Bengaluru firm bags international telecom award

Bengaluru: Astrome Technologies, a startup incubated by SID (Society for Innovation and Development), IISc wins big at the ITU Virtual Digital World 2020 for their Gigamesh wireless-fibre product that accelerates the deployment of 5G and rural broadband infrastructure.

The three-day event organised by International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialised agency and Vietnam's Ministry of Information and Communications, recognized Astrome Technologies as the winner of the ITU VIRTUAL DIGITAL WORLD SME Award for the Most Promising Innovative Solution in Connectivity. The event was presided over by ITU's Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. The award acknowledged their unique wireless fibre product in E-Band frequencies, that combines multiple point to point radios in one.

Astrome has received UN recognition, a unique certificate of achievement - and an invitation (an Executive pass) to join the ITU Digital World 2021 in Hanoi, Vietnam, in Q4 2021 to take part in the full SME Programme on site and in person. A distinguished jury of experts shortlisted Virtual SME Awards applicants from across the world to present their solutions in a series of online pitching sessions. The winners in each category were announced at a special award ceremony virtually. The jury members included Emmanuelle Ganne, Senior Analyst, Economic Research and Statistics Division of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Neil Sahota, Business Development Leader, IBM Master Inventor at IBM Watson Group and Tony Azzarelli, CEO of Azzurra Telecom Ltd (UK).

Speaking about the award, Neha Satak, Co-founder and CEO said, "We are honoured to receive this award. We help telecom operators reduce the digital divide by enabling them to deploy quality rural telecom infrastructure at 5 times less cost and an order of magnitude lower time of deployment. This award is a strong validation that our technology and product is desired globally to bridge the digital divide, it also encourages us to scale our business and reach its maximum potential".

Furthermore, Venkatesh Kumaran, President of Astrome said "We are excited to win the award from a prestigious institution such as the ITU. This award only re-iterates that the problem we are solving is really big, and that we would have a great role to play in rural broadband infrastructure and upcoming 5G deployments"

The ITU Telecom World Awards rewards inspirational ICT innovation and looks for the next generation of social technopreneurs between 18 and 30 with solutions to developmental challenges. It is an opportunity to recognize innovative tech solutions, build resilience and foster investment in tech SMEs in the midst of this crisis. ITU Telecom, part of the ITU, organizes ITU Digital World and ITU Telecom World events on a not-for-profit neutral platform to accelerate ICT innovation for social and economic development through exhibiting solutions, sharing knowledge and networking. Previous iterations have been held across Budapest, Bangkok, Busan, Durban and in 2021 will take place in Hanoi.