Anirudh Radhakrishnan, Director of PLINTRON, expands on the challenges they faced during the migration of active customers for a major MVNO client as well as its cloud service expansion in Latin America, both granting them the B2B Client Initiative of the Year - India and Cloud Initiative of the Year - India accolades at the Asian Telecom Awards 2024.

PLINTRON ensures their platform is compliant through the assistance of their global and legal regulatory team, technology team, and local partners.

Read more about the B2B Client Initiative of the Year - India and the Cloud Initiative of the Year - India winner of the Asian Telecom Awards 2024, click here.      

The innovator was awarded the Infrastructure Initiative of the Year.

With 5G technology gradually rolling out to replace and improve current telecommunications infrastructure, efforts by DZS towards providing the necessary equipment did not go unnoticed as they won the Infrastructure Initiative Award at the Asian Telecom Awards 2022. 

The awards program recognises key players in the telecom industry in Asia tracing its heritage from Asian Mobile News which started in 2003. DZS distinguished itself with the DZS Chronos C1216RO, a hardened, Open RAN, fronthaul gateway with a dense package of features and cost-effective deployment and maintenance costs.

The gateway is a core part of Rakuten Mobile’s groundbreaking Open RAN network. Announced in 2018, it is the industry’s first cloud-native and fully virtualised mobile network. Rakuten is redefining how service providers design and deploy networks of the future. 

The DZS Chronos C1216RO provides the flexibility, mobility, and ease of deployment necessary for the successful rollout of 5G across the world. The Open RAN fronthaul gateway (FHG) has been deployed at Rakuten Mobile’s network, with over 17,000 units, serving more than 5 million Rakuten subscribers. 

DZS’s trailblazing and proven solution eclipses the competition and alternative offerings that are still in their trial phases. Key advantages that DZS provides with the C1216RO include reduced deployment and low maintenance costs. 

Rakuten’s interest in the Open RAN fronthaul gateway solution emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, as supply chains were greatly affected and the company’s rollouts were impacted by low supplies of conventional Radio Interface Units (RIUs). Rakuten’s relationship with DZS has yielded measurable results, as Rakuten has been able to match or even exceed their competitors’ upload and download speeds, providing better video streaming, gaming, and voice application experiences to subscribers. 

Integrating the C1216RO into the Rakuten network supported the company’s aggressive rollout plan. Cell site deployment became repeatable regardless of location, density, base station type, and band plans. Rakuten was able to quickly and efficiently expand its reach to support millions of subscribers and allow more room for expansion at no cost to the quality of its service. Rakuten essentially became the front-haul gateway’s testing ground, deriving favourable results for the innovative mobile carrier in Japan. 

Released back in February 2021 as part of the DZS Chronos mobile transport portfolio, the C1216RO is an Open RAN Time Sensitive Network (TSN) switch that allows service providers to redirect traffic from radio antenna sites to centralised vDU units. The open design of the TSN allows for an optimised equipment footprint and consolidates separate components’ functionality. 

The C1216RO’s interfaces concurrently support 4G, 5G, and Wi-Fi services, and are equipped with GPS receivers. This dense package of features provides Grand Master high precision Class C synchronisation for radio and vDU network equipment, as the packet also includes integrated CPRI to eCPRI conversion, multiple 10/25GE radio side interfaces, and 2x100GE uplink redundancy.

Established as a pioneer in mobile xHaul, DZS has released over 1.5 million mobile xHaul ports globally, improving services worldwide. They have also become part of the backbone for many of the world’s leading service providers. In South Korea alone, DZS has been providing vital 5G infrastructure to operators such as KT and LG U+. With this award, DZS continues to display its prowess when it comes to offering the industry’s most advanced and cost-effective OpenRAN front-haul gateway.

Its ‘Donate Data’ platform already benefited ten schools.

Top Brunei telecom company Progresif Sdn Bhd (Progresif) partnered with the Ministry of Education (MOE) last September 2020 and introduced ‘Progresif for Schools’, a year-long partnership committed to advocate for education.

From this partnership, the ‘Donate Data’ campaign was developed. Launched in February 2021, the programme saw the telecom company sponsor infrastructure to provide ten local schools with broadband internet and provided a platform for the public to donate data to students.

