"CTO of the Year": Elmar Grasser honored for the most wide-ranging 5G launch in Europe

'Mobile service providers and leading technology companies from all over the world have contacted us, as have TV stations from Asian countries,' says Sunrise CEO Olaf Swantee. 'They're all interested in hearing about how initial 5G operations are working out in Switzerland. We not only surprised our local competitors with our rapid introduction of 5G; we also showed the world just how innovative we are. The award Elmar has received as CTO of the Year simply confirms our extraordinary achievements with the 5G rollout. It will also motivate us to do everything we can to ensure Switzerland maintains its leading global position and can benefit from the numerous advantages 5G offers.'

Sunrise CTO Elmar Grasser: 'This award, which I had the honor of accepting on behalf of my team and Sunrise, has made me very happy. With 5G, we've not only surpassed the local leader; we've also established ourselves as the technology leader among all the big players in the global telecommunications sector. The award is not just a result of the efforts we've made at Sunrise, but also the efforts that have been made in Switzerland in general. The Federal Council, for example, recognized the importance of 5G some time ago and took measures to help ensure its rapid introduction. Our job now is to expand the edge we've gained and begin to exploit the benefits 5G and digitalization offer the economy and society as a whole as quickly as possible. This goal is exactly what Sunrise is focusing all of its expertise and resources on.'

CTO of the Year award focused on 5G in 2019

The annual CTO of the Year award presented by Mobile Europe & European Communications honors outstanding technological achievements by mobile communications providers across Europe. This year, the selection process for the award focused on the strategic and operational approaches taken by companies with regard to the introduction of 5G, which is currently being launched in stages in many European countries. The challenges associated with 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT) are accompanied by a progressive transition to software-defined networks and the implementation of further improvements to 4G networks.

Thus, mobile service providers currently face a very complex situation. This is why the ability of CTOs and their departments to make strategically sound technology decisions and implement them rapidly, in an outstanding manner, now plays a major role in the overall success of a telecommunications company.

The CTO of the Year award, which enjoys great prestige in the ICT sector both in Europe and around the world, and which was presented for the seventh time this year, honors such achievements. Previous winners include the CTOs of leading global providers such as Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, and Vodafone.