PCCW Global has connected the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department and Thailand’s AEROTHAI air navigation service provider (ANSP) via the Asia Pacific Common Regional Virtual Private Network (CRV). The CRV is specifically provisioned by PCCW Global as a robust and secure regional aviation network for the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations specialized agency established to manage the administration and governance of international aviation.
The technical trial linking the first city-pair in the Asia Pacific region to the CRV paves the way for the Hong Kong and Bangkok ANSPs to exchange high volumes of aeronautical information over a dedicated aviation network. Regional ANSPs have historically not been in a position to share a common network, which resulted in tangled networks belonging to multiple service providers, which in turn led to network management challenges concerning technology upgrades, security and operations.
With airline passenger growth of over 150 percent in the past two decades, the air transportation industry now carries up to 3.6 billion passengers to more than 3,700 airports annually. This year, airlines are expected to operate more than 38 million flights, and this number is expected to double over the next 10 to 15 years. This dramatic increase in the volume of air traffic has highlighted the need for a more robust and secure aviation network. As a result, in 2013, the ICAO took the decision to engage with a single telecommunications operator to provide private network services for the exchange of aeronautical information between the various ANSPs. PCCW Global won the Asia Pacific tender for this provision of the regional CRV.
“Cybersecurity is at the heart of the CRV,” said Frederick Chui, senior vice president of Global Data Sales, PCCW Global. “The success of the trial demonstrates our proven network services which is critical for the growth of aviation industry. PCCW Global CRV is providing secure closed-user network capability between ANSPs. The CRV also provides for various contingency routing scenarios across PCCW Global’s extensive network, ensuring that the service will always be up and running securely.”
