One more time for those that may have missed it
SEPTEMBER 12, 2000
Tellaire Trades Equity for Rooftops
"The company, which plans to use only point-to-point laser technology, is currently buying equipment from fiberless optics vendors Astro Terra (now Optical Access)"
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Tellaire Corp., a new Dallas-based service provider, says the sky’s the limit for using point-to-point lasers to connect businesses to the local loop. That's only true, however, if the firm can get access to the right rooftops in cities where it wants to sell its services.
Tellaire hopes to serve some 9,000 buildings by 2005. But how will they get on so many rooftops? The company plans to hand out stock options, one of the optical networking industry’s favorite kinds of currency, to building owners to secure strategic access points in big cities.
“We’ve set aside a significant portion of the company for that purpose,” says Leah Bailey, Tellaire’s president and CEO.
Rooftop access -- the permission required to install the pieces of equipment that function as network nodes -- only comes when service providers successfully negotiate with the building owners in major cities. Landlords, after all, have the final say over what services can be sold to tenants. In the competitive landscape, service providers are sweetening deals with building owners, the ultimate gatekeepers of multitenant offices (see Multi-Tenant Services On the Rise ).
Not everybody thinks it's a brilliant idea. “Why would a building owner take warrants when BroadBand Office Inc., and Allied Riser Communications Corp. (Nasdaq: ARCC) could give them cash?” wonders Chris Nicoll, director of infrastructure analysis at Current Analysis.
Tellaire has already raised a $3.3 million round from Caravelle, an investment fund managed by CIBC World Markets. It’s trying to raise a second round, of around $25 million, soon. The company, which plans to use only point-to-point laser technology, is currently buying equipment from fiberless optics vendors Astro Terra (now Optical Access) and LightPointe Communications and is currently in talks to buy from AirFiber. Tellaire sees an advantage in being able to buy from multiple vendors, unlike service providers such as TeraBeam, which is currently locked up in an exclusive arrangement with Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LU). Terabeam, it should be noted, doesn’t require rooftop access for its technology (see Nortel And Lucent Compete For Air Time ).
So far, Tellaire’s gear has been deployed on four buildings in Austin, Texas, since the beginning of this year. It is also putting equipment on ten buildings in Houston and is in discussions with Vornado Realty Trust, which controls 23 office buildings in New York.
-- Phil Harvey, senior editor, Light Reading lightreading.com
lightreading.com
OLD NEWS...........................................PREVIOUS REPORTS JULY 25, 2000
Optical Wireless
Key Point-to-Point Vendors
Astro Terra Corp. astroterra.com
Jolt Ltd. jolt.co.il
lightreading.com
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Name: Optical Wireless (also known as Free Space Optics)
Architecture: Point-to-point, Point-to-Multipoint, and Meshed
Distances: Point-to-Point, 2 to 4 km; Point-to-Multipoint, 1 to 2 km; Meshed, 200 to 450 meters
Throughput: Point-to-Point and Point-to-MultiPoint, 155 Mbit/s to 10 Gbit/s; Meshed, 622 Mbit/s
Description:
Using low-powered infrared lasers, vendors have created two types of products carrying data over light. The first are point-to-point products used to provide high-speed connections between two buildings. The second type provides multiple high-speed connections through the air at much shorter distances, either in a point-to-multipoint fashion or in a meshed architecture.
The point-to-point technology was the first to evolve and has been most often used in large campus LANs, but more recently service providers are interested in the higher capacities that can be offered. In these scenarios lasers sit on roof tops aimed at a receiver within its line of site, and an optical data connection is established through the air. Under ideal atmospheric conditions, these products can reach somewhere between 2 and 4 km with data rates between 155 Mbit/s and 622 Mbit/s. One startup, OrAccess Inc., is boldly saying it can support up to 10 Gbit/s. TeraBeam Corp.'s product -- which can be used either in a point-to-point configuration or point-to-multipoint -- when used to connect two points, advertises 2 Gbit/s upstream.
The main benefit of point-to-point connections is that the throughput and bandwidth are dedicated between the points. But because it only transmits between two points, a network of wireless connections can't be built very cost effectively.
