[October 08, 2007] Dynamic Broadband completes Cedar Rapids wireless ring Tweet (Gazette, The (Cedar Rapids, IA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Oct. 6--A new 14-mile microwave backbone ring activated this week in Cedar Rapids by wireless Internet service provider Dynamic Broadband is a little like a SONET ring without the fiber optic cables, company officials say. "If one of the towers fell over, you can route the data the other way through the ring," said Dynamic Broadband Chief Technology Officer Mark Lundy. "There's two ways to get the data there, so it's far more reliable." Wireless data links appeal to business clients because the cost to extend fiber optic cables over the last block or two to their business can be costly. Dynamic Broadband invested in the new system to provide wireless connections with the reliability, data speeds and latency more commonly associated with land connections, Lundy said. The 600 megabit backbone ring uses a wireless data technology from San Diego-based Trango Systems not previously deployed in the Corridor. It operates on licensed microwave spectrum. Lundy said in some areas, customers can also link to the system via multiple towers, providing redundancy in case a tower would go down. The system can deliver 100 megabits per second upload and download speeds if the client needs it, Lundy said. But a major benefit to customers is that they can pay for the bandwidth they need. A customer can start with 1 Mbps and upgrade to 2 Mbps for their busier seasons. "We have some customers with seasonal data traffic, such as around Christmas, so we can scale up with them and scale down," Lundy said. "It's only a software adjustment for us." Dynamic Broadband, based in Cedar Rapids, offers wireless Internet and data service in 14 Iowa communities outside the Cedar Rapids metro area, including Iowa City. To see more of The Gazette, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.gazetteonline.com. Copyright (c) 2007, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]