(Top image: Smart Way Communications, LLC is blazing the path with gigabit wireless services.)
Recently we announced a new product that will be shipping very soon – the first ever commercial 60GHz PTMP system. This new model is an addition to our existing IgniteNet MetroLinq™ family that up until now was only capable of PTP.
While we were (and still are) very excited about what we are enabling service providers, system integrators, and similar do worldwide with the PTP product, we are even more excited about PTMP.
Why? Well, let me dive in…
There’s been quite a lot of interest (and hype) around FTTx – fiber to the home, fiber to the business, fiber to the farm (ok maybe not that last one so much, but you get the idea). Fiber is a great product and great technology. We even have products ourselves that cater to that market space. However, fiber has one big drawback: time and cost. It takes a long time to build out fiber to everyone – and it is not cheap either. The denser and more urban the location is, the more it is going to cost to get it there.
Also, with fiber there will never really be a lot of competition. Some cities and other local governments have taken the approach of building out the infrastructure themselves and wholesaling it to various service providers. We can spend some time to debate the value in this later (I’m drawing parallels to how natural gas is provided in some markets where you can only buy from a company whose sole value-add is billing you with a convenience charge added).
So how do we solve these issues? It turns out the Wireless Internet Service Provider industry that I’ve been fortunate to be a part of has been solving this for several years, especially outside the higher density areas. There are thousands (10’s of thousands) of independent service providers out there today that work very hard to provide internet access to rural areas as well as areas serviced by another provider. They are the folks bringing real competition to the market. The main problem these providers face is lack of effective tools to deliver faster and faster service options – until now.
That brings us back to our latest product announcement – the MetroLinq™ PTMP Sector – and why we are so excited. We believe that this product (and future products on the roadmap) are the keys to empowering ISPs like Smart Way Communications, LLC to deliver next generation service at high speeds and be able to do it quickly and cost effectively – everywhere in the world. This may be via a pure wireless delivery model or via other models like hybrid fiber wireless. The point is that the 60GHz spectrum is an excellent tool for delivering gigabit data services to many customers. And the MetroLinq™ PTMP Sector is the first product offering to finally make this an affordable reality.
Welcome to the next generation of gigabit service providers!
