NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Light Reading, the premier source for telecom industry analysis, has announced the finalists for the 2013 Leading Lights, the premier annual awards program for the global telecom sector.

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In total, more than 50 companies have been shortlisted in 12 categories. Major industry names such as Alcatel-Lucent, Amdocs, AT&T, Cisco Systems, Comcast, EE, IBM, Juniper Networks, Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN), NTT Communications, Oracle, Sprint, and Verizon Communications are among the finalists.

The complete list of finalists is available here: http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=705576

"I'm tremendously excited about this year's list of finalists – it's a stellar lineup," said Light Reading Editor-in-Chief Ray Le Maistre. "We had hundreds of entries, and the quality of the submissions was incredibly high. The judging process was tough. Now the Light Reading team is looking forward to the awards party, which is going to be something special."

The winners will be announced at the Leading Lights party, which will be held on Tuesday, October 1, at The Out in New York City, one of the trendiest hotels in the world, according to Fodor.

In addition to the 12 awards, Light Reading will also announce the latest inductees to the Light Reading Hall of Fame, which seeks to recognize several individuals – the famous and the infamous – for their remarkable contributions to the sector.

The Leading Lights awards party precedes the Ethernet & SDN Expo, which is being held at the Javits Center in New York City October 2 – 3. Get all the details about that must-attend event, which features multiple telecom executive keynote presentations and conference sessions focusing on the latest hot trends in communications, by visiting http://www.ethernetsdnexpo.com.

Contact:Ray Le MaistreEditor in Chief, Light Readingray.lemaistre@ubm.com

Amy AverbookSr. Director of Marketing, UBM DeusM917-743-2693averbook@deusm.com

About Light ReadingLight Reading (www.lightreading.com) combines its research-led online communities and targeted events portfolio to help those in the global communications industry make informed decisions. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for telecom analysis for more than 300,000 subscribers each month, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content. and reputation. Light Reading produces targeted communications events and focused one-day conferences each year for cable, mobile, and wireline executives across five continents.

About UBM plcUBM plc is a leading global business media company. We inform markets and bring the world's buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print and provide them with the information they need to do business successfully. We focus on serving professional commercial communities, from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. Our 6,000 staff in more than 30 countries are organized into specialist teams that serve these communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more information, go to www.ubm.com

SOURCE Light Reading

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