This is where the second type of wireless optical products come into play -- those that transmit data through the air to multiple end-points. So far, only two vendors have announced products that do this, and, incidentally, they are funded by two of the biggest powerhouses in optical networking. Backed by Nortel Networks, AirFiber claims to have a product that, when deployed throughout a metropolitan area, creates a meshed architecture that can transmit data in up to four directions at 622 Mbit/s simultaneously in a distance range between 200 and 450 meters, depending on weather conditions.
TeraBeam Corp., the other competitor in this two-horse race, backed by Lucent Technologies Inc., can be used as a point-to-multipoint product that uses a hub-and-spoke architecture. Unlike AirFiber, which sells its system to providers, TeraBeam plans to use its product to offer its own wireless services.
The vendor claims that when used in a point-to-multipoint configuration it can achieve data rates of 100 Mbit/s. Because the bandwidth is shared among the users, individuals are able to burst up to even higher rates if necessary. The vendor also says that because it uses a more powerful laser it can can transmit signals one to two kilometers. That is more than twice the distance Airfiber claims.
While Airfiber and TeraBeam are often compared to one another, their approaches are very different. "It's interesting that we are lumped in the same camp all the time," says Dan Hesse, CEO of TeraBeam. "Actually, we don't have that much in common. We use different powered lasers, and our architectures and business models are totally different."
Issues:
Weather: The biggest issue for any free-space optics vendor is fog. Why? The frequency at which the signal travels is very high, which means that the band that it travels through is very small (in nanometers). While rain or snow can also disrupts service, fog is a bigger issue because the moisture particles are so small and dense that they act like millions of tiny prisms, and when a band of light shines through them the signal distorts and dissipates. This problem is most acute as the light beam fades and spreads out over longer distances. For safety reasons, the lasers can't be turned up to a higher power to push through the fog particles. To solve this problem wireless optical vendors recommend that in foggy cities such as San Diego or San Francisco the transmitters be positioned closer together, while in less foggy areas the distances can be increased.
Two vendors in the free-space optic arena have come up with another backup solution. LightPointe Communications Inc. and AstroTerra Corp., both point-to-point vendors, are developing products that use unlicensed microwave radio frequencies that will transmit traffic if a system is down because of dense fog.
Moving Buildings: The second reliability issue has to do with the natural movements of buildings. Although we're rarely aware of it, buildings often sway from side to side or even settle further into the ground. This is a problem, because for free-space optics to work, the lasers and receivers must be lined up exactly. Several of the vendors say they have auto-tracking capabilities that automatically move the lasers back into position if they detect a change in alignment.
Flying Objects: And the third reliability issue has to do with objects that could get in the way of laser beams. The most notable instance is the flying pigeon scenario. For a strict point-to-point or hub-and-spoke configuration that only provides one path for traffic this can be a problem. But for meshed systems like AirFiber's, there is always an alternate path. "It would have to be some coordinated effort of birds to knock out all four AirFiber links at once," says Tom Guthrie, senior VP of services at Allied Riser Communications Corp., a service provider testing the AirFiber solution.
Safety Perceptions: Aside from reliability issues, another problem for free-space optics vendors is safety -- or at least the perception of safety. Mainly, people are concerned about eye safety or even the safety of that stray pigeon. But the truth of the matter is that the Food and Drug Administration regulates these lasers and requires that they use very low power. "People think lasers, and they think you are talking about Star Wars-type lasers," says Jim Dunn president and CEO of AirFiber. "But these lasers actually use less power than one of those laser pointers."
Key Point-to-Point Vendors
Astro Terra Corp. astroterra.com
Cannon canobeam.com
LightPointe Communications Inc. lightpointecom.com
Jolt Ltd. jolt.co.il
OrAccess Inc. oraccess.com
Pav Data Systems Ltd. conversant.com
TeraBeam Corp. terabeam.com
Key Point-to-Multipoint Vendor
TeraBeam Corp. terabeam.com
Key Mesh Vendor
AirFiber Inc. airfiber.com
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