Airport Authority to Upgrade Network for Two Additional Airports; Evaluates Meridian Mobile App and Bluetooth Beacons to Improve Airport Services and Boost Tenant Marketing Opportunities
Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company (NYSE:HPE), today announced
that Columbus
Regional Airport Authority (CRAA), which oversees the operation of
Port Columbus International Airport (CMH), Rickenbacker International
Airport (LCK) and Bolton Field Airport (TZR), is installing Gigabit
Wi-Fi infrastructure from Aruba across all three airports.
The new network is currently operational at passenger-focused Port
Columbus, which has already served 6.7 million passengers in 2015.
Plans are underway to extend connectivity in 2016 to Bolton
Field, a general aviation airport, and cargo-focused Rickenbacker,
that also served nearly 91,600 passengers in 2014. In addition, CRAA is
evaluating the Aruba
Beacons and Meridian
Mobile App Platform at Port Columbus to provide travelers with a
location-aware mobile app for wayfinding, enhanced airport services and
tenant marketing opportunities.
The three CRAA-managed airports were operating with outdated wireless
infrastructures that could not support their growth. In particular, with
the increasing number of passengers and mobile devices for each of these
passengers– an average of three according to CRAA’s Director of
Technology Services, Jim Lizotte – the existing network failed to
deliver the speed, reliability or services and applications support
needed.
“As our passenger numbers continue to increase – up over five percent
thus far this year – we have to accommodate the increased number and
variety of devices, such as Apple watches, laptops and tablets, these
passengers are bringing with them,” said Lizotte. “Wi-Fi is a critical
customer satisfaction factor that our airports are measured by, so the
wireless infrastructure is paramount to our success.”
A second important driver for the network overhaul was CRAA’s movement
to a mobile employee workforce. Said Lizotte, “Things like disaster
recovery and business continuity are crucial to an airport and rely
heavily on the network infrastructure. We also have a large, mobile
staff including custodians and airfield maintenance workers, as well as
HVAC technicians who move around the facility. When you include all of
the airport vendors and on-site airline employees, you have about 4,000
workers on-site at Port Columbus airport and all of these people rely on
the Wi-Fi.”
CRAA also employs its own police department that Lizotte expects will
use the Wi-Fi for public safety applications including uploading video
from police cruisers.
Working with partner Cincinnati Bell Technology Solutions (CBTS), CRAA
chose Aruba to provide a new wireless infrastructure for their three
facilities. Using Aruba indoor and outdoor 802.11ac
Access Points (APs), Mobility
Controllers, AirWave
network management and ClearPass
Policy Manager, CRAA has revamped the wireless network at Port
Columbus and will follow with the other two airports in 2016.
“We’ve essentially tripled our bandwidth and increased the number of APs
by over 700 percent,” said Lizotte. “That means we can finally handle
the density of devices we’re experiencing and give our customers a high
quality wireless experience.”
When fully deployed, CRAA will have 100 percent coverage within the
terminal buildings of the airports and will extend coverage to outdoor
arrival and departure areas, as well some of the adjacent airport
grounds like parking lots.
Although the quality of the free airport Wi-Fi was important to Lizotte
and his team, equally critical to their infrastructure decision was the
ability to use the network to improve the customer experience. CRAA
currently has a Proof of Concept deployment of the Aruba Beacons and
Meridian Mobile App platform in the Port Columbus airport, with the goal
of giving passengers a richer mobile app experience. For example,
airport administration can use the network to monitor traffic patterns
and provide real-time updates to incoming airport passengers for
security checkpoint wait times. They can also collect information about
incoming flights so that if a flight is delayed, the information can be
communicated to valet parking to ensure passengers’ cars are waiting for
them when they arrive.
CRAA also sees great benefit in potentially using the combined network
and Aruba Beacons to enable geofencing for tenant marketing
opportunities – essentially, altering content based on location and
preference information that the mobile app users have opted into.
Future plans also include using the Meridian App Platform and Aruba
Beacons to develop an airport mobile app that would provide indoor
navigation and a wealth of airport services to visitors. Lizotte noted
that this could be particularly useful for Port Columbus’ airport
loyalty program called “Thanks Again,” to offer members additional
bandwidth as a premium service, as well as send them coupons and offer
tailored to their interests.
With the new infrastructure in place, Lizotte sees enormous potential to
improve operational efficiencies while enhancing the customer experience
at all three airports.
“Leveraging technology is a key priority for us,” he said. “The Aruba
infrastructure positions us well to do this and allows us to be more
innovative moving forward in the services that we offer, both to our
employees and customers, as well as our business partners.”
About Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company
Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, is a leading provider of
next-generation networking solutions for enterprises of all sizes
worldwide. The company delivers IT solutions that empower organizations
to serve the latest generation of mobile-savvy users who rely on
cloud-based business apps for every aspect of their work and personal
lives.
To learn more, visit Aruba at http://www.arubanetworks.com.
For real-time news updates follow Aruba on Twitter and Facebook,
and for the latest technical discussions on mobility and Aruba products
visit Airheads Social at http://community.arubanetworks.com.
©2015 Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, Aruba’s trademarks
include Aruba Networks®, Aruba The Mobile Edge Company® (stylized),
Aruba Mobility-Defined Networks™, Aruba Mobility Management System®,
People Move Networks Must Follow®, Mobile Edge Architecture®,
RFProtect®, Green Island®, ETips®, ClientMatch®, Virtual Intranet AccessTM,
ClearPass Access Management SystemsTM, Aruba
InstantTM, ArubaOSTM,
xSecTM, ServiceEdgeTM,
Aruba ClearPass Access Management SystemTM,
AirmeshTM, AirWaveTM,
Aruba CentralTM, and ARUBA@WORKTM.
All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company
Pavel Radda, +1-408-419-0294
Senior Director of Corporate Communications
pradda@arubanetworks.com
or
LSH Communications for Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company
Lori Hultin, +1-818-879-4651
Principal
lhultin@arubanetworks.com