Telkom SA recognises PQ Africa for excellence

Telkom has awarded PQ Africa its Quetel Gold supplier status in recognition of PQ Africa`s adherence to the quality requirements that are essential to Telkom SA and other world-class telecommunications suppliers.

This achievement by PQ Africa as a group company results from the systematic compliance of six group companies in a synchronised approach over the past 24 months. PQ Telecommunications was the first PQ Africa group company to receive the Quetel Gold status for services in SA. PQ Networks, PQ Support Services, Q Data Consulting, Persetel and the regional sales office all achieved success at first assessment.

PQ Africa received the accreditation following an all-encompassing quality evaluation that was performed by independent Telkom supplier auditors. "PQ Africa is our largest supplier yet to receive the Certificate of Excellence," says Mike Donald, senior manager procurement services supplier quality at Telkom. "The evaluation process was the biggest audit ever launched in terms of size, complexity, diversity, number of business areas, sites, number of auditors and time taken for the total audit."

Telkom instituted the Quetel Gold Certificate of Excellence in support of its vision to become a world-class communications company by delivering excellent service to its customers, while meeting international communications performance standards and achieving an acceptable return for its shareholders.

"PQ Africa views industry standards such as the ISO9001 and Quetel Gold as benchmarks against which we can map our ability to provide our clients with world class technology solutions, implemented using best practises," says Peter Watt, CEO PQ Africa. "This endorsement from Telkom is not merely an accreditation, but a guarantee to current and future clients that we subscribe to the highest levels of customer service, a level of service that our competitors would be pressed to match."

Donald cites the accreditation as a reflection of PQ Africa`s quality of products and services, which have met Telkom`s stringent requirements. "We established our Quetel Status as an industry benchmark, reflecting the quality of service and products we expect from our suppliers. During our longstanding relationship with PQ Africa we have been consistently impressed with their ability to deliver quality solutions and convinced that the company truly deserves the accreditation. Never failing any of their accreditation audits on the first round, demonstrated great commitment which is needed from our suppliers."

Under the Quetel agreement, PQ Africa will be subject to quarterly surveillance audits and quality of service reviews by Telkom Quality which adds a further dimension to the existing continuous improvement cycle.