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Brussels South Charleroi Airport selects Nomios to enhance its Wi-Fi solution

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Juniper Networks
Cisco

Brussels South Charleroi Airport (BSCA) has entrusted Nomios with the migration of its passenger Wi-Fi infrastructure, as well as the maintenance for the next five years. The migration was completed in a very short space of time, without the slightest interruption to service.

More than five years ago, BSCA installed a Wi-Fi infrastructure combining Juniper access points (APs), Meraki switches and routers, and Allied Telesis equipment on the tarmac. "For us, Wi-Fi is important in two regards: first, to provide connectivity to our passengers and second, to enable us to conduct studies and analyses of both passenger behaviour and our internal operations", explains Thomas Fercot, IT Director at BSCA. When the current contract expired about a year ago, BSCA decided to select a new partner to take over the Wi-Fi infrastructure in-house, bearing in mind that the technology agreement stated that the airport would take ownership of the equipment upon expiry.

Requirements

BSCA launched a competitive tender process for this contract. Nomios proposed BSCA to analyse the airport's situation and specific needs, especially since Nomios had just won a similar tender for Lille Airport. The challenge was to take over the existing equipment and migrate the entire existing environment to BSCA's own IP infrastructure. An additional difficulty was that little documentation was available and everything had to be coordinated to enable a smooth migration with minimal impact on users.

"We were looking for a partner who could take over the hardware and software, provide the upgrade and help us exploit the passenger location data at the airport," adds Thomas Fercot. "In addition, this service provider had to be certified for Juniper, Meraki and Allied Telesis, and have both the skills and references to take over the solution as such."
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Migration

Following the tender, Nomios was selected in mid-November 2023, with the migration to be completed by the end of the year - a particularly tight deadline. Another challenge was the need to guarantee service availability. "You have to bear in mind that an airport operates from around 4 a.m. to midnight, which leaves a very limited window of opportunity for intervention if we want to offer an optimal experience and quality of service for airport passengers," adds Thomas Fercot.

The configuration included 190 traditional Access Points (APs), 93 Bluetooth APs, 41 Cisco Meraki switches and 30 Allied Telesis switches on the tarmac and along the runways. The contract also included the migration of the environment to the BSCA/Nomios tenant as well as the migration of the IP Plan. In addition, the 5-year contract also provides for on-site consultancy and analysis services with a view to future developments and extensions.

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Long-term partnership

"The particularly short time frame for the migration was one of the major challenges, as was the fact that the installed solution combined technologies from different vendors. Nomios is a Juniper Networks 'Elite Plus' partner, which is the highest level of certification," explains Daniel Naedenoen, account manager at Nomios.

Daniel Naedenoen adds that the migration was carried out without the slightest interruption to service for airport users. "BSCA wanted a partner capable of integrating these different technologies, but also of upgrading the equipment over time and guaranteeing the management and development of the service.”

In the longer term (the contract has been signed for 5 years), Nomios is committed to helping BSCA make the most of the data collected on passenger flows for the benefit of airlines, taking into account, of course, the GDPR legislations. For example, a solution for mapping and analysing passenger and visitor flows will be developed to enable BSCA to better understand, manage and, where necessary, improve the passenger flows at the airport. It will also be possible to size facilities and teams according to aircraft departures and arrivals. The aim is to optimise airport organisation, offer personalised services and guide travellers.

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"Overall, it is about better understanding our passengers' behaviour in order to offer them a quality experience."

Thomas Fercot - IT Manager at Brussels South Charleroi Airport (BSCA)

About BSCA

Brussels South Charleroi Airport S.A., the second airport serving the city of Brussels, provides access to almost 190 destinations from a fast, easily accessible hub. The airport has a wealth of operational experience and has won numerous awards for its punctuality and the quality of its services. Currently, more than 3,000 people work at Brussels South Charleroi Airport, including almost 800 employees who work directly at the airport. BSCA's objective is to continue to develop airport activities, while focusing its policy on the comfort of its various customers in order to meet all their requirements. On a national level, BSCA is the second busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic and is developing its cargo business.

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