|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Terabeam aims to solve 'last mile' data jam
(CNN) -- Waiting for a big file to download over a 56K modem can be agonizingly slow. But the problem is not with the local area network connections inside office buildings. Nor is there a problem with high-speed bandwidth connections between cities, where companies like WorldCom, AT&T and Qwest locate their hubs for relaying data across the country. The problem is getting data through "the last mile" -- the space between the high-speed cables and office buildings and homes. "There is a river of fiber optic networks, local loops that are going right through the sidewalk. We have seen the construction, we see the wire and cables being buried," says Jeff Kagan, a communications analyst. "The problem is only four or five or six percent of the nation's buildings, office buildings, are actually connected to those high-speed fiber networks."
Until now, the solution for greater speed has been to simply keep laying more fiber optic lines. Streets are dug up and cables connected. But that takes permits, money, and of course, time. A Seattle company called Terabeam may now be changing that. Its new optical technology beams data straight through the air, from one window to another. No broadband, no dialing, no modems, no traveling through underground passageways. Freestanding units -- upright appliances about four feet tall that look like hair dryers from "The Jetsons" era -- power the invisible beams of harmless light. As long as there is a birds-eye view from one building to the next, the laser beam can transmit to and from a high-speed transmission center. So far, a dozen Terabeam hubs have been placed in downtown Seattle buildings. The lasers are designed to be efficient and ultra-fast, with speeds as high as 1,000 megabits per second. A dial-up service like AOL or Earthlink usually carries data as fast as 56 kilobits per second. A commercial T-1 line carries data up to 1.5 megabits per second. Terabeam's lasers can race along at speeds as fast as fiber optic cable. "If you think about a dial-up connection to the Internet and I was to get a very big file -- a huge file -- something that normally would take me on a dial-up connection 10 hours to download, I would download using this at one second," explains Terabeam CEO Dan Hesse. Seattle one of first cities to sign onA traditional landmark, the stately Four Seasons Olympic Hotel in Seattle, is one of the first to sign on. "Though our building is vintage 1924, we have always insisted on the most current infrastructures," says Brian Flaherty, Four Seasons general manager. "This will be available throughout our hotel, in all of our meeting rooms, and ultimately we'll have wireless access in all of our public spaces as well." So far the only impediment to perfect laser beam transmission is fog, which is precisely why the developers of the laser optic technology chose Seattle as their pilot metropolis. Hesse says Terabeam had to build more hub sites in Seattle than it would in a city with less inclement weather, like Phoenix. And they've developed a means of dealing with fog. "The new units have an auto gain feature which handles that and gives more power to the optics to break through the fog," says Jaime Marra, Chief Information Officer for Avenue A, a Terabeam client who tested early versions of the technology. Implications for the future of the InternetHesse says what appeals most to clients is the ability to set up high-speed Internet service quickly. "What we're able to do is just roll a piece of equipment right into a customer's window, two simple connections -- one into the local area network, one into the power plug -- and point it at our hub site, and voila -- they're in service very quickly." Avenue A's Marra agrees. "Terabeam allowed us to get up within two to three weeks, versus traditional companies when we want bandwith, which takes somewhere between 90 and 180 days." Seattle is the first of six major U.S. cities Terabeam plans to have up and running this year. "They will be the first one to the marketplace offering the service, but they won't be the last,' says Kagan. "So they have this window of opportunity to strike while the iron is hot." Kagan predicts this is just the beginning. "Yesterday, the Internet was text. Today the Internet is pictures and graphics with a little bit of video clips. Tomorrow the Internet is full motion video, entertainment quality video, streaming video and audio, it takes enormous amounts of bandwidth." RELATED STORIES: Apartments begin wiring for broadband access RELATED SITES:
TeraBeam |
SCI-TECH
Study: Gadget sales flat Protest slams Dell's use of prison labor Steve Jobs keeps Apple in the limelight (MORE)
TOP STORIES
N. Y. plans to heal skyline Stocks rise on Case departure Lieberman's presidential announcement today New arrests may be linked to UK ricin scare (MORE)
SPORTS
Jordan says farewell for the third time Shaq could miss playoff game for child's birth Ex-USOC official says athletes bent drug rules (MORE)
All Scoreboards |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Back to the top |
© 2003 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. |