Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Broadband Wireless Access [WCII, NXLK, WCOM, satellite..] -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MangoBoy who wrote (488)	7/15/1999 12:55:00 AM
From: SteveG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1860

A close competitor to the Lucent system is a company called Astroterra ( astroterra.com ) in San Diego, who demonstrated a 2.5 Gbps optical wireless link at 1.5 miles with Lucent last December. (Maybe LU is OEMing the tech from AstroTerra.) In any case, it seems that a range of these type of free-space optical products have been available for some time, with Lucent's angle seeming to be in using multiple wavelengths (with weather being the main impediment). I don't know if the "unlicensed" aspect of the spectrum could lead to unregulated interference. In free space it's purportedly analogous to adding radio frequencies to a microwave link. It'll be interesting to hear more about this, though LU's single wavelength product won't be out until next year.

To: MangoBoy who wrote (488)	7/16/1999 12:32:00 AM
From: quartersawyer	Respond to of 1860

Mark, re: "P-MP isn't an issue since lasers allow for infinite 'sectorization'", Nextlink should be able to integrate the technology into their business. Gilder's point is that microwave transmission "provides the "missing link" between a high-capacity backbone and the 95 percent of buildings that cannot be cost effectively served by fiber.... Microwave (referred to as millimeter wave) radios, the heart of these systems, are able to transmit data at rates as high as 200 Mbps. Not close to fiber-optic rates, but twenty times higher than most cable modems, this would serve the needs of most companies, a single channel accommodating a number of businesses in a single building." I can't guess at the cost of Lucent's system, except that it's probably not a straight substitution. In any event, since the p-mp providers are basically in the business of providing wireless data to buildings, this should be an enhancement to the service. Dropping the barriers because of the license devaluation may, um, be another matter.