CSCO: Kuala Lumpur International Airport Upgrades Network Infrastructure

Service providers, tenants and passengers at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) can now enjoy improved wired and wireless Internet access at the award-winning airport. Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad has upgraded the backbone network, making the facility one of the most powerful in the world in terms of network infrastructure.

The infrastructure supports more than 150 areas, including the new Low Cost Carrier Terminal, located some 15 kilometers from the Main Terminal Building.

"The deployment of the new high-end network at KLIA will enable Malaysia Airports to better serve not only the airline but the KLIA community as well," said Bashir Ahmad, managing director of Malaysia Airports.

Under the project, which was implemented by Malaysia Airports through its subsidiary Malaysia Airport Technologies Sdn Bhd (MA Tech), the airport was fitted with a 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GE) network that utilizes Cisco Systems® equipment, replacing the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network that previously supported KLIA's Total Airport Management System. The new network is equipped with technology that will support KLIA's network for many years to come; its capacity has increased from 622 megabits per second to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps).

The scalability and reliability of Cisco's technologies and solutions fit perfectly into Malaysia Airports' plans to constantly upgrade the airport's infrastructure to provide greater accessibility to communication and digital networks for passengers and airport users, said Ahmad.

"To ensure that the infrastructure is scalable, we invested in a network that is modular from an architecture point of view. Now we will be able to continuously upgrade KLIA's network performance by adding new advanced technology without redesigning or disrupting the newly implemented network architecture. This is one of the most outstanding characteristics of the upgraded network," he added.

At the heart of KLIA's 10 GE network are the industry-leading Cisco® Catalyst® 6500 Series Switches, which deliver up to 720 Gbps performance per switch and high port density for data centers and network cores. The modular nature of the network design and architecture will enable MA Tech to deliver new Layer 2 to Layer 7 services over time without complete equipment upgrades.

"Our strategic relationship with Cisco is a tremendous boost for KLIA, which was recently voted the world's best airport in the 15-25 million passengers per annum category in the AETRA 2005 survey," said Ahmad. AETRA is the world's leading airport benchmarking program; it is conducted jointly by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Airport Council International (ACI).

Kumaran Singaram, managing director of Cisco Systems Malaysia, said that with the implementation of this system, KLIA will become a model for other international airports around the world.

"This newly deployed network allows Malaysia Airports to create a single integrated digital community in KLIA, as opposed to other airports, which have separate proprietary networks for different systems," said Kumaran.

"This is a long-term investment that will yield great benefits not only to Malaysia Airports, but all KLIA passengers and users. We are confident the operational efficiency, converged applications, security, flexibility and scalability of the network will contribute to the growth and expansion of the airport," he added.

About Malaysia Airports
Malaysia Airports manages and operates 39 airports in Malaysia: 5 international, 16 domestic and 18 Short Take-Off and Landing Ports (STOL Ports). On November 30, 1999, Malaysia Airports became the first airport company to be listed in Asia. KL International Airport (KLIA), its flagship airport was voted as the Best Airport (15-25 million passengers per annum) in the 2005 AETRA awards. Malaysia Airports has also been entrusted to host the 2008 World Route Development Forum (ROUTES), the first airport operator in Asia to be given the honour of hosting this world-class airport-airlines event.

About Malaysia Airport Technologies Sdn Bhd (MA Tech)
MA Tech is a subsidiary of Malaysia Airports. MA Tech provides IT services and solutions to all airports in the country managed by Malaysia Airports. MA Tech is the systems integrator as well as end customer of the projects.