Taara Beam builds 25 Gbit/s optical data links for urban mesh networks

Martin Jud

24.2.2026

Translation: machine translated

The Alphabet company Taara is expanding its optical wireless portfolio. Lightbridge has been bridging difficult terrain for years, and Beam is now intended to densify the networks in between. The system employs directional light signals in the near-infrared range.

Taara has been travelling with Lightbridge for years. The technology connects places where conventional infrastructure fails due to topography or expense. It spans optical radio links over rivers, valleys or other obstacles and works like radio relay, only with light instead of radio waves. Beam is now a product that no longer focuses on long distances, but on the densification of the networks in between. Taara is positioning it as a building block for urban mesh structures, for operators who want to connect locations quickly without having to dig or wait for radio authorisations.

Optical data transmission without fibre optics

Beam uses directional light in the near-infrared range, which is also used in optical fibres, but without the fibre. According to Taara, the connection should reach speeds of up to 25 gigabits per second and work over distances of up to ten kilometres. Latency remains low because the system works directly from point to point. Beam is installed on roofs, masts or existing infrastructure, and all within a few hours.

Taara uses a new photonics platform as the basis. It transfers the control of the light to a silicon-based module that has no moving parts and can be aligned electronically.

Stability through an urban mesh

Beam is not intended for end customers, but as a backhaul component for operators who want to densify their urban networks and optically connect nodes with one another,

Optical connections need a clear view. Even a bird, a crane arm or a leaf can interrupt the beam. This would be a problem in a classic point-to-point setup. In a mesh, the connection only loses quality for a moment before automatically finding another path. The data jumps to the next node that has a clear view. In this way, the network absorbs brief dropouts and remains stable.

Martin Jud

Senior Editor

martin.jud@digitecgalaxus.ch

I find my muse in everything. When I don’t, I draw inspiration from daydreaming. After all, if you dream, you don’t sleep through life.

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