Telecom Council 2016 SPIFFY Award Winners include Simless (Virtual SIM Card)

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The Service Provider Innovation Forum (SPIF) of the Telecom Council of Silicon Valley awarded seven start-up communications companies for their innovation, execution, management and technology  at the Council’s annual SPIFFY Award ceremony, held during the 9th annual Telecom Council Carrier Connections (TC3) Summit on Wednesday evening Sept 29, 2016 in Mt View, CA.  There was also an award for the most supportive carrier which went to Telefonica.

SPIFFY nominees attended the ceremony, joined by 50 global fixed and wireless telecommunications operators and over 600 industry professionals.

SPIF members review startups at Telecom Council meetings (not open to the media) several times each month. Competition for these awards is intense, because all startups are screened before they are selected to present to the Telecom Council. All startups who present have already been identified as having ideas, relevance, and traction that most appeal to our carriers from around the globe.

35 nominees from 200 startups were announced in July 2016; and from TC3, here are the winners of the 2016 SPIFFY Awards:

  • The Graham Bell Award for Best Communication Solutions goes to ThinkCX Technologies
  • The Edison Award for Most Innovative Start-Up goes to Peel
  • The San Andreas Award for Most Disruptive Technology goes to Loop AI Labs
  • The Core Award for Best Fixed Telecom Opportunity goes to CUJO
  • The Zephyr Award for Best Mobile Opportunity goes to Simless
  • The Ground Breaker Award for Engineering Excellence goes to Atheer
  • The Prodigy Award for the Most Successful SPIF Alumni is iControl Networks
  • The Fred and Ginger Award for Most Supportive Carrier goes to Telefonica

“Congratulations to the 2016 SPIFFY winners for their forward thinking and impact on the communications industry this year,” said Telecom Council President, Liz Kerton.  “We also commend the operators for their ongoing commitment to working with startups to improve communications networks and services. We look forward to hearing about these partnership success stories at next year’s TC3 Summit, in Silicon Valley on November 1-2, 2017.”

Comment & Perspective:

Of the seven start-ups receiving SPIFFY awards, only Simless makes something that directly touches the network.  The other start-up companies make various types of software or apps that enhance the user experience or provide security like firewalls.   Of course, this is because VCs, corporations, angels, etc are not investing in network infrastructure start-ups, but in companies that provide various types of services and/or applications that use the network infrastructure.

Simless has developed a virtual SIM card for different cellular networks.  The company says they have built a secure and high-performance server platform that allows users to remotely create, distribute and manage digital SIM cards. The platform includes tools that enhance the discoverability of network operators’ offerings while providing more choice and better cellular connectivity experience to end-users.

Simless website “technology” section states: “We are actively developing reference devices, mobile OS patches and “SIM-less” System-on-Chip (S2oC) components to power the next generation of connected devices.”

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