Making a mesh

Optical Access tries to shake up free space optics market Optical Access is attempting to leverage the existing technologies gained from two recent acquisitions to leapfrog the companies that achieved early recognition in the heavily hyped free space optics realm. And it could have an important edge: As a result of the acquisitions, Optical Access has a ready-to-ship product that already has many reference customers at the enterprise networking level.

The company is a subsidiary of MRV Communications, a holding company with properties in several different optical networking sectors. MRV formed Optical Access in July by melding together two divisions of Nbase Xyplex: Jolt and AstroTerra.

Jolt and AstroTerra already had established positions on the enterprise side of wireless optics. AstroTerra held several patents, including one developed for military applications that allows multiple beams to focus on a single receiver to address atmospheric fade. The company also had developed an RF backup component for its system that addressed the hurdle of bad weather transmission for wireless optics.

Jolt, meanwhile, had pursued a mesh deployment for free space optics and boasted more than 3000 installed systems.

The combined technologies and established positions of the two acquired companies meant that Optical Access could begin pursuing the service provider market immediately with a solution that was ready to ship - making it more appealing to service providers than the systems of competitors such as TeraBeam Networks and AirFiber, said Jonathan Amir, vice president of marketing for Optical Access.

"Between them, there are somewhere between six and 10 beta sites, and we have 3000," Amir said.

The company's principals are confident that Optical Access' technology slant will help propel its product from the enterprise into the carrier marketplace, particularly for greenfield operations that need solutions that allow them fast and inexpensive market entry.

"They want to provide service today, and the only way to do that is to use us," Amir said. "We've eliminated the entry barriers for carriers. We're really using the air as fiber."

That approach already has proved appealing to one competitive hopeful. Tellaire, a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) in Dallas, plans to provide local loop access using formats like the one Optical Access has developed as its core technology platform.

"They've built the business model around wireless optics," said Allen Brandt, vice president of business development for Optical Access. Sweden's Telia and an unnamed building LEC also are considering deploying the technology, Brandt said.

The technology medium in general is appealing to service providers whose priority is speed of deployment, which improves the odds for a company with a platform that is ready to sell, said one industry analyst.

"There's a lot of opportunity for competitive players to combine this with a landline strategy and gain time to market and service delivery advantages," said Beth Gage, vice president of consulting for TeleChoice. "These guys have had the stuff in the field for a while and have solid answers to some of the technical limitations."

Optical Access' approach to free space optics is appealing because of the technological features developed by the acquired companies, Brandt said. Those include the weather-protected RF component, the camera-equipped calibration system for easing installation, the multiple beam transmission and especially the mesh deployment, he said.

"It's not just a point-to-point link," Brandt said. "The mesh allows the data to take the most efficient path every time."

Optical Access is shipping systems that transmit at OC-3 speeds and expects to start shipping OC-12 and gigabit Ethernet systems in the next quarter, Brandt said.

Parent company MRV is apparently confident that Optical Access will be successful in the service provider market, despite the competition and somewhat unfavorable state of the financial market. Earlier this month, MRV filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the IPO of common stock for Optical Access.

"There are advantages to being a public company," Amir said. "Carriers want to see a company they can rely on."