Through the ‘Donate Data’ platform, Progresif subscribers have the option to donate money which will then be converted to data via SMS.

Non-Progresif subscribers may also use other platforms to donate, such as Progresif PAY, BIBD Online, Baiduri Bank, Progresif Webstore, and the Community for Brunei website.

The first ten schools counted as Progresif’s benefactors include Pusat Tingkatan Enam Sengkurong, Maktab Duli Pengiran Muda Al-Muhtadee Billah, Sekolah Menengah Rimba II, Maktab Sains Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan, Pusat Tingkatan Enam Tutong, Sekolah Menengah Perdana Wazir, Pusat Tingkatan Enam Belait, Pusat Tingkatan Enam Meragang, Sekolah Menengah Sultan Sharif Ali and Sekolah Menengah Sultan Hassan.

Following the second wave of the pandemic in August 2021, Progresif has since then adjusted the priority to support any students in need of data and devices to sustain schooling from home.

Since its launch and within six months, the ‘Donate Data’ campaign collected over BND10,500 from the public. This translates to SIM cards covering 350 students in need. By November 2021, donations had reached BND50,000 and reflected the public’s response to support Progresif’s cause for education.

For these efforts, Progresif was given the Marketing & Brand Initiative of the Year - Brunei Darussalam award in the recently concluded Asian Telecom Awards. The awards programme recognises remarkable achievements and initiatives of leading telecom companies across Asia.

"The initiative was the first of its type in Brunei, all of Progresif's staff members worked tirelessly together when we launched the 'Progresif For Schools' campaign. The initiative has demonstrated how kind and supportive individuals, as well as businesses, are in aiding our students and educators in Brunei Darussalam in improving their academic performance. It emphasises the importance of social responsibility, and I believe that this award belongs to all of us! A single act of generosity and cooperation culminated in the extraordinary success of Progresif's 'Donate Data Campaign' via our CSR initiatives for the nation.”, in a statement by Amilin Mat Sah, Progresif’s CSR & Sponsorship Coordinator. 

In giving this award to Progresif, the judging committee considered three major achievements.

First is the company’s ability to bring innovation to the forefront whilst promoting education to the public.

The ‘Donate Data’ campaign innovatively combined technology, education development, and corporate social responsibility in one.  It was able to provide ten schools with connectivity to help facilitate learning through online platforms as part of a blended learning approach.

Second is that since launch, it was able to collect almost BND58,000 a contribution equivalent to a total of 20,000GB worth of data add-ons.

Third is being able to adapt to the shifting needs of the students as the pandemic peaked. Both the MOE and Progresif recognised the challenges parents and students face and decided to allocate the funds collected to give equal access and opportunity to less privileged students.

Due to the need for urgent access and fibre infrastructure limitations, sim cards preloaded with 10GB were provided. The sim cards were auto-loaded in the following months until the school year ended in December. Progresif aims to continue helping students in their online learning at home, following through with its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.

Added Progresif CEO Hajah Nurul Haniah Binti Hj Jaafar, “Winning this honour emphasises the importance of going above and beyond. Due to the ongoing need for data, we will continue to underline our commitment to supporting students' education and providing equal education opportunities to all students across Brunei, as part of one of our four Corporate Social Responsibility pledges - 'Progress for Education'. The funds raised through Donate Data are now being utilised to help give students access to online learning as part of ongoing efforts to ensure equal opportunities for all students. The success of Donate Data campaign is to the students and teachers who will be able to access a plethora of information, expertise, and educational tools, expanding learning opportunities and allowing them to do more than just learn in the classroom. And that is why we do what we do because Progresif is a company powered by people with heart."

They have received the awards for their initiative to undergo digital transformation and to introduce micro-duct technology in urban areas.

Eager Communications Group (ECG) has been awarded with both the Digital Initiative of the Year - Myanmar and the Infrastructure Initiative of the Year - Myanmar at the recently held Asian Telecom Awards 2022 for its initiative to undergo digital transformation, as well as its introduction of micro-duct technology in the country.

