LightPointe Deploys Extended-Availability FlightStrata 100 XA Outdoor Wireless to Accelerate Network Build-Out for Emerging Telecommunications Carrier in Bahrain
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2Connect Bahrain becomes country's first independent telco to offer high-speed voice and data services using wireless links based on LightPointe's DualPath Architecture
SAN DIEGO, March 1 / -- LightPointe, a designer and manufacturer of high-speed outdoor wireless products, announced today that 2Connect Bahrain, an emerging competitive carrier, has deployed its FlightStrata 100 XA outdoor, point-to-point wireless links as part of a metropolitan Ethernet mesh network throughout the capital city of Manama. 2Connect has installed eight FlightStrata 100 XA links to provide local businesses with secure, high-capacity voice, data and video communications while ensuring "five nines" carrier-class network availability, even under some of the country's harshest environmental conditions.
2Connect Bahrain is the first competitive carrier to roll out cost- effective, enhanced network services following the deregulation of the country's telecommunications industry in July 2004. To speed its network build-out, 2Connect began installing its own high-speed infrastructure in mid-2005, completely bypassing the fiber network of the incumbent carrier, Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco). Centrally located in a major skyscraper in Manama, 2Connect installed LightPointe FlightStrata 100 XA links on its rooftop as well as those of nearby buildings for distributing Fast Ethernet point-to-point connectivity to major companies in the financial services, insurance and hospitality industries. A variety of bandwidth- intensive business services are offered by 2Connect, including broadband data, telephony, virtual private networking and video conferencing.
According to Fahad AlShirawi, managing director of 2Connect, LightPointe's FlightStrata 100 XA is the ideal solution for expediting delivery of high- speed, reliable network services without incurring substantial infrastructure costs or recurring fixed-line access fees. "We are rapidly signing up new customers and capturing market share, while our competitors still pay for leased lines," he says. "LightPointe's outdoor wireless connections let us expand our high-speed network faster as well as more simply and economically than with any other technology -- and still pass along significant savings to our customers."
The LightPointe links also serve as extremely cost effective "last-mile" access connections to international network circuits. For a major financial- services customer, 2Connect installed a FlightStrata 100 XA to replace three local access lines to international circuits, resulting in savings of more than $10,000 U.S. per month. After just two months, the LightPointe link produced a return on investment simply by eliminating the expensive monthly leased-line fee.
Prior to selecting LightPointe's FlightStrata 100 XA solution, 2Connect conducted extensive research into a wide range of connectivity options, including stand-alone radio frequency (RF), microwave, WiMAX and CDMA. In making its decision, the company factored in environmental considerations because Bahrain, an island in the Persian Gulf, has arid desert terrain with near-constant haze and dust. For these reasons, the carrier put the LightPointe links through rigorous testing before deciding the FlightStrata 100 XA delivered both the capacity and network availability customers demanded.
LightPointe's FlightStrata 100 XA combines a Fast Ethernet optical link with 5.8 GHz unlicensed Radio Frequency (RF) technology, providing built-in redundancy for "all weather" outdoor wireless networking. High-speed 100 Mbps, full-duplex connectivity is achieved through a primary optical wireless path. In the event the primary path is broken or temporarily disrupted by harsh environmental conditions, such as dense fog, haze or dust, network traffic is switched instantly to the secondary 72 Mbps RF path to maintain "five nines" availability. LightPointe's unique DualPath(TM) architecture, with its redundant optical and RF wireless paths, switches seamlessly as needed between the two wireless technologies in a manner completely transparent to 2Connect's growing roster of corporate customers.
With aggressive marketing plans underway, 2Connect plans to deploy five additional LightPointe links per month for a total of 60 new outdoor point-to-point wireless installations in 2006. The company also is evaluating LightPointe's FlightLite 100 model for use in multi-tenant residential applications.
According to Bob Preston, LightPointe's chief marketing officer, 2Connect's selection of the FlightStrata 100 XA reinforces the ease, speed, and reliability with which LightPointe wireless connections can be deployed. "In emerging and deregulated markets, LightPointe's outdoor point-to-point wireless solutions are accelerating new network rollouts amid ever-increasing competition and growing subscriber demand for bandwidth-intensive voice and data services," he says.
About LightPointe
LightPointe designs and manufactures high-speed outdoor wireless products for cost-effective bridging in enterprise and carrier networks. LightPointe's outdoor wireless solutions have earned high marks in enterprise networking installations for linking two or more buildings in classic LAN-to-LAN backbone connectivity with extraordinarily high-bandwidth from 100 Mbps up to 1.25 Gbps. LightPointe outdoor wireless solutions are unique in that they use optical wireless based on free-space optics (FSO) technology and are license- free worldwide. The company's patented DualPath architecture integrates auto- switching optical wireless as a primary path and license-free 5.8 GHz radio frequency (RF) wireless as a secondary and redundant data path for industry- leading 99.999 percent network availability and uptime. LightPointe products have been deployed in more than 60 countries, and the company is recognized worldwide for the highest standards of quality and service.
Source: LightPointe
CONTACT: Jeff Bean of LightPointe, +1-858-643-5319,
jbean@lightpointe.com; or Sue Hetzel of HetzelMeade Communications,
+1-760-434-9927, sue@hetzelmeade.com, for LightPointe
Web site: http://www.lightpointe.com/
