The telecommunications business has always involved some risks. But now two of telecom's largest companies are investing in thin air. Not to be outdone, rival Nortel Networks is developing a line of similar equipment with San Diego-based AirFiber. The explosion in the Internet means that businesses have an ever-growing appetite for bandwidth.
New installations take time, and construction costs can be staggering.
Don't expect the new technology to replace fiber-optic networks. But for businesses needing from 10 to several hundred megabits per second of bandwidth at one-tenth the cost of installing fibers, it could be a boon. We don't consider it revolutionary. Calif. Shooting laser beams through the air between buildings is not a new idea. In fact, laser communication through open air was demonstrated in the early 1960s.