Arcwave Inc. will announce a deal Monday to supply Cable One Inc. with its “ARCXtend” wireless plant-extension product.
ARCxtend allows MSOs to provide last-mile high-speed-Internet service to small and midsized businesses.
Wireless is often viewed as a cheaper alternative to laying another mile or two of hybrid fiber-coaxial plant to provide high-speed-data and voice-over-Internet-protocol service to small office parks just beyond a cable system’s physical plant.
Cable One said it chose Arcwave after looking at upstream- and downstream-channel capacity, ease of deployment, durability of network-hub hardware, functionality, the capabilities of the graphical user interface and technical-support issues.
Arcwave’s technology replicates the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification channel on a wireless basis. It takes data from a cable operator’s DOCSIS channel and upconverts it to the wireless 802.11 spectrum in the 5-gigabyte range.
The hardware includes an ARCXtend network hub that attaches to either a pole mount or strand mount, along with a receiver antenna mounted on the rooftop of the customer’s business. From there, the signal is passed down standard coaxial cable to a customer’s cable modem.
While the strand-mounted version can extend the wireless link up by to three miles, Arcwave advises customers that the distance for a reliable connection is about one mile. The pole-mounted version, given its elevation above ground, can extend to two miles.
Cable One plans to use the technology in 50 systems where it offers commercial services, Arcwave said.
Arcwave claims to have deployed technology with seven of the top 10 MSOs. Cable One serves 700,000 residential subscribers in 17 states.
The company is funded by Vulcan Capital, Venrock Associates, SBV Venture Partners, Mayfield and Comcast Interactive Capital Group.
