European start-up successfully completes 1 Gigabit/second operator trials of low cost optical wireless beams

KRISTIANSAND, Norway - Sept. 3, 2014 - PRLog -- “Accelerated by a research grant from the European Commission, we have revitalized Free Space Optics (FSO) as a cost effective alternative to radio-based transport solutions for small cells and FTTx," says Jan Eide, Polewall’s founder. “By limiting our focus to short haul urban densification applications, we completely avoid the shortcomings of FSO known from past attempts to commercialize the technology,” adds Eide.

During the testing, the parties achieved reliable and consistent throughput of 1Gbps– with negligible latency and jitter.

Previously, operators had to choose between high cost or low bandwidth. This breakthrough of reducing the cost of an FSO link by an order of magnitude compared to other wireless gigabit links, extends the full capabilities of high speed broadband more quickly and at lower cost than using fiber optic cable alone.

The StreetHopper is also an attractive solution for fixed broadband service providers, who can use it to connect businesses and buildings more quickly than using cables or fiber. Liam O’Kelly, CEO of AirSpeed Telecom, an Irish independent broadband network provider, is enthusiastic. “Polewall’s implementation of the FSO technology offers a solution that allows rapid deployment at low cost to connect our customers. We’ve been impressed by the robust performance achieved. The high speeds of 1Gbps meet the needs of our customers without the higher cost of a dedicated fiber installation.”

Polewall’s StreetHopper delivers point-to-point Gigagbit speeds up to a distance of 250 meters. Key benefits of the technology include:

§  No spectrum licence required. It would be hard for authorities to tax the use of light.

§  No interference issues with competitors: Each datalink uses a direct point-to-point lightbeam.

§  Low latency and jitter: Fully supports 4G cellular services

§  Proven data rates at 1Gbps: Anticipates increasing demand with even higher speeds of 10Gbps possible in the near future.

Carl-Fredrik Lehland, Polewall investor and chairman, believes that demand for faster data speeds will only continue to increase. “Today, 50Mbps or 100Mbps seems very fast but will quickly become the norm. For those planning ahead when connecting shared buildings, small cells and campus environments, speeds of 1Gbps ensure longer life and better protection of investment.”