Ports of Jersey upgrades airspace communication with FREQUENTIS IT voice system

FREQUENTIS is successfully implementing three VCS systems in Jersey, supporting main, contingency and emergency operation systems

Ports of Jersey Limited (PoJ) selected the FREQUENTIS IT voice communication system (VCS) in late 2020 to upgrade three end of life systems at its airport facilities to remain resilient and adopt digital voice technologies.  Ports of Jersey also operates a Frequentis digital tower contingency system, the first of its kind in the British Isles to manage flights remotely.

“At Ports of Jersey we require a system able to support state-of-the-art air traffic control (ATC). FREQUENTIS is an agile and reliable partner, able to provide us with the technology to allow us to continue to provide resilient and essential Air Traffic Services (ATS) whilst adopting digital voice technologies that are being rolled out across the global ATC networks. This will also help us to continue to work with French and UK ATC to adapt as the aviation industry, and requirements for the Channel Islands airspace, change”, says Robin MacRae, Airport Director at PoJ.

PoJ are a forward-thinking ATS provider; to ensure business continuity in the event of ATC failure, PoJ was an early adopter of the FREQUENTIS remote digital tower technology, installing a contingency digital tower system at a bespoke airport facility, away from the airport control tower. This ensures ATC is not impacted by any shutdown at its main ATC facility. In 2018 the system became the first remote digital tower in the British Isles to manage air traffic remotely. With the current turn-key solution project FREQUENTIS delivers three VCS systems, two are based on the brand-new IT-VCS for the main and contingency operation, with an additional VCS for the emergency system.

“We are pleased to be supporting Ports of Jersey once again, ensuring they are at the forefront of technology to support their operations. Our latest IT-VCS system, which is ED-137compliant, fully supports the digitalisation of ATC communication, and the standardised implementation and interoperability of voice over IP (VoIP), leading into the Virtual Centre era,” says Hannu Juurakko, FREQUENTIS Vice President ATM Civil and Chairman of the ATM Executive team.

Proceeding as contractually agreed, most of the turn-key solution has been delivered to Jersey, installed and successfully tested. The installation, configuration and testing was performed in cooperation and in the presence of the UK sub-contractor System Interface LTD and the FREQUENTIS project team. Several uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and a renewal of the fibre network connections, including a corresponding safety case are also part of the project. The Main VCS is scheduled to be integrated in Jersey in Q4/2021.

FREQUENTIS and Ports of Jersey have worked together on both aviation and maritime projects in recent years, including modernising vessel traffic services (VTS) in British waters in 2016, supplying an integrated communications system to enhance search and rescue. The FREQUENTIS next generation VCS3020X is the first IT VCS on the market, with an architecture that provides an enterprise ATC system, with exceptionally high availability, flexibility, performance, and deployment-ready maturity.