. Register to attend the U.S. Broadband Summit and the awards ceremony here.

Sponsors of the conference include Verizon, AT&T Fiber, Comcast, NCTA, Calix, Harmonic, Clearfield, Radisys, and more.

For sponsorship opportunities contact Scott Gruntorad at (202) 824-5045 or sgruntorad@questex.com. 

About U.S. Broadband Summit
The first ever U.S. Broadband Summit brings together federal funding leaders and state representatives with the wider broadband industry, including fiber operators, MSO's, WISP's, wireless carriers and more, to discuss the future of broadband in the United States. As attention focuses on bridging the growing digital divide, and the need to bring connectivity to the under- and un-served, the industry must come together to address the challenge. There is no golden key to connect everyone, and the U.S. Broadband Summit aims to bring everyone together to discuss how collaboration will lead to a more connected and vibrant society, in benefit of individuals and communities.

About Questex
Questex helps people live better and longer. Questex brings people together in the markets that help people live better: travel, hospitality and wellness; the industries that help people live longer: life science and healthcare; and the technologies that enable and fuel these new experiences. We live in the experience economy – connecting our ecosystem through live events, surrounded by data insights and digital communities. We deliver experience and real results. It happens here. 

Media Contact
Charlene Soucy
U.S. Broadband Awards
csoucy@questex.com