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Technology Stocks : Teligent -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (197)	7/15/1999 2:10:00 PM
From: zebraspot	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 270

>>Lucent Unveils OpticAir System, Which May Streamline Net Traffic The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition -- July 14, 1999 Tech Center Associated Press NEW YORK -- A technology using light beams to carry data through the air offers a new way to meet Internet demand in cities where digging up streets for cables is too costly. Lucent Technologies Inc. unveiled the OpticAir system Wednesday, saying it transmits data 65 times faster than the next-fastest wireless system, which uses radio waves. While the new technology doesn't offer nearly as much capacity as fiber-optic cables, it does provide a lower-cost alternative to the often-complex task of installing new underground lines in urban areas -- where demand is growing fastest. "At some point, there's no more capacity in the ground and no more right of way, especially in older metropolitan areas," said Lisa Pierce, an industry analyst for Giga Information Group. Wireless transmission "is a lot a cheaper than going the ground route," Ms. Pierce said. Even if a landlord charged exorbitant rates to put wireless equipment on a rooftop, it would still be cheaper than putting new cable in the ground, she said. OpticAir converts data, voice and video information into a laser beam, shooting it through a two-inch wide lens. The signal travels between roof-tops or office windows and is then passed back to a fiber-optic cable for the rest of its journey. There are drawbacks like those encountered with a microwave system: The laser signal can't travel more than three miles and a direct line-of-sight is required between transmitter and receiver. And much like a wireless microwave system, OpticAir is not a practical alternative for individual consumers. The equipment involved with either system carries too high a price and far too much data for most people to afford or need. The backpack sized transmitters can simultaneously transmit at different wavelengths -- or colors -- of light, each carrying distinct streams of information. Global Crossing Ltd., a company that has been building and buying fiber-optic systems to create a global network, will be the first company to test the OpticAir system, starting in December. The capacity provided by the new technology "could offer a breakthrough method to help our global customers bypass local bottlenecks and offer leading-edge services," said Wally Dawson, a Global Crossing executive. Lucent, based in Murray Hill, N.J., said other applications for OpticAir might include sending data across a corporate or college campus, as well as for temporary data links during special events such as live broadcasts of concerts. Lucent said it expects to offer the technology for sale within a year. Recently, demand for new capacity has been doubling every three or four months at UUnet, a unit of MCI WorldCom Inc. that's one of the biggest backbone operators in the world. Most of that growth is coming from businesses, although consumers are adding to the demand by subscribing to new high-speed services being offered through cable TV wires and digital subscriber lines using regular copper phone wires.<< ///