In an effort to curb infrastructure investment and maintenance costs and also to ensure maximum energy is expended on their core businesses, many SMBs are examining the way they approach the IT aspects of their businesses. IT is, of course, a necessity, but to staff an entire department to support an infrastructure that is underutilized or misconfigured makes little business sense. 

 

Instead, many SMBs are seeing greater value in hosted solutions, which, in turn has created a demand for faster access to ensure business quality network backup, VoIP, and other applications are delivered with optimal efficiency.

 

But, there is not always a cost-effective way in which to accomplish that. To date, the only effective means of delivering carrier-class quality has been over fiber, but many of these customers are not large enough and do not generate enough revenue for the service provider to warrant the costs of laying new fiber. 

 

There is a technology that fits into this scenario, however — optical wireless mesh technology can offer the quality and the cost-effectiveness that both providers and SMBs seek. It is more resilient than WiFi (News - Alert) or WiMAX technology, which were designed for reach and mobility rather than the massive requirements of a primary converged network. Mesh technology also has the feature of becoming stronger as it grows — the more nodes are added, the greater the network’s capacity becomes.

 

To take advantage of this opportunity, ClearMesh Networks has announced the launch of its next generation wireless optical mesh solution, the ClearMesh Metro Grid. The solution enables service providers to roll out business class services at 5-100 Mbps to the SMB market while leapfrogging legacy copper and economically rolling out a fiber-grade wireless infrastructure without trenching new fiber.

 

ClearMesh Metro Grid technology extends the reach of carriers’ metro Ethernet networks, where lateral expansion of fiber would require significant up-front investment and months for deployment.  Metro Grid can also complement existing WiFi and WiMAX service deployments by infusing additional bandwidth in high density metro areas, expanding the customer base for wireless networks.

 

For wireless ISPs, the ClearMesh Metro Grid provides the ability to economically serve the dense metro SMB market with high-bandwidth business-grade services beyond those offered by WiFi or WiMAX solutions.  Operating in the license-free band, the ClearMesh solution enables wireless service providers to overcome the crowded RF spectrum and deliver high-quality services in dense metro areas.

 

 

Now, Metro Ethernet service providers can cost-effectively deliver business-class Ethernet services in a matter of days and at a fraction of the cost of trenching fiber. This extends the fiber service providers’ market by enabling them to reach a large number of medium-sized businesses and “light-up” underutilized core fiber.  The combination of low cost and high quality allows local service providers to compete with the Tier 1 operators in metro areas.

 

“The beauty of this solution is that it really requires a very low capital outlay,” explained Fima Vaisman, Senior Vice President Marketing at ClearMesh. “We have a pay as you grow capability that is built into the model, which means the service provider does not have to pay for the equipment until the customer actually signs on.”

 

The Metro Grid comprises two products. The ClearMesh 300 nodes can be mounted on telephone poles or rooftops provides the interconnectivity that creates the mesh network. This integrated networking platform combines high-capacity Ethernet switching and low-cost wireless optical transport with business-grade Ethernet service delivery interfaces. 

 

 

Using secure optical transmission, each node can distribute up to 300 Mbps of wire-speed, ultra-low latency, and full-duplex service capacity via three optical transceivers that can connect to three other nodes or other optical devices. This allows service providers to deliver enough capacity to concurrently serve thousands of VoIP calls, video streams and Internet sessions.

 

Each CM300 node has a range of 800 feet, or about two city blocks, and is designed not to be affected by weather, as long as they are deployed within the suggested range. Because the optical signal is a line of sight technology, the solution has an inherent security feature in that it cannot be intercepted or disrupted by radio frequency devices. To that, ClearMesh has also added a scrambling feature that secures the transmission, even if it were captured by an intruder in the line of sight. 

 

In that instance, not only would the offender not be able to decipher the stolen data, but the nodes would also reposition themselves by virtue of their 360-degree motor. The ClearMesh Management System is designed to know where all devices are at any given to turn the nodes in order to provide maximum network capacity. The CMS gives service providers carrier-class tools for mesh-wide installation, diagnostics, service analysis and provisioning to support fast and efficient service deployment across the Metro Grid.

 

Between its ease of installation, its cost savings, and its ability to deliver business-grade services, the ClearMesh solution provides an alternative to fiber (which is not really ubiquitous and can be costly), copper (which is not capable of delivering bandwidth-intensive services), DSL (which tends to lack critical business SLAs and the requisite upstream bandwidth), RF wireless (which is the latest rage, but is built for mobility and reach and doesn’t have the SLAs or capacity required for widespread business-grade services) and WiFi and WiMAX (which are subject to interference).

 

This technology also provides access to a community that ClearMesh feels has been traditionally underserved and cannot afford the high costs and long rollout periods associated with laying new fiber. In fact, ClearMesh estimates the cost of running six new fiber laterals at approximately $180,000. Those same six buildings can be connected for about $3,500 with the ClearMesh solution—and would take only two day to install.

 

“Small and medium sized businesses increasingly rely on broadband connectivity for Internet-based, mission-critical applications,” said Suresh Nihalani, President and CEO of ClearMesh Networks.  “We provide a truly scalable access network solution, enabling service providers to deliver the necessary bandwidth to support high-margin service bundles including VoIP, network backup, video conferencing, multimedia and security, at an affordable price.”