IRVINE, California, July 29 /PRNewswire/ --

- High-profile promotion opportunity at industry's premier converged
entertainment show

Applications are now being solicited for the Vision Awards to be
presented at the eighth annual TelcoTV conference and expo in November 2009.
Entry for these prestigious awards means the highest-profile exposure at the
world's number one converged entertainment showcase, as well as recognition
for outstanding innovation in video and entertainment convergence. Awards
will be granted to the most compelling new products, applications, or
services in each of eight categories: Broadband Access Network, Conditional
Access, Customer Premises Equipment, Middleware, Encoding, two awards for
Service Provider Innovation, and a new category for 2009 -- Test and
Measurement.

To be eligible for nomination, the product or service must have been
launched no earlier than last year's TelcoTV event (held November 2008).
Winners will be announced at a highlight presentation during TelcoTV,
November 10-12, 2009, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.
The nomination deadline is October 5, 2009. Submissions will be judged by a
panel of industry experts, including TelcoTV management, service providers,
industry consultants, and editorial staff. For further information and the
online nomination form, visit www.TelcoTVonline.com.

"This is a great opportunity to gain optimum exposure at what has long
been recognized as the leading industry event for converged entertainment,"
says Joseph Braue, Group Director of TechWeb's Light Reading division, which
co-produces the event with NTCA. "Even if you don't get short-listed as a
finalist, everyone nominated will be featured on the TelcoTV Website. It's
good for team morale to honor the hard work they put in by nominating their
product or service, and taking home top honors provides a compelling reason
for press to talk about your company -- all winners can get quotes from an
award judge for use in their press releases and marketing materials. TelcoTV
offers exceptional opportunities for collaboration across the entertainment
and telecommunication industries, and these Vision Awards are our way to
celebrate those vendors and service providers who help make our show such a
success."

The categories are as follows:

    -- Innovation in Broadband Access Network - including products designed 
       for FTTH or DSL technologies
    -- Innovation in Conditional Access - including digital rights management 
       and encryption technologies
    -- Innovation in Customer Premises Equipment - including set-top boxes 
       and residential gateways
    -- Innovation in Test & Measurement - including service assurance and 
       performance management
    -- Innovation in Middleware - including set-top box and back-end 
       management software
    -- Innovation in Encoding - including all codec and encoding technologies 
       for mobile or terrestrial applications
    -- Service Provider's Innovation Award (10,000+ video subscribers) - can 
       include any new application or offering deployed by a service provider 
       with more than 10,000 video subscribers
    -- Service Provider's Innovation Award (fewer than 10,000 video 
       subscribers) - can include any new application or offering deployed by 
       a service provider with 10,000 or fewer video subscribers

    Online submission forms for the awards may be found at:
    http://www.lightreading.com/live/default.asp?event_id=29081&survey_id=598

    About Light Reading
    Founded in 2000, Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) is the leading
online media, research, and focused event company serving the US$3 trillion
worldwide communications market. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for
technology and financial analysis of the communications industry, leading the
media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. Light Reading's
research arms, Heavy Reading and Pyramid Research, provide the most
comprehensive communications research, market data, and technology analysis
in close to 100 markets around the world. Light Reading produces nearly 20
targeted communications events including TelcoTV, Ethernet Expo New York and
Ethernet Expo London, The Tower Summit @ CTIA, and Optical Expo, as well as
focused one-day events tailored for cable, mobile, and wireline executives.
Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005 and
operates as a unit of TechWeb.

    About TechWeb
    TechWeb (http://techweb.com/aboutus), the global leader in business
technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of
technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most
respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today,
more than 13.3 million* business technology professionals actively engage in
our communities created around our global face-to-face events, Interop, Web
2.0, Black Hat, and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network,
Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and
The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning
InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, and Wall Street &
Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services including
next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and
analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global
provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a
market capitalization of more than US$2.5 billion.

    *13.3 million business decision-makers: based on number of monthly
connections

    About United Business Media Limited
    UBM (UBM.L) focuses on two principal activities: worldwide information
distribution, targeting and monitoring; and, the development and monetisation
of B2B communities and markets. UBM's businesses inform markets and serve
professional commercial communities - from doctors to game developers, from
journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists - with integrated
events, online, print and business information products. Our 6,500 staff in
more than 30 countries are organised into specialist teams that serve these
communities, bringing buyers and sellers together, helping them to do
business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more
information, go to http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com

    About NTCA
    The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association is the premier
association representing more than 580 locally owned and managed
telecommunications cooperatives and commercial companies throughout rural
America. NTCA provides its members with legislative, regulatory, and industry
representation; meetings; publications and educational programs; and an array
of employee benefit programs. Visit us at www.ntca.org.