New Delhi:

The nomination symbolises Data Access'' growing reputation as one of the world''s leading telecom companies. The grand finale of the prestigious event will be held in a glittering function at the London Hilton Park Lane Hotel on 6 October 2003.

Data Access has bagged yet another recognition of being rated as the seventh largest telecom player by the Voice & Data magazine among the top 10 integrated, basic, cellular and WLL players.

Now running into its fifth consecutive year, WCA is one of the most prestigious events for telecom companies worldwide. Held annually in the UK, a nomination at these awards lends high credibility to the superior quality of the services offered by the nominated telecom companies.

WCA 2003 will witness 30 companies pitted against each other across nine different categories. The total number of entries received this year was a record 163, from 77 international companies. The other nominees for the coveted award in the Best Regional Carrier category are SingTel, Belgacom, Colt Telecom and Easy Net.

This is a testimony to Data Access'' capability and emergence as one of the most successful International telecom carrier, a company press release said. Having successfully established its US operations, the company is now set to create new benchmarks in other potential telecom markets of the UK, the Middle East and Africa.

The Voice & Data 100 ranking this year further augments the company''s position as the fastest-growing telecom company and the showstopper for 2003-04. The company has grabbed an impressive 10.7-per cent market-share of the Rs 5, 445-crore international long-distance (ILD) market in less than a year and it is currently the second largest operator in the ILD space.

Data Access has a whopping 30-per cent market-share in terms of traffic volume. The company has rapidly grown despite the fall in the overall ILD business in 2003-04. While the ILD market shrunk by 20 per cent this year, Data Access revenues grew by 1,217 per cent.

Says Data Access India founder and managing director Siddhartha Ray: "Our outstanding contribution to telecom in India and abroad has been recognised today. It is indeed a very proud moment for all of us to be nominated for this prestigious award. This is the first time ever that any Indian company has been nominated and this makes the event even more special. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the entire Data Access team for working jointly towards where we are today and wish them all the very best for the awards."