NEW YORK -- Light Reading (www.lightreading.com), the world's leading online publication for the telecom industry, today announced the finalists for its third annual Leading Lights Awards, recognizing leading companies and their executives for their outstanding achievements in the telecom industry.

Light Reading's reputation for fiercely independent analysis makes the Leading Lights Awards the most credible and authoritative awards program in the industry – and provides telecom companies with a superlative opportunity to evangelize their expertise and success. The awards will be judged by a panel composed of Light Reading editors, Heavy Reading analysts, and leading experts from the financial community.

The winners of the 2006 Leading Lights Awards will be announced November 15, before an audience of more than 200 industry executives, Wall Street financial analysts, and technology and business press, at Heavy Reading's Links 2006 Executive Summit Gala Dinner, at the Four Seasons Resort in Santa Barbara, Calif.

The finalists for the 11 public and private Leading Lights Awards categories are:

For more information about Heavy Reading's Links 2006 Executive Summit and the Leading Lights Awards, please visit: www.heavyreading.com/links.

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Contact:
Scott Raynovich
Editor in Chief
Light Reading Inc.
1-212-925-0020 x103
[email protected]

About Heavy Reading
Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com) is an independent market research organization offering quantitative analysis of telecom technology to service providers, vendors, and investors. Its mandate is to provide the comprehensive competitive analysis needed today for the deployment of profitable networks based on next-generation hardware and software.

About Light Reading Inc.
Founded in 2000, Light Reading Inc. (www.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. It reaches an extensive audience of executives and technologists within the telecom and enterprise networking communities, as well as the financial/industry analysts and investors who track these sectors. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005, and operates as a unit of CMP Technology.

About CMP Technology
CMP Technology (www.cmp.com) is a marketing solutions company serving the technology industry. Through its market-leading portfolio of trusted information brands, CMP has earned the confidence of more technology professionals than any other media company. As a result, CMP is the premier provider of access, insight and actionable programs designed to connect sellers and buyers in ways that yield superior return on investment. CMP Technology is a subsidiary of United Business Media (www.unitedbusinessmedia.com), a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion.