Heathrow: Airport signs major deal to transform comms network
Heathrow has signed an innovative outsourcing agreement with SITA, the global IT company, to transform the management of the airport’s vast communication network into a smarter, automated service.
Heathrow’s Network Tower supports every aspect of the network, telephony and radio infrastructure while keeping all network and communications systems secure. The new service contract includes the support of more than 12,000 telephones, 150,000 LAN connections, 1,900 radios and more than 3,500 WLAN access points across the airport campus.
The service will introduce emerging automation and self-healing technologies, transforming the operation and support of the Heathrow Network Tower from a localised structure in the airport to a wider global support structure. This allows the SITA team in the airport, and remotely from anywhere in the world, to monitor and manage every aspect of the network.
These services are not only able to quickly detect issues facing the network but can automatically repair critical network components before they have an impact on key services. This will help improve resilience of the network and reduce the time taken to repair problems, key to supporting the smooth operation of the airport.
The management solution, which will be phased in over the next 16 months, is able to scale to meet the continued passenger growth expected over the next few years. As the UK’s global gateway, Heathrow welcomes more than 78 million passengers every year. The airport is home to more than 80 airlines servicing more than 200 destinations around the world.
Stuart Birrell, CIO at Heathrow, said: “SITA has long been a trusted partner to Heathrow when it comes to managing our communication and IT infrastructure. They understand our requirements and are able to provide an innovative service management solution that is more effective but also can be scaled to meet our continued growth. It is a solution that has ticked all the boxes.”
Sergio Colella, SITA president for Europe, said: “We are proud to deliver a service management solution that supports a more secure and resilient network service to Heathrow, leveraging new technology, our global presence as well as SITA’s strong communications partners. We were able to go the extra mile to ensure SITA can provide the airport with the best service support available today.”
