New Premises for BABT's Certification Division

BABT's certification division is undergoing a move to a prestigious modern facility in the nearby town of Walton-on-Thames, near London in the UK. BABT will be fully installed by the end of February 2005.

The new address is:

The telephone number (+44 (0) 1932 251200) and email address (contact@babt.com) remain unchanged.

Since its inception, BABT has grown and diversified into the company it is today. Originally, BABT was created to approve telecoms equipment against British standards and BABT Special Investigation Test Schedules for use on the UK telecoms network provided by BT alone. Today, BABT is a globally recognised and respected organisation offering a complete range of Billing, Certification, Management Systems and Regulatory services for the Radio, Telecoms and IT sectors. BABT has achieved numerous accreditations, appointments and partnerships in their history and have worked constantly with key industry players to ensure they are always developing the business to meet the needs of the industries they serve.

Jean-Louis Evans, Managing Director of BABT states, "Technologies within the communications marketplace are becoming ever more convergent and there are numerous trade agreements being put in place to reduce barriers to trade. BABT is already active in providing access to the US marketplace in the UK through our appointment as a Telecoms Certification Body (TCB) under the EU-US Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA). We also have appointments to act as a Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) under the MRAs between the EU and Canada, New Zealand and Australia and are actively pursuing DCB status under the EU-Japan MRA to enable Japanese approval. We have been at the forefront of GSM Product Certification since the beginning of GSM Technology, with the majority of GSM terminals being placed on the market under our certification. This demonstrates how far we have come since our inception with our prime focus being on assisting the global communications marketplace access more markets."

History of British Approvals Board for Telecommunications

British Telecom (BT) used to approve telecoms equipment against BT technical guides and specifications for use on the UK telecoms network, which at the time was a monopoly and provided by BT alone.

Under the British Telecoms Act of 1981, the Secretary of State could appoint a body to undertake the approval of subscribers' apparatus that was to be connected to any British Telecom network. The Department of Industry therefore asked the British Electro-technical Approvals Board (BEAB) to fulfil this requirement. Having agreed to undertake this task, BEAB decided to set up a wholly owned subsidiary company to apply itself specifically to the approval of telecoms apparatus. That subsidiary was the British Approvals Board for Telecommunications (BABT), which, like BEAB, was a nonprofit making company limited by guarantee. It was incorporated on 7th May 1982 with its own board of management and was appointed by the Secretary of State to approve subscribers' apparatus.

Major Milestones

• 1982 - BABT was established in May
• 1983 - First product was approved in February for Plessey Business Systems
• 1986 - BABT moved into Claremont House
• 1992 - BABT issue the first GSM terminal approval under the TTE Directive (91/263/EEC)
• 1996 - BABT expanded and moved into Mark House, its original office location as well as maintaining Claremont House
• 1997 - BABT and TÜV Product Service form a joint venture operation in the USA with locations in Santa Clara and Boston named BABT Product Service
• 1999 - As a result of the success in USA, TUV Product Service's parent company - TÜV Süddeutschland and BABT form a global joint venture, BABT Product Service with facilities in USA, UK, Germany, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea.
• 1999 - BABT remains an independent Notified Body and a separate legal entity based in Hersham, near Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England
• 1999 - R&S 8916B GSM Dual Band Test Simulator purchased for £2.5mn
• 2000 - BABT and SARTest Ltd form strategic alliance to offer SAR Testing and consultancy services
• 2000 - BABT Engineer appointed Bluetooth Qualification Body (BQB) in UK
• 2000 - BABT appointed as a Notified Body under R&TTE Directive
• 2000 - BABT CNC Scheme and BABT PS 340 (Production Quality Certification Scheme) go live
• 2000 - BABT PS USA and 7Layers AG partner to run North America's first Bluetooth(tm) Test & Qualification Facility Service and TÜV Product Service operations merged
• 2001 - BABT Product Service and TUV Product Service operations merge, BABT integrated into TUV Product Service Ltd
• 2002 - BABT & Ubinetics form agreement to set standards for 3G uptake.
• 2003 - BABT and SHARP agree partnership to help reduce GSM product life cycle
• 2004 - BABT expands its GSM/GPRS/EMC Testing Capacity with Maplewood Facility
• 2005 - BABT move to prestigious new premises in Walton on Thames

Major Appointments

• 2001 - EU-US MRA Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) / Telecoms Certification Body (TCB)
• 2000 - R&TTE Directive (99/5/EC) Notified Body
• 2000 - BABT appointed by the GSM Association as the IMEI allocation body
• 1998 - Telecoms Terminal Equipment & Satellite Earth Station (TTE & SES) Directive (98/13/EC) Notified Body
• 1995 - EMC Directive Competent Body
• 1995 - BABT appointed Comparability Review Body for the UK Comparability Performance Indicators Scheme
• 1994 - Low Voltage Directive Notified Body
• 1992 - Telecoms Terminal Equipment (TTE) Directive (91/263/EEC) Notified Body
• 1988 - Appointed by the UK Government to approve the "Metering & Billing Systems" of UK Public Telecommunications Operators
• 1982 - Appointed in October to give approvals under the 1981 British Telecommunications Act