The Zain Group, the mother company of Zain Ghana, has been nominated in four out of nine Telecom World Middle East Awards for this year. A statement sent to the GNA by awards organizers, UK-based Terrapin Media, an international telecoms resource and events organizer, named Zain as a contender for Best Operator, Best Brand, Best Corporate Social Responsibility Contribution and Best Technological Innovation. The other awards up for grabs include Best Wholesale Carrier, Best Managed Service, Best Customer Care, Best New Entrant, and Best Value Added Service, Zain Middle East CEO, Mr. Mahmoud Hashish, is also a contender in the CEO of the Year category, which would see one telecom CEO honoured, not necessarily for his company size or financial success "but they will be those who best exhibit the 'X-factor', and who have been publicly praised for their handling of a difficult situation, or who have driven forward corporate or industry success". The awards night, which would climax the Telecom World Middle East Conference, is slated for November 17, 2009 at Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai. Zain's multiple nominations are particularly significant because of all the telecom operators, which have operations both in Ghana and in the Middle East, it is only Zain which gained such high recognition. Vodafone Egypt was also nominated in one category - Best Corporate Social Responsibility Contribution. Other nominees for awards are Turk Telecom (five nominations), STC (three nominations), Nawras (two), Qtel (four), Etisalat (four), Du (two), Kazakhtelecom (three) and Bharti Airtel (three nominations). The statement noted that nominations were opened to all fixed and mobile network operators, saying that entrants needed not to operate internationally, as long as they demonstrated organizational strategy and procedures of a truly global standard. Zain currently has 24 operations out of which seven are in the Middle East, commanding an aggregate of 32.5 million subscribers out of Zain's 69.5 million subscribers across all its operations. The company is also a nominee in an even bigger award - the World Telecoms Awards - slated for November 25, 2009 in London. In Ghana, Zain had gained over one million subscriptions in less than one year of operations due to its innovative number pre-registration strategy and other promotions it has been embarking on since it came in country. Source: GNA