An operator and two individuals who have made a positive contribution to the acceleration of FTTH in Europe received awards at the FTTH Conference.
The Individual Award recognizes an individual who has made a unique effort to make FTTH a reality in Europe. The Operator Award recognizes an operator company that has made a significant contribution to the development and rollout of FTTH in Europe, and the Charles Kao Award recognizes an individual who has made outstanding lifetime achievements and contributions to the promotion of full fiber connectivity (globally and especially in Europe). The latter, established in 2019, honors fiber-optic pioneer Professor Charles Kao (1933-2018), who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009 for his groundbreaking achievements in the transmission of light in optical communication fibers.
Eric Festraets, Chairman of the European FTTH Council, presented the award during the Vienna conference for outstanding contributions to accelerating FTTH deployment in Europe.
The operator award went to UK alternative operator CityFibre, while the individual award went to Jacek Wiśniewski, CEO of Nexera, a Polish wholesale operator and network owner, and finally, the Charles Kao Award went to Alex Goldblum, CEO of Dutch operator Eurofiber.
Festraets commented: "What this year's winners have in common is that they are passionate about what they do, which has led to excellent business performance and contributed significantly to the rollout of FTTH in Europe. I am pleased to present CityFibre, represented by CEO Greg Mesch, with the FTTH Council of Europe Operator Award. This year's FTTH Council of Europe Individual Award went to Jacek Wiśniewski, CEO of NEXERA, and Alex Goldblum, CEO of Eurofiber, was selected as the recipient of the Charles Kao Award. In addition to their personal achievements, their success has even inspired others to invest more in all-fiber and stimulate a healthy, competitive market.
