Major Melbourne Airport contract goes to Frame

The Frame Group has won a three-year contract to manage Melbourne Airport’s IT facilities, as the airport undergoes its biggest upgrade in 40 years.

Frame will support and manage Melbourne Airport’s two onsite data centres, up to 90 communications rooms and all active network infrastructure.

Frame’s general manager sales and marketing, Roger Barlow, described the contract as a "good win".

"It’s a significant annuity income stream for us,” he said.

The win also sets up Frame for potential services work in the future. “The plan is over time to move toward service management,” he told CRN.

Melbourne Airport has begun a massive 20-year infrastructure upgrade program, which will see up to $10 billion invested. This includes the new T4 terminal, a ground transport hub, 23 more aircraft parking bays, road upgrades and expansion of the international terminal. The annual number of passengers is expected to double to 60 million over the next two decades.

The international terminal will be the centrepiece of a “physical and customer experience transformation”.

Frame steps into Melbourne Airport’s managed services role after years of planning, designing and rolling out extensive ICT infrastructure for the airport.

This includes flight information displays and an MPLS network. Airline staff can log in to IP phones at each gate to access a personal profile, while gate personnel can push instructions to alert passengers via the flight information displays. The network includes Cisco and APC equipment, which Frame will manage.

The company also works with airports in Sydney, Perth and Cleveland in the US. “Airports have traditionally been a little bit ad hoc in their approach. What we’re looking to do is bring more strategic and consolidated planning in how they setup their IT operations,” Barlow said.

The Frame Group was established in 2000 and has about 120 staff working in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Thailand. The health sector is another focus, with provision of technology for NSW Health, Queensland Health and the Gold Coast University Hospital.