HKT's PCCW Global has connected Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department to Thailand's AEROTHAI air navigation service providers (ANSPs) using its Asia-Pacific Common Regional Virtual Private Network (CRV).
PCCW has provisioned the CRV as a secure regional aviation network for the UN's International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and this represents the first technical trial linking a city-pair in the APAC region.
The CRV project aims to eliminate the network management issues caused by ANSPs using separate networks belonging to multiple service providers.
The ICAO decided in 2013 to engage with a single operator to provide private network services for the exchange of aeronautical information, and PCCW won the contract in a tender process.
The network has been designed to support various functions of the ICAO's aviation system block upgrades (ASBUs) and to enhance aeronautical information exchange between Asia-Pacific and other regions.
PCCW Global SVP of global data sales Frederick Chui said that with the successful trial the CRV is considered to be ready for operational use by APAC ANSPs.
“Cyber security is at the heart of the CRV. The success of the trial demonstrates our proven network services which is critical for the growth of aviation industry,” he said.
“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.”