BAA Heathrow

Heathrow is one of the world's is best known and the busiest international airport, coping with an impressive 64 million passengers each year - more than the entire population of the UK - approximately 38,249 aircraft movements to 170 different destinations worldwide.

To support the smooth running of the airport - especially on the networking side - BAA which is also responsible for Stanstead, Gatwick, Southampton, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, has awarded Pinacl Solution a framework agreement and equipment for all their networking requirements at Heathrow airport.

As well as day-to-day technical support, Pinacl Solutions also play an integral role in the future network design and development. Sunny Matharoo, BAA's Network Business Manager, said: "We believe that it is crucial to have the support of a specialist networking provider, ensuring that Heathrow has the right resources and technical expertise on hand to cope with rapid changes in technology and ever greater demands being placed on our network infrastructure."

Key Features

Initially, the three-year contract awarded to Pinacl Solutions required the provision of 3Com data network equipment and installation of 10,000m of data cabling across the airport. Subsequently, the 3Com based network has been swapped out for an end-to-end Cisco solution.

The data network installed by Pinacl Solutions has been designed to support voice, video and data traffic. Currently, BAA is investigating the use of IP Telephony and IP Video over the network.

As well as day-to-day technical backup, Pinacl Solutions plays an integral role in the future network design and development, including installation, configuration and maintenance services. This is of particular importance as BAA is seeking to expand the use of its network systems by all operators on the Heathrow site, including airlines, retailers and cargo handlers.

To maintain and service the network, Pinacl Solutions has a team of IT specialists dedicated to Heathrow's IT infrastructure. The team monitors the functioning of the network on a daily basis and provides response to faults within a pre-determined Service Level Agreement.

Pinacl Solutions documented and managed the BAA Heathrow network using Celsius™ Cable Management Software, therefore providing on-site support at periods of peak activity in respect to the documentation solution as and when required.