ECG is known for building underground fiber networks needed to facilitate business and urban telecommunications in metro areas. They have introduced mini trenching and micro-duct technology in Myanmar’s urban areas, which has been a good solution in complement to the country’s development stage.

With this, the company has been able to construct, maintain, and operate network facilities, provide in any type of telecommunications service, perform poles sharing, duct laying, trenching, radio equipment installed to send/receive and route communications, traffic light communications, and lease all part of the licensee’s network capacity to a Network Services Licensee or Application Services Licensee.

Being established in 2015 with less than 10 employees, ECG saw its business and manpower grow over the years. It also saw its workload increase, which resulted in mountains of paperwork, additional procedures, and check-points to ensure fluidity of the operation. This created a lot of backlogs on decision making, payments, and stuffy office space.

ECG then decided to undergo a digitalisation period since 2019 to ensure a smoother process and a more organized business. For them, it is important to migrate on a digital platform “to catch up with [the] demanding work environment. It is easier to catch up on faults and rectify on time.”

Under this initiative, the company was able to upload all work from manual documents to a virtual private network, speeding up a lot of backlogs. ECG has also provided each employee with email accounts and laptops, as well as classes on basic IT knowledge.

Today, they collect attendance via fingerprints, and all overtime, leaves, and absences are submitted online. Eager has also maximised an online application to reach all employees regardless of their location.

“Eager’s Digital Initiative for its company is well into two years, and we have seen amazing culture transformation and effort from each and every staff. This submission is for the whole company as a morale boost and recognition of their commitment to making Eager a better company,” the company said.

Asian Telecom Awards aims to recognise the remarkable achievements of leading telecom companies, as well as groundbreaking products and solutions pioneered at the height of uncertainties.

Its new postpaid mobile plan MORE pivoted the company’s continued success.

A postpaid plan crafted for the Gen Z market became one of the main reasons why Progresif Sdn Bhd (Progresif) won one of the top awards in Asia.

The MORE plan offers data options with affordable pricing. Apart from having a no-contract option, which made it easier for new subscribers to hop on the service, the monthly rates for the plans were generally attractive to the target market.

Its cheapest plan of 6GB is offered at a contract price of $16 or a non-contract price of $18, whilst its most expensive plan of 35GB has a contract price of $63 or a no-contract-price of $65.

Each plan has 30-day validity data, SMS, and voice calls.

The campaign for the plan was launched online during the height of the pandemic. It aimed to convey the message of providing maximum flexibility to consumers in an ever-increasing ‘data-first’ world.

The new MORE mobile plan was launched alongside other initiatives of the company.

The first campaign featured an exclusive $0 upfront phone bundle with Vivo smartphones for the MORE 20GB and 35GB plans. This was followed by the second campaign dubbed as the #MORECHALLENGE. The in-house team identified the need to promote using the TikTok social media app to particularly target the Gen Z market. 

The 15-second jingle released on the telco’s TikTok channel featured four archetypes: the Gen Z boy and girl and the millennial mom and dad. It featured six local TikTok influencers and invited the public to join the campaign using the jingle.

For these efforts, Progresif was given the Mobile Operator of the Year - Brunei Darussalam award in the recently concluded Asian Telecom Awards. The awards programme recognises remarkable achievements and initiatives of leading telecom companies across Asia.

 "Receiving this award represents a significant achievement, particularly for a telecom company operating in a small market. We needed to stand out whilst remaining extremely relevant, and the MORE! Plan enabled us to do just that. We are happy to be a service provider that allows our consumers to grow alongside us", said Progresif’s Chief Commercial & Digital Officer, Adi Iskandar Bin Haji Basri.

Progresif’s Chief Corporate Strategy Officer, Johan bin Dato Dr Haji Johar added, “Winning this award is a testament to the collective commercial and creative ingenuity of the team. We took a good look at the market and realized that there wasn’t anything out there that spoke to the growing Tik Tok generation – which is becoming an increasingly important market. We are particularly proud of filming Brunei’s first-ever, remotely directed Ad via Zoom”.

In considering the company for the award, the judging committee noted three major factors.

