A new member and an improvement to the program of the World Teleport Association (WTA) were announced.
The WTA renewed certification of Cyta’s Makarios (Cyprus) Teleport and noted an improvement to Tier 4 under WTA’s Teleport Certification Program, following an audit of the facility by the association.
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, Singtel, Etisalat, Hawaii Pacific Teleport, Intelsat, Speedcast, 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.
Cyta’s Makarios Teleport enjoys a privileged geographical location in Cyprus with optimal conditions for satellite communications. It has extensive infrastructure and is well connected with Cyta’s international fiber network providing ample capacity and dedicated links to major international nodes. The Teleport offers extensive international reach and serves as a major telecommunications hub in the Eastern Mediterranean. It offers a wide range of satellite services in the global market including ka-band gateways, satellite TV, IP links, VSAT services and satellite monitoring and control operations.
Costas Psillides, Manager of Cyta’s International Wholesale Market said that they are very proud that Makarios Teleport has been awarded the TIER 4 full certification by WTA and is among the few teleports worldwide achieving such an excellence. This certification is the best recognition of the state-of-the-art infrastructure and top level of services offered to our customers at Makarios Teleport,” said .
George Morphitis, Manager of Cyta’s Backbone Networks added that Makarios Teleport TIER 4 full certification by WTA, effectively demonstrates the quality of their operations, for their customers and strategic partners, and differentiates them from other teleports in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
WTA executive director Robert Bell concluded that by awarding Tier 4 Certification to the Makarios Teleport WTA is accomplishing the most important goal of the Certification program: not just to measure the factors that make for high quality of service, but to motivate improvement. They look forward to helping other teleport operators raise 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. Click here for a list of certified teleports.