Date: 02/02/2011

FiberTower and BridgeWave communications develop gigabit wireless solution for 24 GHz

FiberTower Corporation and BridgeWave Communications are jointly developing high capacity multi-channel reconfigurable radio (MCRR) designed to operate in FiberTower's unique 24 GHz licensed spectrum holdings.

The release states: Based on BridgeWave's FlexPort microwave platform, the MCRR is a single, all-outdoor radio capable of delivering full-duplex gigabit Ethernet transport with very low latency at standard and jumbo packet sizes, while providing advanced carrier-Ethernet features such as Quality of Service, VLAN and Ethernet OAM support.

"Utilizing one gigabit-per-second radios in place of traditional OC3 or lower capacity Ethernet radios enables us to deploy our backhaul solutions more cost-efficiently, mitigating initial capital expenditures and reducing the need for future upgrades," stated Kurt Van Wagenen, FiberTower's president and CEO. "This jointly developed state-of-the-art MCRR provides a fiber-quality solution for further capitalizing on our exclusive 24 GHz spectrum licenses which cover the top 75 markets across the US."

Amir Makleff, president and CEO of BridgeWave said, "Full gigabit wireless solutions continue to close the gap between fiber and microwave capacities required to meet the needs of 4G backhaul. We are excited to collaborate with FiberTower on the development of the MCCR solution and look forward to providing them with solutions that meet the growing demands of their customers."

FiberTower and BridgeWave are also working to develop and market a packaged solution that combines BridgeWave's MCRR with FiberTower's 24 GHz spectrum on a link-specific basis for customers seeking to deploy gigabit wireless solutions for high-capacity broadband backhaul and transport. This product will provide an additional source of revenue from FiberTower's broad 24 GHz spectrum holdings.