July 3 2012 – Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN) was today crowned Internet Hero at the 14th annual ISPA Awards, while The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) was unveiled as Internet Villain. B4RN were victorious for bringing high speed internet into remote rural communities, setting an example for others to follow, while the ITU was deemed the villain for its internet governance land grab.

The big winners this year were Fluidata, who collected Best Business Fixed Broadband for a second year running and the Managed Service Innovation award, and KC who won Best Business Customer Service, and were highly commended in Safety & Security.

In its inaugural year, the Customer Choice Award went to MacAce who scored highest amongst their customers to take the prize and Hyperoptic were unveiled as Best New ISP in another new category. Other winners on the night included Plusnet, who won Best Consumer Fixed, and Fidonet, who took home the Best Large Hosting Award.

“ISPA would like to congratulate all the winners and thank all the attendees and sponsors for making the evening possible,” said Nicholas Lansman, ISPA Secretary General. “It’s been another important and fast-moving 12 months for the internet industry, and the Awards are a good measure of achievement and innovation in the past year”

The black tie ceremony was compered by comedian John Moloney and the evening kicked off with opening addresses from Dr Peter Cochrane, an entrepreneur and futurist, and Tom Scott, a tech TV presenter.

For details of the winners see below and for more information and photos go to www.ispaawards.org.uk.

ISPA Awards 2012 Winners:

Best SME Business Hosting is: Netcetera
Judges were once again impressed by Netcetera’s entry level service which features a variety of payment methods and 30 day money back guarantee

Best Large Business Hosting is: Fidonet
Fidonet’s pre-sales consultation, load balancing and description of blending in as one of their customers IT department gave them the edge

Best Internet telephony sponsored by Magrathea is: iNet Telecoms (Voipfone)
The Judges felt that iNet Telecom’s (Voipfone) easy set-up and growth through recommendation alone without a sales team made them worthy winners

Best Managed Service Innovation is: Fluidata
The judges awarded the prize to Fluidata for taking the initiative to address the need for competition to ensure consumers and businesses get the choice of providers at the retail level

Best New ISP is: Hyperoptic
In its first year Hyperoptic was chosen for their personalised service in bringing fibre to the building and with it a difference in attitude to service provision

Best Business Customer Service sponsored by Geo is: KC Business
Judges liked KC’s range of contract options, free technical consultation and investment in start-ups and the community

Best Consumer Customer Service sponsored by CISAS is: Catalyst 2
The judges chose Catalyst 2 for their hassle-free service and for helping guide consumers through the minefield of choosing a hosting service

Digital Inclusion in association with Go ON UK winner is: Mersey Travel
The judges decided that Mersey Travel were worthy winners for their campaign, Go On it’s Liverpool, which created a sustainable and replicable model for the UK.

Internet Safety & Security, sponsored by Return Path is: TalkTalk, with KC highly commended
TalkTalk were awarded the winners prize for educating parents and giving them an active choice about content filtering.

The judges decided to commend KC for their security portfolio, annual health checks and walk-in library service.

Customer Choice Award winner is: MacAce
Thousands of customers took part and rated their ISPs on reliability, customer service and value for money – MacAce scored highest.

Best Consumer Fixed Broadband is: Plusnet
The judges were impressed by Plusnet’s flexibility, good range of services, value for money, 10 day cancellation and pre-configured routers.

Best Business Fixed Broadband sponsored by O2 Wholesale is: Fluidata
The judges felt that Fluidata’s service offered value for money on an entry level service, scaled up well as well as offering IPv6 and a variety of speeds and services

Internet Hero: The ISPA Council chose Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN) for bringing high speed internet into remote rural communities, setting an example for others to follow.

Internet Villain: The ISPA Council felt that the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) were worthy winners for its internet governance land-grab which could lead to a less open and free internet, controlled by governments in a top-down manner

-ends-

Notes to the editor:

The Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA) was established in 1995 as a trade association to represent providers of Internet services in the UK. ISPA promotes competition, self-regulation and the development of the Internet industry. For a list of members or other information about ISPA, please consult the website: www.ispa.org.uk

The views expressed in this release are those of the Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA) and do not necessarily reflect the corporate policies of the individual companies that are members of the Association or other organisations that may be mentioned in the release. For further editorial information please contact the ISPA Press Office (020 3397 3308).

About The ISPA Awards:

The ISPAs - the UK Internet industry awards - are unique as they are awarded to people and organisations in the industry following rigorous testing and an independent judging process and reflect the broad nature of the internet service provider sector.

The Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA UK) has been organising the UK Internet Industry Awards since 1999 to herald the best of the Internet industry and to celebrate innovation and best practice. In 2002 the BBC dubbed the awards “The ISPAs”.