Former Alphabet moonshot startup Taara has unveiled the Taara Beam, a compact device designed to transmit high-speed broadband over the air. Using near-infrared light, this projector-sized hardware aims to bring fiber-level speeds to both remote and urban areas, completely circumventing the high costs and logistical hurdles of running physical optical cables.
The new device is quite fast, transmitting up to 25 Gbps of Internet data over distances of up to 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). Despite this power, it only weighs 17 pounds and features a very compact design. Its deployment is remarkably fast, as the device can be installed in a matter of hours on cell towers, poles or building roofs without the need for trenches, spectrum licenses or right-of-way permits. This flexibility makes it an ideal solution for rural areas, urban rooftops, corporate campuses, data center clusters and event venues.
Although it draws natural comparisons to the Starlink system as a remote connectivity solution, Taara operates on a business-to-business model. The company plans to sell the technology directly to Internet service providers and mobile operators, rather than marketing it to individual consumers.
Thanks to a newly developed chip, the Beam is 50% smaller than Taara’s previous Lightbridge device, which weighed 29 pounds. Although the new Beam offers a faster throughput of 25 Gbps, compared to the Lightbridge’s 20 Gbps, it sacrifices some distance, with a maximum range of 10 km compared to the Lightbridge’s 20 km. Fortunately, the two systems can be easily integrated to cover a neighborhood or city with high-speed Internet.
Historically, aerial optical beams are vulnerable to inclement weather, such as heavy fog. To address this, Taara recently announced its Lightbridge Pro companion system, which promises highly reliable 99.999% uptime regardless of weather forecasts. Taara will unveil its new line at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona next week as it seeks to attract business customers, although official pricing for the Taara Beam has yet to be announced.
