25 Global Carriers Recognize 7 Telecom Startups with SPIFFY Awards

Palo Alto, CA, March 3, 2008 - The Service Provider Forum of the Telecom Council of Silicon Valley awarded 7 young telecom companies for their innovation, execution, management, and technologies at the first annual SPIFFY Awards on February 28, 2008 in Palo Alto.

In a red carpet affair, members of the Service Provider Forum, including AT&T, British Telecom, NTT DoCoMo, France Telecom, Swisscom, Vodafone and many other fixed and wireless carriers from Europe, Asia, and North and South America listed on the Telecom Council website, voted from among the hundreds of startup companies they had reviewed in 2006 and 2007, for their favorite for each award category.

Our service providers applaud the support of venture firm Velocity Interactive Group for its sponsorship of the Awards and commend each of these winners and runners-up for their contributions to the future of telecom. By simply being invited to present to the SPiF, all of the nominated start-ups were identified as young companies that have significant potential and ideas that most appeal to communication service providers from around the globe.

And the winners are…

1. The winner of the Edison Award for Most Innovative Start-Up is Loopt for its original location-based social mapping service.
· The Edison Award runner-up was Kyte TV.

2. The winner of the Ground Breaker Award for Engineering Excellence is Ruckus Wireless, who makes Wi-Fi equipment reliable enough for multimedia distribution throughout the home.
· The Ground Breaker Award runner-up was deCarta.

3. The winner of the Graham Bell Award for Best Communication Solution went to Jajah for its low-cost international calling consumer services.
· The Graham Bell Award runner-up was Jabber.

4. The winner of the San Andreas Award for Most Disruptive Technology went to Sling Media, an equipment manufacturer that enables subscribers to watch their own TV from any Internet connection anywhere.
· The San Andreas Award runners-up are Feeva and Jajah.

5. The winner of the Core Award for Best Fixed Telecom Opportunity is Adzilla for improving online advertising.
· The Core Award runner-up was OpVista.

6. The winner of the Zephyr Award for Best Mobile Opportunity went to Obopay for its mobile payment service.
· The Zephyr Award runner-up was ByteMobile.

7. The winner of the Prodigy Award for the Most Successful SPiF Alumni is also Sling Media for their exceptional execution in the retail sales channel.
· The Prodigy Award runner-up was 2Wire.

8. And the winner of the Fred & Ginger Award for Most Supportive Carrier went to British Telecom for its years of top-quality employees based in Silicon Valley who go beyond expectations connecting their firm to entrepreneurs with new ideas and products.
· The Fred & Ginger Award runner-up was Swisscom.


About the Telecom Council
The Telecom Council is an association dedicated to connecting Silicon Valley’s critical mass of companies across the entire telecom ecosystem - big and small, fixed and wireless, traditional or IP, young and mature - with each other. Using our network, tools, framework, and events, the Council brings together the industry’s local companies, research, ideas, capital, and human expertise to create a hub for local telecom professionals to connect, communicate, and collaborate. http://www.telecomcouncil.com

Contact Information

Liz Kerton

President

The Telecom Council of Silicon Valley

Contact via E-mail