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World Teleport Association Announces Winners Of Eighth Annual Teleport Awards for Excellence

New York (February 25, 2003) World Teleport Association (www.worldteleport.org) has an-nounced the recipients of its eighth annual Teleport Awards for Excellence. The awards will be presented at an invitational ceremony and luncheon, sponsored by Intelsat (www.intelsat.com), on Wednes-day, February 26 at Satellite 2003 in Washington DC. The winners are:

  • Teleport Operator of the Year: Kingston inmedia (www.kingstoninmedia.com).
  • Teleport Developer of the Year: Hawaii Pacific Teleport (www.hawaiiteleport.com).
  • Teleport Executive of the Year (co-recipients): Norberto Alvarez Vitale, President, Teleport Internacional Buenos Aires (www.tiba.com) and Thomas Sheddan, President, Atlanta International Teleport (www.atlantateleport.com)
  • Teleport Technology of the Year: Hot-Air De-Icing Sytems from W.B. Walton Enterprises (www.de-ice.com).

According to Robert A. Bell, Executive Director of World Teleport Association, “Our 2003 recipients represent both the entrepreneurial spirit of our industry and the companies and people within it that have succeeded by sticking to the fundamentals of running a business rather than chasing dreams of instant riches.”

Kingston Inmedia, Teleport Operator of the Year

Kingston inmedia is the satellite-centric broadband applications provider of U.K.-based Kingston Communications. The company spends a great deal of effort, in WTA’s view, on enhancing its collaborations with customers and satellite operators to gain a competitive edge. It cited the company’s diversity and its unique co-located teleport services, as well as its ability to combine technology and innovation with what the company calls ”an old-fashioned, genuine desire to go beyond delivery and exceed a customer’s expections.” The WTA went on to say that the company is well focused on developing innovative applications for customers in three primary markets: broadcast, enterprise and carrier. WTA cited the company’s two teleports in Gerrards Cross and Bedford as examples of gateways that support a corporate commitment to innovation, customer service and technology. These teleports include over 40 earth stations that have over 80 satellites within their sight, giving Kingston the ability to reach over 90% of the world’s population. The WTA also noted that Kingston inmedia is the only company in the U.K. that can offer a virtual “camera to screen” service, all located at a single site. From within the broadcast, enterprise and international carrier markets Kingston’s clients include Fox News, Xerox and a range of carriers and ISPs in developing nations from Eastern Europe to Asia, including Lanka Internet and GS Telecom.

Hawaii Pacific Teleport, Teleport Developer of the Year

For the second consecutive year, the Association has awarded its Teleport Developer of the Year honor to a facility based in the American state of Hawaii. Hawaii Pacific Teleport (HPT) connects global businesses through a network of satellites and fiber optic cables reaching from North America as far west as the Indian subcontinent. Unlike American mainland teleports, HPT can ‘see’ all the Asia-Pacific orbital slots between 128E and 165E. There are currently five Asian satellites with spot beams on Hawaii. HPT is the only FCC-licensed teleport with antennas pointed at three of the five. This coverage enables HPT to serve customers located as far west as Pakistan and in all countries eastward to Hawaii plus customers in Australia, New Zealand and many Pacific Islands.

The convergence of American domestic and Asian satellite spot beams over Hawaii together with transpacific fiber makes Hawaii a ‘one of a kind’ location in global broadcasting and telecommunications. In WTA’s view, HPT has leveraged this natural advantage. Having opened for business in May 2001, the teleport has seen average quarter-on-quarter revenue growth exceeding 180%, and has persuaded several Asian satellite operators to make HPT their exclusive gateway to the US mainland.

Thomas Sheddan and Norberto Alvarez Vitale (co-recipients),
Teleport Executives of the Year

For only the second time in its history, WTA has awarded its coveted Teleport Executive of the Year Award to more than one industry executive. According to WTA, both of these veteran industry executives exemplify the independent operators that have continued to grow their businesses and manage them for success in good times and bad.

With a strategy that focuses on a careful selection of customers, Thomas Sheddan, President of Atlanta International Teleport, has not only managed a profitable independent teleport — he has gone where few teleports have been successful: the emerging markets of the Western Hemisphere. With a small but full-service operation, Mr. Sheddan has helped facilitate entrepreneurial carriers and partners within the borders of developing markets, establishing links and creating needs that drove further expansion of bandwidth demand. His strategy has paid off, as the teleport today delivers Internet and other network services to thousands of users in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Caribbean.

In 1992, Norberto Alvarez Vitale founded Teleport Internacional Buenos Aires (TIBA). With a background in satellite communications equipment sales and integration, Mr. Vitale came up with a dramatic offer for the broadcasters of Latin America. TIBA would buy and install the equipment necessary to convert their contribution and distribution operations from analog to digital at no cost — if the broadcaster would agree to let TIBA control the additional bandwidth created by digitization. Enough broadcasters agreed to launch TIBA into the teleport business and give it one of Latin America’s larger inventories of satellite capacity. Within 5 years, the company created a video community of over 20 local and regional channels. Taking advantage of deregulation in Argentina, where the company is headquartered, TIBA successfully entered the growing data and Internet market in 1999. Under the direction of Mr. Vitale, the company has expanded dramatically and today manages a portfolio of transmission services through teleports in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Montevideo (Uruguay) and Sao Paulo (Brazil), as well as satellite communication data services in 12 other nations, stretching from Paraguay to Canada. According to WTA, Mr. Vitale’s innovative strategy and ability to grow a regional customer base in a harsh economic climate helped him earn the co-recipient honors with Mr. Sheddan.

Hot-Air De-Icing Systems from W.B. Walton Enterprises, Teleport Technology of the Year

For 21 years, W.B. Walton Enterprises has been crucial in helping teleports and satellite earth station operators de-ice their dishes. While it may be viewed by some as a “low-tech” business, the WTA cited the company’s continuous focus on its core business and its extraordinary commitment to quality, customer service and innovation as another example of how a company can be successful over the long term in the satellite communications industry. W.B. Walton, headquartered in Riverside, California refers to itself as “The Original Hot-Air De-Icing Company” and has over 4,000 systems installed throughout the world.

Intelsat

Intelsat will sponsor the annual Teleport Awards in 2003. John Stanton, General Manager for the Carrier, Data and Internet Small Business Unit of Intelsat, who will be on hand to present the awards to the recipients in Washington, said: “Our industry is experiencing a transformation brought on in large measure by being part of a telecommunications industry that is reeling from the effects of an Internet bubble that burst. This downturn makes these awards for excellence and their recipients even more special. It is one thing to shine under the best of circumstances. It is entirely another to do it in trying conditions.”

“The Teleport Awards luncheon is truly a hallmark within the satellite industry,” Mr. Stanton added, “and we are very glad for the opportunity to support it. We consider WTA the gateway to international opportunity and are glad to have it on our side.”

Intelsat offers telephony, corporate network, video and Internet solutions around the globe via capacity on 26 geosynchronous satellites in prime orbital locations. Customers in approximately 200 countries rely on Intelsat satellites and ground resources for quality connections, global reach and reliability.

The World Teleport Association (www.worldteleport.org) is a nonprofit, nonpolitical trade asso-ciation of teleports and their development partners in over 20 nations around the world. WTA's mission is to promote the business development goals of its members in the broadband com-munications business worldwide. WTA selects its winners from both member and nonmember teleports. The final selection is made by a WTA executive committee, consisting of senior management, past winners and select representatives from the association’s three regions: the Americas, Asia and Europe.

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