First was the ability of Progresif to adapt to the market despite changes brought about by the pandemic. Progresif was able to launch the MORE campaign whilst establishing the all-new Progresif Media digitally through its main website and in other Progresif social media platforms including Youtube, Facebook and Instagram.

Through this, the company was able to focus on target visual messaging, sold its products through its webstore and offered free delivery across Brunei. It resulted in sales and acquisition target numbers meeting pre-pandemic levels.

The second achievement was that Progresif was able to change its distribution and communication models during the second wave of the pandemic in Brunei. It provided a fully digital experience on the consumer end even whilst movement restrictions were in place.

Lastly, the third achievement was that Progresif was able to launch multiple new campaigns and services in the past year. Following the launch of Progresif Media in 2020 to diversify out of airtime revenue, Progresif launched the Zoom fixed broadband plan and introduced its revamped end-to-end online store.

It also started community projects and improved its customer experience by utilising WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.

"We are truly humbled and proud to be receiving this award for 'Mobile Operator of the Year - Brunei Category'. Receiving this for Progresif is again another significant achievement, following the regional award we earned last year for Best Employee Experience. This encapsulates all Progresif stands for—our people and our capabilities. This recognition truly highlights the strength of collaboration, the passion we have for continuously improving and innovating, never settling and always progressive and ready to give and do more for our customers and stakeholders. I hope this is just one of the many achievements and recognitions that we have yet to come across in our journey and that this is the start of many more success stories to come," expressed the Progresif CEO Hajah Nurul Haniah Binti Hj Jaafar.

It bagged three major awards in the annual awards programme.

Major telecom player in Thailand Advanced Info Services (AIS) received three of the most-coveted awards in this year’s Asian Telecom Awards for its various initiatives and projects. The awards programme recognises remarkable achievements and initiatives of leading telecom companies across Asia.

For its first award, AIS received the Mobile Operator of the Year – Thailand.

Backed with its more than three decades of providing telecommunication infrastructure in Thailand, AIS was awarded for its efforts to transition to becoming a Cognitive Telco or smart organisation in response to the now-digital era.

The panel primarily considered the company’s three primary goals: First, that AIS aims to boost productivity and provide the greatest benefit to customers. Second, that it wants to continue driving business growth with home internet and corporate customers. Finally, the company is gearing up for investment in digital business for a strong future growth.

AIS is now recognised as the leader of the network with the most bandwidth and provides 5G coverage network in 77 provinces across Thailand.

For its second award, AIS was hailed Telecom Company of the Year – Thailand.

The milestones provided under this award parallels that of the first, but with more focus on the other projects executed by the company.

Included here is the recognition that AIS has maintained its standing as the number one network in Thailand with the fastest and widest coverage across the country.

Another is that with AIS Fibre, the company launched a 24/7 installation service and maintenance at home alongside the introduction to the market of 2Gbps of home internet.

AIS in partnership with Disney Plus Hotstar also provided exclusive streaming platform and content for the first time in Thailand, with a special package price exclusively for AIS customers. The content consists of world class studios such as Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, National Geographic.

Lastly, AIS received the Digital Initiative of the Year – Thailand award.

At the center of this recognition and following the achievements AIS received from providing quality 5G service, the company launched various products to help the community in battling the effects of COVID-19.

AIS distributed AIS 5G robots to hospitals and retailers to lower the risk of human contact. Later, AIS 5G also launched V-Avenue.Co, the world’s first virtual avenue in the world in collaboration with partners from various sectors.

The company also furthermore jumped on the metaverse trend by launching Ai-Ailynn, Thailand’s first virtual influencer.

Recognising the need to go digital, AIS likewise launched digital touchpoints such as myAIS, an online service which processes transactions; line myshop, to serve customers 24/7; and a new immersive platform previously mentioned called V-Avenue.Co.

AIS said that it launched all these projects to demonstrate its commitment towards constant development in its products and services. In turn, this allows the company to run the business uninterrupted and lessens occurrences for its customers to avoid encountering obstacles in communication.

From all these, the judging panel noted that AIS is now recognised as leading in innovativeness in Thailand. AIS has launched products and services that received positive feedback and its Brand Preference had a significant increase this year