Integral Wireless || Showcase

Showcase

City of Reading Leverages LightPointe Optical Wireless Solutions To Extend High-Speed Connectivity to New Public Works Facility

LightPointe, a designer and manufacturer of high-speed outdoor wireless products, today announced that the City of Reading, Penn., has deployed the company's Gigabit Ethernet FlightStrata™ optical wireless product to extend high-speed network connectivity to a new public works facility while paving the way for a critical disaster recovery initiative.

Widely recognized for its rich history of railroading and industry, Reading continues to be a vibrant city, with a symphony orchestra, a civic opera company, colleges, hospitals and more. To accommodate fast-paced growth, a new public works facility was built in 2004. As construction neared completion, officials recognized the need for a reliable way to extend the city network to the new building, located approximately a half-mile from city hall.

An important factor in the city's search for a connectivity solution was the requirement for a highly secure system that would preserve the integrity of sensitive information. City officials contemplated using T-3 lines, but found the bandwidth to be inadequate and monthly leasing costs exorbitantly expensive. Fiber-optic cable was also considered, but installation would involve deep trenching under railroad tracks in an established urban setting. In addition, the fiber-optic connection required a long-term leasing commitment.

In seeking a more cost-effective alternative that would also support a disaster recovery plan to transport nightly backups of up to one terabyte of data to the new facility, the city's IT staff came across LightPointe's optical wireless products. The team worked with Integral Wireless Solutions, Inc., a Reading-based reseller, to deploy a LightPointe FlightStrata featuring full-duplex throughput of up to 1.25 Gbps, proven multi-beam technology and unique auto-tracking for maximum performance. In addition, the LightPointe solution cost a fraction of the other fiber-optic alternatives.

"After confirming line-of-sight for the wireless connection between the two buildings, the decision to choose LightPointe was easy," explained Mayor Thomas McMahon, who is leading the city to advance technologies. "LightPointe met all of our bandwidth, reliability and disaster recovery requirements, while also delivering a quick return on investment. Best of all, the FlightStrata saved the city from the trenching disruptions of fiber optic cable."

A pioneer in the development of optical wireless solutions based on free-space optics (FSO) technology, LightPointe has deployed thousands of systems in more than 60 countries. The company's growing list of global blue-chip customers includes some of the world's best known brands, such as CNN, DHL International, Nextel, China Mobile, Volkswagen and Toyota.

According to Bob Preston, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for LightPointe, high-speed campus networks in urban settings such as Reading are driving increased demand for optical wireless connectivity solutions. "Government and private industry alike deploy Gigabit LANs only to face connectivity challenges as they expand operations to additional buildings," he said. "LightPointe solves the dilemma with secure, high-speed links that are ideal for handling today's bandwidth-intensive applications, such as voice over IP, digital imaging and video."

Last month, LightPointe unveiled the FlightStrata 100 XA, the first integrated Fast Ethernet optical wireless link combined with license-free 5.8 GHz radio frequency (RF) technology. Using patented DualPath™ architecture, LightPointe provides intelligent network switching between optical wireless and RF functionality for unparalleled capacity, availability and distance.