Teletimes International held the first annual “Teletimes International Industry Excellence Awards 2011” on the 22nd of July in Islamabad Club, Islamabad. The launch of the “Teletimes International Industry Excellence Awards” program marked the beginning of an industry recognition program by one of the most widely-circulated publications within the Middle Easr, Asia and Africa regions. These awards were bestowed upon telecommunications and technology organizations as well as industry leaders, who have made a substantial difference to the regional ICT and technology industry and have expended their energies and resources to realize promised value for the end-users.
M/s. WorldCall Telecom Ltd which is an Omantel Co was the Diamond Sponsor of the Award Ceremony. WorldCall was also the Sponsor of the musical night. PTCL was the Platinum Sponsor and Huawei Technologies was the Gold Sponsor of the event, while USF and CRPL were the Co-Sponsors.
The event was presided by the Federal Minister for Finance Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh whereas the second session of the event was carried out under the patronage of Dr. Mohammad Yaseen, Chairman, PTA. Among the guests of honor were Mr. Mehdi Al Abduwani, Chairman WorldCall Ltd, Mr. Walid Irshaid, President and CEO, PTCL and Mr. Colin Hu, Deputy CEO & CTO of Huawei Technologies. The ceremony began with the recitation of Holy Quran by Qari Imlak Hussain Chishti. Following that was the awards distribution in which the Chief Guest Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh presented the awards to the winners.
- Leadership Award for Best Telecom International Operations –Ghassan Hasbani, CEO, International Operations, STC.
- Leadership Award for Best Telecom Services – Mr. Mohammad Omran, Chairman, Etisalat, Mr. Walid Irshaid, President and CEO, PTCL, received the award on his behalf.
- Best Emerging Investor Award – Dr. Amer Al Rawas, CEO, Omantel, Mr. Sohail Qadir, VP, Omantel received the award on his behalf.
- Leadership Award for Best Broadband Services – Mr. Walid M. Irshaid, President & CEO, PTCL.
- Best Converged Services Provider Award – Mr. Mehdi Al Abduwani, Chairman, WorldCall Telecom Ltd.
- Best Regulatory Leadership Award – Dr. Mohammad Yaseen, Chairman, PTA.
- Best Telecom Solution Provider Award – Mr. Alan Wang, CEO, Huawei Technologies Ltd. Mr. Colin Hu, Deputy CEO received the award on his behalf.
- Excellence Award for ICT services to the Corporate Sector – Mr. Khuram Rahat, M.D, Teradata- Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
- Excellence Award for the most innovative mobile plan – Mr. Abdul Aziz, CEO, Ufone.
- Best Regional Telecom Investor Award – Fan Yun Jun, CEO, CM Pak Ltd, Mr. Feng Tuixian, Acting CEO received the award on his behalf.
- Leadership Award for Excellence in IT Enabled Services – Mr. Iqtidar Zaidi, President & CEO, Techaccess.
- Best Telecom and IT Security Solution Provider Award NARUS Inc. – Mr. Riaz Asher Siddiqui, Country Director for Pakistan, NARUS Inc received the award.
- Excellence Award for ICT promotion in under-developed areas – Mr. Parvez Iftikhar, CEO, Universal Service Fund.
- Leadership Award for Academic Services to ICT – Dr. Arshad Ali, D.G, SEECS, NUST.
- Best International Clearing House Solution Provider Award CRPL – Mr. Sohail Minhas, Chief Marketing Officer CRPL received the awards.
- Excellence Award for Individual Contribution to Research in ICT – Mr. Muhammad Amir Malik, Director – ICT, PTA.
After the awards distribution, the chief guest Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh shared his thoughts on the occasion. During his speech Dr. Hafeez talked about how important the IT and telecom sector is to the current Government of Pakistan and said that the government is taking many steps in this regard to ensure long-term improvement and success in
these sectors. He also shared words of appreciation for Teletimes and all other people belonging to the telecom and IT sectors present there.
Later on, Mr. Khalid Athar, Chief Editor, Teletimes International said a few words about Teletimes and the Teletimes awards. The guests of honor were also called upon stage to speak on the occasion in which Mr. Walid Irshaid, CEO PTCL; Mr. Mehdi Al Abduwani, Mr. Tom Wilsom (CEO-SAMENA), Chairman PTA Dr. Mohammed Yaseen, Mr. Babar Ali Syed, CEO WorldCall and Mr. Colin Hu, CTO Huawei were included.
During the event Mr. Khalid Athar, Chief Editor Teletimes presented the mementos to the following honorable Guests, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Federal Minister for Finance, Dr. Mohammed Yaseen, Chairman PTA, Mr. Mehdi Abduwani, Chairman WorldCall, Mr. Babar Ali Syed, CEO WorldCall, Mr. Thomas W. Wilson, CEO SAMENA, Mr. Feng Tuixia, CFO CM
Pak Ltd., Mr. Colin Hu, CTO Huawei Technologies, and Mr. Naveed Akbar, Director Operations Graphite Communications.
This was followed by a dinner after which a musical program had been organized with WorldCall Ltd. Popular Musicians and Singers from Pakistan which included Humaira Arshad, Maria Unera, Salik Shah and Lams the Band, performed at the musical program.