MORRISTOWN, NJ – April 22, 2009 – TM Forum, the world's premier industry group focused on business effectiveness for the communications and media sectors, today announced 12 finalists for its 2009 Excellence Awards program. The awards recognize leadership and innovation across the communications industry, and attract entries from leading service providers and suppliers around the world. Winners of this year’s awards will be announced during the Keynote Perspectives session at TM Forum’s Management World conference in Nice, France on Wednesday, May 6, 2009.

The prestigious Excellence Awards this year feature two categories recognizing best practice within the industry – one for Communications Service Providers, the other for solution suppliers and system integrators. An independent judging panel comprising 10 industry experts selected the strongest entries in each category to produce a set of 23 Official Nominees, now refined to just six finalists in each category.

The finalists are:

Best Practices – Service Provider                                             Best Practices Supplier/ Systems Integrator

AAPT                                                                                         Clarity

Chunghwa Telecom                                                                      ConceptWave

Cox Communications                                                                   NetCracker Technology Corporation

Microsoft Online Services                                                             Progress Software

Telecom Italia                                                                              Sigma Systems

Telstra                                                                                         ZTESoft

More than 40 leading companies from across the industry including, for the first time, entries from the Cable and online services sectors, have battled for a place in the finals. “We’ve raised the bar this year, asking each entrant to demonstrate innovative and cost-effective transformation, with quantifiable results,” commented Nik Willetts, VP Communications, TM Forum. “I’m pleased to say the membership has risen to the challenge, and each nominee clearly shows the value of TM Forum standards, delivering significant cost and risk reductions through a range of innovative transformation programs.”

For the first time, the finalists and winner of the Best Practices – Supplier/System Integrator award have been chosen exclusively by potential customers from within TM Forum’s service provider membership.  More than 300 individuals representing over 100 different service providers from the telecom, mobile, cable and defense sectors voted to decide the six finalists and winner of this category. “We’ve put the final decision in the hands of service providers this year,” adds Willetts. “By giving the supplier’s customers the opportunity to decide who wins, we’re recognizing not only those suppliers who can demonstrate industry best practice, but also the solutions that service providers see as key to transformation.”

The Excellence Award winners will be announced to an audience of more than 2,500 executives from the communications and media sectors at the Forum’s flagship Management World 2009 conference in Nice on the morning of Wednesday, May 6, 2009.

Members of the press interested in covering the Excellence Awards, and the Management World conference, are invited to contact Geoff Devlin at gdevlin@tmforum.org to secure a press pass to the event.

About TM Forum

With more than 700 member companies in 75 countries, TM Forum is the world’s leading industry association focused on improving business effectiveness for service providers and their suppliers. Serving the information, communications and entertainment industries, the Forum provides practical solutions, guidance and leadership to transform the way that digital services are created, delivered and charged. Members include the world’s largest service providers, cable and network operators, software suppliers, equipment suppliers and systems integrators.

TM Forum provides a wide range of information and support to help its members reduce the costs and risks associated with creating and delivering profitable services. These include industry research and benchmarks, technology roadmaps, best practice guidebooks, software standards and interfaces, as well as certified training, conferences and publications. The Forum also provides its member community with extensive marketing and networking opportunities, enabling business with new customers and partners.

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