Within days of completing a third round of equity financing totaling $105 million, Seattle-based startup TeraBeam Networks (Seattle, WA) announced that it is partnering with Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill, NJ) to develop and deploy TeraBeam's fiberless optical networking system for high-speed data networking between local- and wide-area networks (LANs and WANs). In addition, TeraBeam and Lucent will own 70% and 30%, respectively, of TeraBeam Internet Systems, a systems company that the two firms will create. The joint venture will combine the point-to-multipoint fiberless optics technology with Lucent's point-to-point OpticAir technology to provide a hardware system for the fiberless networks.
Under terms of the agreement, TeraBeam is contributing R&D assets, manufacturing assets, intellectual property, and free-space optical components. Lucent is investing cash, certain R&D assets, intellectual property, and free-space optical pro-ducts valued at $450 million. It also will provide engineering and support integration services as the network service is rolled out and will be a preferred supplier to the network service supplier for optical components, networking equipment, and professional services. In addition, all TeraBeam products will carry the Lucent Technologies brand. According to Terabeam chairman Greg Amadon, the firm, which labels itself a local communications carrier covering large cities, "is focused on increasing the speed of the business Internet and quickly deploying new broadband capability." Target customers include medium and large commercial enterprises.—Paula Noaker Powell