Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd, has won this year's prestigious World Communication Award as the world's most influential person in telecommunications in 2004. Meanwhile, Sunil Mittal-owned AirTel was voted as the 'best communication brand.'

The World Communications Awards are sponsored by the leading global telecommunications publication Total Telecom. The publication's readers choose the most influential person in telecommunications.

After receiving the award, Sunil Mittal said: "It is indeed noteworthy that our efforts at placing Bharti on the global map at par with the leading telecom brands of the world has been recognised."

"The potential of telecommunications in this country (India) is enormous and AirTel has been the first to recognise this potential and commit itself to play a lead role in connecting India like never before and providing high quality telecom services to all," Mittal added.

Mittal said "it is an honour to achieve this award and we can indeed say that AirTel has not only made us at Bharti, but also made the country proud."

Acknowledging the honour, Ambani (who did not attend the ceremony) said in a statement: "The award is very much associated with a recognition of the rapidly growing influence of India in the global telecommunications arena."

Ed McCormack, Executive Vice President, Corporate Development, Flag Telecom, received the award on Monday night on behalf of Ambani at the ceremony in London.

Ambani said the dream of his father, Dhirubhai Ambani, who founded Reliance Industries a little over 35 years ago, was to build a business that would provide affordable means of information and communications to the people of India.

"This award is a great tribute to Dhirubhai Ambani and his dream. In India, Reliance Infocomm is spearheading a massive telecommunications revolution with the vision to become a major global player over the next decade. Also, the strategic acquisition of Flag Telecom will place India at the forefront of the global broadband revolution," he said.

Today, Reliance Infocomm is on course to achieve that dream. It has already constructed a pan-India optical fibre network, which will expand to over 100,000 kilometres of optical fibre and connect nearly 5,000 cities and towns by this year-end. When completed, the Reliance network will provide broadband connections to millions of homes and offices offering the latest technology and direct connectivity to the rest of the world via the Flag Telecom global network, he added.

Reliance Infocomm, he said, has also ensured that 'making a phone call is less expensive than buying a postage stamp.' The company has more than 8 million mobile customers and attained the leadership position in the Indian mobile market in less than seven months from launch of its operations in May last year.

Despite this growth, India's teledensity -- fixed and mobile -- is currently at less than 9 per cent. But future growth potential is staggering, he said.