SEPTEMBER 7, 2006 -- GigaBeam Corp. (search GigaBeam) has sold 11 WiFiber wireless fiber links to a wireless local exchange carrier (WiLEC) in the western United States, which is deploying a citywide wireless Ethernet telecommunications service to enterprises and multiple dwelling units (MDUs).
The customer is using WiFiber to build out multiple WiFiber loops across a city, initially to provide voice and data services ranging from 10 to 100 Mbits/sec to local enterprises.
"We are excited with this sale of 11 WiFiber links," says Lou Slaughter, GigaBeam's chairman and CEO. "Our customer is taking advantage of WiFiber, instead of terrestrial fiber, to build out a metropolitan telecommunications network at a fraction of the cost to build out an equivalent terrestrial fiber network. The savings realized in capital expenditures will enable our customer to offer services at significant discounts off incumbent local exchange carrier pricing," he contends. "Equally as important, services can be provisioned within days as compared to terrestrial fiber which can take months."
GigaBeam WiFiber products operate in the 71- to 76-GHz and 81- to 86-GHz radio spectrum bands. This portion of the radio frequency spectrum has been authorized by the Federal Communications Commission for wireless point-to-point commercial use.
GigaBeam's technology, utilizing these large blocks of authorized contiguous spectrum, enables multi-Gigabit-per-second communications through use of Gigabit Ethernet and other standard protocols, explain company representatives. The current speed achieved by GigaBeam's WiFiber G-1.25 product series is full duplex at one Gigabit-per-second (equivalent to 647 T1 lines or 1,000 DSL connections), which supports Gigabit Ethernet (GbE).
GigaBeam recently announced its WiFiber G-2.7 series, to be released this year, which will operate at 2.7 Gbits/sec. The protocols to be supported by the G-2.7 product series include 2 x GbE (2 x 1 Gbits/sec); OC-48 / STM-16 (2.488 Gbits/sec); SMPTE 292M (1.485 Gbits/sec) and both 1- and 2-Gbit/sec fiber channel. GigaBeam also plans deployment of future products capable of 10 Gbits/sec utilizing either the 10-Gigabit Ethernet or OC-192 protocol standards.
GigaBeam's WiFiber technology is similar to terrestrial fiber in terms of speed and reliability for deployment in metro networks, say company representatives, who note that WiFiber has a substantial advantage over terrestrial fiber because WiFiber can be deployed in a day and costs less to deploy than terrestrial fiber. Terrestrial fiber can take months to deploy and also requires significant regulatory and environmental approvals prior to installation, argues the company.
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