The World Teleport Association (WTA) has announced that IABG Teleport has achieved provisional certification of its teleport in Ottobrunn (Munich), Germany under WTA’s Teleport Certification Program.
Since its introduction at IBC 2015, the Certification program has quickly grown in popularity. Starting with one certified facility in 2015, the program has added 40 in 3 years, and currently has 12 teleports engaged in the quality evaluation process.
Certifications have been issued to teleports operated by Servicio Satelital, USEI, AXESS Networks, STN, Eutelsat, du, COMSAT, Optus, Elara Comunicaciones, GlobalSat, Talia, Telenor, Telespazio, Vivacom, Cyta, Batelco, Singtel, SMS, Etisalat, Hawaii Pacific Teleport, Intelsat, Speedcast, Telstra Primacom, Santander Teleport, AI Telekom Austria, Azercosmos and Arqiva. The industry has quickly adopted the transparent, independently verified standards as a means for teleports to differentiate themselves and for customers to choose the price-performance level suitable for their applications.
To achieve Provisional Certification, a teleport operator completes a +170-item questionnaire and submits it to WTA. The Association analyzes the data based on standards established by its Certification Committee and issues the Provisional Certification based on the self-reported information. The teleport then has six months to achieve Full Certification.
To achieve Full Certification under WTA’s program, an auditor is dispatched to visit the teleport, provide independent validation of the data submitted in the questionnaire, and identify additional factors that may positively or negatively affect the score. Full Certification is issued at a Tier number from 1 through 4, of which 4 represents the highest degree of excellence, and remains in effect for 3 years.
“Our performance pledge to our customers is: solutions designed to meet their needs in the best possible quality. To this end, we are committed to the continuous improvement of our procedures and processes. WTA has created a quality standard that is recognized in the industry and that reflects the specifics of teleport operators. It is therefore a logical step that we join WTA’s Qulification Program and we are very pleased to have successfully completed the first qualification level,” said Frank Bauner, Managing Director of IABG Teleport GmbH.
“Certification provides two values to teleport operators. It gives customers assurance about the quality of service they can expect from a teleport operator,” said Executive Director Robert Bell. “Equally valuable, according to certified operators, is the chance to review their facilities, technology and procedures against independent, international standards. That leads to continuous improvement that transforms operations for the better.”
WTA’s Teleport Certification Program serves both teleport operators and their customers by creating an objective, transparent, and internationally accepted method for teleport operators to document the quality of their operations for customers and strategic partners. It also provides a means for customers to select teleport vendors delivering the price-performance level that is appropriate for their applications.