SITA, together with its partner Tellabs, introduces passive optical LAN (PON) infrastructure – for highly reliable, scalable and secure connectivity at airports and in critical operational areas
The need to support data-intensive applications in real time across extensive airport infrastructures is greater than ever. However, limited bandwidth, high latency and costly maintenance mean that existing systems are increasingly reaching their limits.
A new next-generation high-speed fibre optic solution could now replace copper cables in complex airports. The enhanced SITA PON solution is being introduced in partnership with Tellabs, a global leader in network technologies and a pioneer in PON development. It offers a future-proof, fibre-optic-based infrastructure for airports, airlines and ground handlers. This enables business-critical systems, smart airport services and IoT applications to be operated reliably – while reducing costs.
Martin Smillie, Senior Vice President Communications and Data Exchange at SITA, explains:
“The increasing use of data-intensive applications is putting existing platforms under severe pressure. These often reach their limits when it comes to meeting the growing capacity requirements for critical airport operations. With SITA PON, we are eliminating these bottlenecks and providing airports, airlines and ground handlers with a highly reliable, scalable and secure fibre optic infrastructure.
Together with Tellabs, whose solutions have a proven track record of optimising networks, SITA PON meets both today’s requirements and those of the next generation of high-performance systems that will be used at the world’s largest airports in the future.”
Rich Schroder, President and CEO of Tellabs, adds: ‘This partnership strengthens the critical network infrastructure that airports rely on every day. Together with SITA, we offer a new generation of connectivity – seamless, secure and consistently aligned with the growing demands of modern airports worldwide.’
The fibre optic infrastructure equipped with SITA-PON, optical network terminals (ONTs) and a central network together ensure consistent, high-performance connectivity even in high-traffic airports. The solution is suitable for airports, airlines, MRO (maintenance and repair) companies, ground handlers and other players in the travel industry.
Thanks to its centralised, passive fibre optic architecture, SITA PON eliminates the need for complex cabling, which loses performance over time, and numerous active components. This enables companies to build modern, high-performance networks with intelligent, sustainable and secure connectivity – free from the limitations and high maintenance costs of conventional networks.
Its use extends far beyond passenger terminals: thanks to its long range, SITA PON also modernises telecommunications infrastructure in remote airport areas such as hangars, technical centres and storage areas. Conventional copper cables are often inefficient in these areas, as they require repeaters or amplifiers – with additional effort and costs. SITA PON’s single-fibre solution, on the other hand, works over distances of up to 20 km without active intermediate devices. This makes it ideal for data-intensive applications such as HD video surveillance, smart kiosks, IoT devices and cloud services.
Through the SITA Campus Network, SITA-PON integrates the latest innovations – including automation, industry know-how and sustainability expertise. The comprehensive offering includes global 24/7 monitoring and proactive maintenance in more than 145 countries.
