Intelsat and SES are advocating VSAT installation training for technicians in both developing and developed countries.
Intelsat and SES have used the recent Satellite 2009 event as a call to arms for the world's 39 satellite operators and thousands of satellite users to endorse technician certification programmes for teleport operators, VSAT installation companies and media uplinkers. An initiative of this kind will enable the global technician community to better participate in maintaining an interference-free space segment environment by providing installers with the advanced knowledge and skills vital to perform accurate and efficient VSAT alignments.
At the CEO panel opening Satellite 2009, Intelsat CEO David McGlade and SES President and CEO Romain Bausch jointly emphasised the need to standardise technical knowledge within the user community to ensure that access to critical applications such as video distribution, broadband access, and wireless networks continues with the high availability for which the satellite industry is renowned.
"Satellite technology is an essential part of the communications infrastructure. By encouraging our customers' field technicians to obtain certification, we create an industry-wide community with improved capabilities and expanded expertise. These additional skills can then support more advanced applications. This is especially important for our customers in developing countries, where satellite technology is a recognised enabler of economic development. Over the past several decades we have provided training to thousands of our customer's technicians and satellite engineers, and we view this current initiative as a natural extension of our heritage," stressed David McGlade.
Romain Bausch, President and CEO of SES said, "With demand for satellite services at record highs, the adoption of improved technical accuracy, standardised processes and high quality facilities is incumbent upon the user and the operator. Our long-term involvement with industry organisations such as GVF, WBU-ISOG, WTA, SUIRG and many others speaks of our commitment to join other operators in seeking improvements within the industry, improving the provision of services for our customers and maximising the availability of our satellite resources. We serve many different markets through our global fleet and it is critical that we provide high quality operational support to all of our customers and their customer base; this is particularly important in supporting the adoption of new technologies."
David Hartshorn, Secretary General of the Global VSAT Forum (GVF), joined in the call for training: "Many thousands of enterprises and millions of individual households throughout the world have an opportunity - indeed, one might even say a right - to receive affordable satellite communications services. This training initiative is being supported by leading operators such as Intelsat and SES to empower the communications community by fostering local expertise... even in the poorest nations of the world."
-
GVF is now providing a 50% discount on training for technicians who work for organisations based in developing countries. Its GVF VSAT Installation and Maintenance Training Course was created by the global industry to serve as the standard for training technicians to effectively install satellite communications networks. The applications being enabled via satellite networks include everything from disaster preparedness, public security, and e-governance to banking, Internet service provision, and broadband access for small-to-medium enterprises and individual households.
More info:
