World’s Leading VSAT Service Providers Endorse India Launch Of Technical Training Through Global VSAT Forum Certification Programme
23 March 2010
Mahdi Bagh Computers (MBC) and Global VSAT Forum (GVF) have joined forces to strengthen skills amongst technicians involved in the deployment of satellite communications systems throughout the Indian sub-Continent. In an agreement announced today – and that goes into effect during Convergence India 2010 – the organisations will jointly promote the delivery of training and certification.
MBC is the newest partner of GVF, which is the global association of the satellite communications industry. At the request of industry, GVF has begun delivering a standard VSAT Installation & Maintenance Training Course to enhance the quality of satellite-system deployments in India and worldwide. Satellite operators and VSAT manufacturers throughout the world have endorsed the programme and are encouraging technicians who conduct installations for their VSAT networks to have achieved at least a Basic Certification.
“Building skills is essential,” said Riaz Lamak, President of MBC. “GVF’s Certification Programme will result in higher network performance, as well as reducing maintenance costs. These benefits ultimately will be passed on to the user community in the form of more effective communications services.”
“GVF is committed to providing local training for Indian industry,” said David Hartshorn, Secretary General of GVF. “With support from our local training partner, Mahdi Bagh Computers, we are prepared to deliver the Certification Programme across the country. Further, through the GVF-Andrew Werth Scholarship Programme, a 50% reduction in registration fees is available to India-based organisations.”
Delivery of the training will occur via an online portal at http://gvf.coursehost.com. After taking the online course, trainees will meet with a Certified GVF Examiner, who will deliver a Hands On Skills Test (HOST). Thereafter, trainees will be provided with GVF Certification.
The 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.
GVF’s award-winning VSAT Installation & Maintenance Training Course is delivered via a combination of online, interactive training modules developed by SatProf, Inc. and instructor-led classroom curriculum. In addition to the online training portal at http://gvf.coursehost.com, the program is supported by GVF Instructors and Regional Training Centres located in every major region of the world.
The GVF VSAT Installer Training Course materials include a 140-page manual that provides VSAT installers with a set of industry “Best Practices”. These were established through consensus of the GVF Education & Training Working Group members, which is comprised of volunteer experts from throughout the satellite communications sector.
Trainees who successfully complete the course are provided with an official GVF VSAT Installer Course Certificate. If they attain an Advanced Certificate, their names and contact details are posted in an online public database that identifies Certified technicians as having met GVF Standards. The database, which is used by communications service providers seeking qualified technical support, provides another measure of sustainability for the Certified trainees and, thus, for the communications community at large.
“The GVF Training Program has come a long way, but its full potentialhas only begun to be realized in India,” Hartshorn said. “Skills building is needed here by a far greater number of the entities currently engaged in conducting VSAT installations. The resolve of VSAI and MBC to catalyze this process is an important step.”
