September 22, 2004 San Diego, CA -- LightPointe, a designer and manufacturer of optical wireless products based on free-space optics (FSO) technology, announced that it has eclipsed sales of 2,500 systems worldwide for enterprise and service provider customers in more than 60 countries.
Enterprise customers now account for approximately 80 percent of systems sold, with many global companies and organizations such as Nokia, RBC Dain Rauscher Inc., CDI Corp., 24 Hour Fitness, Smithsonian Institution, and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (CNN) now deploying LightPointe's Flight family of optical wireless products.
In enterprise applications, LightPointe products link campus networks to fiber backbones or bridge two or more buildings in LAN-to-LAN connections historically addressed by T1/E1 or 802.11 bridges. With bandwidths ranging from single T-1/E-1 up to 2.5 Gbits/sec at distances up to 4 km, LightPointe products transmit voice, data, and video over any protocol without the need for fiber-optic cable or RF spectrum licenses.
With its new FlightLite 100 product, which has been shipping since August, LightPointe offers a lower-cost option for enterprises seeking cost-effective LAN-to-LAN bridging. Delivering wireless full-duplex, Fast Ethernet connectivity, the product links remote buildings to a campus LAN for about the same price as competing 802.11a and 802.11g half-duplex solutions -- while delivering about four times the bandwidth, the company says.
According to Jim Cady, LightPointe's president and chief executive office, optical wireless technology offers the ultimate in "big pipe" connectivity for enterprises expanding their bandwidth and upgrading from technologies such as 802.11. "Momentum is building for optical wireless solutions because they combine all the benefits of fiber-optic cable -- including high-capacity, security, and reliability -- at prices comparable to competing 'last-mile' wireless alternatives," he said.
LightPointe recently has secured several customers across the Asia-Pacific (AP) region as well as in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). In AP, where the company derives 30 percent of its revenues, new customers include MobileOne Ltd., the largest mobile service provider in Singapore, and Internet Thailand, the largest Internet service provider in Thailand. In EMEA, LightPointe has scored recent customer wins including the federal ministry of finance in Germany, the University of Wales in the United Kingdom, and the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.