Technical Testing will finish on 31st March 2017.
Entrants need to now fill out the full written entry forms for all categories and these must be submitted by 31st March 2017.
Technical testing started on 6th February and for the broadband categories (Best Superfast, Best Rural, Best Wireless, Best Business Broadband) testing of customers connections will be evaluated to determine the shortlist. To test a broadband connection, any of the speed testers operated by thinkbroadband can be used, or you can direct customers to labs.thinkbroadband.com/ispa Alternatively you can embed a copy of the tester on your own website, details of how to do this are further down this page.
For broadband providers where the tester does not automatically detect the broadband provider, we do monitor this and will update the detection where possible but if providers can supply details of their IP blocks via email to ispa@thinkbroadband.com that will ensure your tests are counted from day 1 of testing.
For entrants who have entered the Best Host Category you need to host two files on your hosting platform and ensure we know the URL to these files so testing can be automated. Email details of the files to ispa@thinkbroadband.com if you have not already told us about their location.
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Test File A download the file http://ispa.thinkbroadband.com/ispatest.txt and upload to your hosting platform
(please ensure the file is called "ispatest.txt") -
Test File B download the file http://ispa.thinkbroadband.com/ispatest50.zip and upload to your hosting platform
(please ensure the file is called "ispatest50.zip")
About the AwardsThe awards and categories explained.
The ISPAs
The ISPAs - the UK Internet industry awards - are the longest established and most respected awards in the internet industry. Since 1999, the ISPAs have been rewarding and celebrating the best in the UK internet sector. The ISPAs are run by the Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA UK) to herald the best of the Internet industry and to celebrate innovation and best practice. In 2002 the awards were dubbed The ISPAs.
Sponsors
You can sponsor the ISPA Awards contact ISPA for a sponsorship pack.
Timeline
The 2017 Awards launched in December 2016, with registration opening, with technical testing of various categories starting in February 2017. Full written entries for each category are expected the end of March 2017 with the shortlists announced thereafter. The winners find out at the awards ceremony in July 2017.
Best Superfast Broadband Award
For the ISP which provides the best superfast broadband service, defined as packages of at least 24 Mbps.
The award will be shortlisted using thinkbroadband's technical testing data, with the final winner decided by the ISPA judge's.
In addition to the initial entry registration you should complete the full written entry form by 31st March 2017.
Best Wireless Award
For the ISP which provides the wireless internet connectivity.
Category is technology neutral so open to fixed, Wi-Fi, 4G and other wireless tech.
The award will be shortlisted using thinkbroadband's technical testing data, with the final winner decided by the ISPA judge's.
In addition to the initial entry registration you should complete the full written entry form by 31st March 2017.
Best Business Broadband Award
For the ISP which provides the best broadband service for businesses.
The award will be shortlisted using thinkbroadband's technical testing data, with the final winner decided by the ISPA judge's.
In addition to the initial entry registration you should complete the full written entry form by 31st March 2017.
Best Rural Broadband Award
For the ISP which provides broadband to rural / hard to reach areas and is technology neutral.
The award will be shortlisted using thinkbroadband's technical testing data, with the final winner decided by the ISPA judge's.
In addition to the initial entry registration you should complete the full written entry form by 31st March 2017.
Best Wholesale ISP
For the best ISP that offers nationwide wholesale broadband product(s).
In addition to the initial entry registration you should complete the full written entry form by 31st March 2017.
Best VoIP Award
For the ISP which provides the best network for carrying voice traffic.
Technical testing will be used in conjunction with the written entry to determine the winner.
In addition to the initial entry registration you should complete the full written entry form by 31st March 2017.
Best Host Award
For the best provider of hosting services to consumers or businesses.
thinkbroadband's technical testing will determine the shortlist, with the final winner decided by the ISPA judge's.
In addition to the initial entry registration you should complete the full written entry form by 31st March 2017.
Best Consumer Customer Service
For the ISP which provides the most outstanding service for consumers.
In addition to the initial entry registration you should complete the full written entry form by 31st March 2017.
Best Business Customer Service
For the ISP which provides the most outstanding customer service to businesses.
In addition to the initial entry registration you should complete the full written entry form by 31st March 2017.
Best Marketing Campaign Award
This category is open to providers who have engaged in marketing over the previous year.
In addition to the initial entry registration you should complete the full written entry form by 31st March 2017.
Best Hardware Award
This category is open to any vendor who supplies hardware that has a specific product use in ISP's networks.
This award is aimed at those offering gateways and routers to small businesses and consumers. Vendors can enter in conjunction with a distributor, but must enter one specific product.
In addition to the initial entry registration you should complete the full written entry form by 31st March 2017.
Security Award
For the company or individual that provides the best security solution for consumers or business
In addition to the initial entry registration you should complete the full written entry form by 31st March 2017.
Best Tech Law Firm
This award is for law firms with a TMT practice and is judged by a selection of ISPA Awards judges who will decide a shortlist and a full judging panel to determine the winner.
In addition to the initial entry registration you should complete the full written entry form by 31st March 2017.
Best Cloud Service Award
For the provider that provides the best cloud product or service.
In addition to the initial entry registration you should complete the full written entry form by 31st March 2017.
Executive of the Year Award
To be awarded to a Director of C-level in the ISP sector. Proxy nominations allowed.
In addition to the initial entry registration you should complete the full written entry form by 31st March 2017.
About Technical TestingRegistration is the first step.
Technical Testing
Not every category is technically tested to create the short list for the judges to consider, the tested categories are broadband, hosting and VoIP. For the non-tested categories shortlisting is carried out by a number of the judges ensuring that entrants are addressing the various key criteria for the award they are entering.
thinkbroadband has been a long term technical testing partner for the ISPA Awards and helps to ensure that services are judged on not just their ability to write a good entry but also whether the service delivers to a level worthy of consideration for an award.
Testing of Broadband Categories
Providers will be expected to ensure that thinkbroadband is able to identify their customers, e.g. provide details of IPv4 and IPv6 blocks that customers use.
The tester used is embedded on this page and we will email details when responding to registrations on how you can embed a copy on your own website to increase the test volume, for smaller entrants this is particularly important. Alternatively you can give customers a direct link i.e. http://labs.thinkbroadband.com/ispa
Results are also included from the full range of testers that thinkbroadband supplies to third parties too.
Testing of Hosting Categories
The hosting testing will be using the same system as previous years, with hosting entries required to host some files on the appropriate hosting platform. Details can be supplied when you register in the form at the top of the page.
VoIP Testing
VoIP entrants will be required to provide details of their service so that testing can be carried during the technical testing phase.
How to embed speed tester on your own website
Embedding the speed test is accomplished by wrapping it up in an iFrame, some code and a copy of the tester embedded using this code is shown below:
If the dark styling is too contrasting to the rest of your webpage, you can change the iFrame link to be //labs.thinkbroadband.com/ispa/?site=omegajdsfjieDFD3 which uses a transparent background.