Mumbai's International Airport Takes Off for the Future
How WAVE Unified Communications Software Helped Nortel Win and Fulfill a Contract to Modernize the Communications Infrastructure at India's Busiest International Airport
In Brief
Experiencing significant growth as the country's economy booms, Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) is in the midst of a massive infrastructure upgrade. Aiming to establish itself as one of the world's premier airports, modernizing communications was a crucial aspect of their plans. As a bidder competing for the task, Nortel was asked to add a solution for incorporating radio interoperability into the IP backbone project. Nortel immediately turned to Twisted Pair Solutions for an interoperability solution in a class of its own. By leveraging standards-based software instead of expensive and proprietary hardware, WAVE created a communications system-of-systems that could be easily incorporated into Nortel's existing architecture. The WAVE-based system helped Nortel win the CSIA contract and is now a core component of its modern, standard-setting unified communications infrastructure.
The Challenge
Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) is India's busiest. In 2007, 25.2 million passengers and more than 500,000 tons of cargo passed through the facility. At the beginning of 2006, a consortium known as Mumbai International Airport Private Limited (MIAL) was given the mandate to manage a massive infrastructure modernization at CSIA, with an immediate goal of nearly doubling the airport's capacity in only a few years.
A critical component of the upgrade was the installation of a sophisticated IP backbone to support a converged wired and wireless network. The system needed to be capable of consolidating data, telephony and video systems across the airport's entire footprint, from terminal buildings to outside maintenance areas. Given the scale and importance of the project, the bid went out to a number of world-class providers, including Nortel.
As the bid process progressed, MIAL came to recognize that there was still a component missing from their planned IP network. In order to fulfill their mission of achieving true 21st-century, best-of-breed unified communications, they needed a solution that also provided for the seamless integration of their existing radio equipment.
MIAL subsequently added this element to the project scope, requesting that bidders include this new capability in their proposals. In response, one leading competitor quickly offered its own interoperability solution. Unfortunately, the system could only be implemented using the company's proprietary hardware components. With hardware at its core, the solution required an initial investment that substantially increased the project's total costs. And in the end, MIAL would ultimately be purchasing a system wrought with limitations. Should MIAL wish to expand the number of radio channels in operation, as it expected to do, there would have to be further expenditures for the purchase of additional proprietary hardware.
Customer Pain Points
- Lack of Interoperability. Even with the completion of a new IP backbone, as proposed the system would still leave those using push-to-talk radios disconnected from other communication channels.
- Pressing Timetable. With a hardware-based system already proposed by a competitor, Nortel needed an interoperability solution that could be evaluated and demonstrated quickly.
- Existing Plans. Nortel had already fully developed their proposal, making it imperative that an interoperability solution could be seamlessly integrated without requiring any redesign.
Solution Features
- System-of-Systems Architecture. Uses standards-based software to work with existing hardware infrastructure and avoid the unnecessary complexity, limitations and expense of proprietary hardware solutions.
- Extensive Interoperability. Creates a tightly integrated communications environment, supporting interoperability with almost any communications device, including phones, two-way radio systems and PCs.
- Easy Scalability. Capitalizes on the power of software to scale to an unlimited number of users without requiring any additional hardware components.
- Guaranteed Relevance. With standards-based software as core components, upgrades are simple and it is ensured that the system will never be obsolete.
- Cost-Effectiveness. Uses only standards-based software to deliver highly affordable interoperability by incorporating existing communications devices without requiring any expensive new hardware.
