GVF / Goals and Missions

To act in an independent manner for the general  promotion of the global VSAT Industry, whether this be technology or service based. The Global VSAT Forum will represent the best interests of its membership at relevant industry symposia, regulatory and legal consultations and form a single point of contact for any suppliers to the industry or any users of VSAT equipment or services. The Forum's actions will always be consistent with the promotion and growth of the VSAT Industry and its membership.		 Image courtesy of Belgacom
Background:
On 4 June, 1997, leading members of the VSAT business arranged a meeting in London, where they agreed that the industry had been fragmented for too long and that a unified voice - a non-profit, international association - was needed globally to represent the interests of VSAT system and service providers, as well as end users. The promotion of the technology and the services it supports was also seen as an important role for the industry's new organisation.
On 31 March, 1998, the Global VSAT Forum was officially launched during an International VSAT Congress held in Rome, Italy, where the association's first permanent General Secretary, David Hartshorn, was introduced to the Membership.

Since then, most of the industry has joined the Global VSAT Forum, and key regulatory initiatives are being implemented at the global, regional and national levels. These include a wide range of programs, including:
Global Programs:

  • Monitoring compliance of the World Trade Organization's (WTO's) Telecom Trade Agreement, which provides for varying levels of market access in more than 50 countries throughout the world.
  • Confirming the inclusion of VSAT terminals in the WTO's Information Technology Agreement (ITA), which provides for the reduction and eventual elimination of customs duties among the WTO Member States.
  • Coordinating the use of VSAT terminals in the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU's) Memorandum of Understanding for Global "Mobile" Personal Communications By Satellite (GMPCS-MoU), which provides for blanket/class licensing, mutual recognition of type approvals, and customs reduction/elimination.
Regional Programs:
  • Working with the European Community to facilitate harmonization, spectrum policy, market access and other key agenda items.
  • Proposing implementation of regional licensing programs through the Commission inter-americaine des telecommunications (CITEL), the Asociacion de Empresas Estatales de Telecomunicaciones del Acuerdo - Subregional Andino (ASETA), and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU).
  • Presenting policy considerations to the Southern Africa Transport and Communications Commission (SATCC) to foster regional development through enhanced access to VSAT solutions.
  • Supporting initiatives like the recently-signed Mutual Recognition Agreement among the member states of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation group (APEC).
National Programs:
  • Providing inputs on key policy proceedings such as frequency sharing, bandwidth allocations and other issues taken up by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
  • Coordinating regulatory workshops in India, Russia, Brazil, the Czech Republic and elsewhere.
  • Providing policy guidelines to additional nations such as Sri Lanka, South Africa, and others.

And these are just the regulatory activities! In addition, the Global VSAT Forum is actively promoting VSAT industry solutions at dozens of events around the world and regularly contributes articles to publications in every region.

Isn't the Global VSAT Forum worth thinking about if you have a business with multiple locations in Western Europe, North America, Asia, Latin America or Africa? If you do and you currently deal with a variety of carriers and interconnection agreements, if you have to cope with wildly divergent levels of service quality, if you have to call two or more contacts to get a problem sorted out, if you are fed up with the huge jump in cost as you cross a border, perhaps you should be considering the Global VSAT Forum.

The Global VSAT Forum encourage end users, industry and other interested parties to join and facilitate the use of VSAT systems and services around the world.