Satyam Infoway Ltd. (SIFY), an Indian Internet and e-commerce company, earned the ISP of the Year Award at the Second Annual Internet World Asia Industry Awards, 2001. This award was conferred for excellence based on strategic vision, innovation, customer service, bandwidth performance, and connectivity.

Michael Westcott, managing director of Penton Media Asia, presented the award to R. Ramaraj, CEO and managing director of Satyam Infoway, at a gala ceremony held at The Ritz Carlton in Singapore. The ceremony was attended by over 600 Internet professionals from across Asia.

Speaking at the ceremony, Ramaraj said, "When we launched our services in November 1998, we were clear that we needed to set the standard for Internet services in India. Within three years we have established qualitative leadership by pioneering customer friendly products and packaging, wider distribution, and marketing Internet access as a consumer product and service. Despite rapid growth to over 400,000 subscribers today, we have not lost sight of the customer or our goal of setting the standards for the industry. With international norms for connectivity and customer care processes certified ISO 9002, we have won recognition in India as the ISP of the Year and were voted the best ISP by users in a recent CNET India poll. So it gives us great pleasure to be recognized at an Asia industry level, and reaffirms all that we have sought to do and build. I accept this award on behalf of everyone at Satyam Infoway who helped make this possible."

SIFY becomes the first Indian company to win the award in this category. The other nominees for ISP of the Year were NTT DoCoMo of Japan, Korea ThruNet, Capital Online, and StarHub Internet. Last year the kudos for ISP of the Year were shared by Singapore's StarHub Internet and Hong Kong's Cable & Wireless HKT.

The Internet World Asia Industry Awards are the highest honor for Internet companies and professionals throughout the region. Every year, a select panel of judges and voter submissions from across the region determine which Internet companies and people earned the recognition and respect of their peers for their contribution to progress and innovation in the Internet industry in Asia.

To qualify for an Internet World Asia Industry Award, the nominated company or person must be headquartered in Asia. For purposes of this event, Asia is defined as all countries in the region, excluding Australia/New Zealand.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Information Gatekeepers, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group