Zorro and WTC: The magazine is Dallas/Fort Worth Current Technology. See 321website.com
As for the rankings, you old-line American capitalists really make me laugh. The Texas Top 100 technology companies are not ranked; they're all grouped in one big happy family of large and small companies, including little guys like The Beam and big guys like Dell, Compaq and GTE.
Here's the text:
Beam Me Up
By Liane H. LaBarba
Just when you thought everything on the Internet was made possible by wires running from computer to computer, the story changes. The
Beam, which is a subsidiary of CS Wireless Systems, links users to the Internet via Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licensed microwave broadcast frequencies.
The Beam transmits downstream information through the air with a
compressed, encoded 2 gigahertz frequency spectrum. (Meaning The Beam reaches your computer over a high quality, digital signal.) And
according to Scott Mindemann, vice president of Telecommunications Technology, "The Beam's digital downstream broadcast speed is 10 million bits per second (10 Mbps)." (To put that into perspective, an ISDN line transfers at 128 Kbps and a T1 transfers at 1.54 Mbps and with a standard 28.8 modem, it is 350 times faster.)
The thing you might find odd about the service, is the need for a
modem. Currently, only the downstream traffic are done via the
wireless connection. (The initial contact is made through landline
return.) Sources at The Beam say dedicated modem ports are available for commercial customers, so no busy signals will be encountered. Currently, engineers are working to develop two-way wireless transmissions.
Another interesting note on The Beam is their involvement with
digital television broadcasts. In the Dallas area, The Beam is now
taking analog feeds from all the local networks and sending them out
digitally. The Beam is also now broadcasting the similar feeds as
sattelite systems broadcast.
So what does it take to get your computer on The Beam? A little
antenna fastens on top of your office building or home.
An extra bit of scoop: expect to see The Beam offering television
service and Internet service through the same unit at the same time
in the near future. Wow! |
