The World Teleport Association (WTA) today announced the renewal of the Teleport Certification of Vivacom’s Plana (Sofia) Teleport at the program’s top Tier 4 level, up from the Tier 3 ranking the facility gained in its previous audit.
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 Azercosmos, A1 Telekom Austria, Servicio Satelital, USEI, AXESS Networks, STN, Eutelsat, du, COMSAT, Optus, Elara Comunicaciones, GlobalSat, Talia, Telenor, Telespazio, Vivacom, Cyta, Singtel, Etisalat, Hawaii Pacific Teleport, Intelsat, Telstra, Primacom, Santander Teleport, Hellas Sat 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.
“We’re proud that Vivacom has demonstrated the highest standards in quality for satellite services, as defined by the WTA. The thorough audit conducted by WTA and the Tier 4 certification attests to the professionalism of our work and our commitment to being the best,” said Vivacom Senior Manager Broadcasting Services Vladimir Rangelov.
“By re-certifying the Vivacom Teleport at the higher, Tier 4 level,” said WTA executive director Robert Bell, “WTA is accomplishing the Certification’s most important goal: not just to measure the factors that make for high quality of service, but to motivate improvement. We look forward to helping teleport operators worldwide improve the quality of their facilities and procedures to better serve their customers and grow their businesses.” 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.