Terragraph is the name of the new miracle technology developed by Facebook as a disruptive solution for broadband expansion.
Data volumes (IP traffic) will triple over the next 5 years. The bottleneck for gigabit supply is all too often the home connection. In many regions, especially in rural areas, there is a lack of sufficiently dimensioned backbone networks.
With Terragraph, Facebook has developed a technical and highly economical solution that—especially in the area of home connections—massively challenges the fiber-optic paradigm in broadband expansion.
The technical core of this innovation is a so-called mesh network based on millimeter-wave technology. The units, which can be mounted on house walls or street lamps, connect automatically and can bring entire residential neighborhoods or streets into the gigabit age in just a few weeks.
For the end user, there is no difference in usage. Instead of light, the physical laws of millimeter waves are used to transport data. All data—whether streaming, voice, or other IP-capable transfers—is identical in terms of utility. From a purely physical standpoint, radio waves are actually faster than light.
The mesh networks are, of course, connected to the main backbone via fiber optics. The disruptive effect unfolds primarily at the home connection (access layer) and in the micro-backbone within streets or residential neighborhoods—wherever data volumes accumulate, they are connected to the necessary fiber backbone at that point.
The biggest advantages are the speed of deployment and the resulting ability to quickly provide private households and businesses with connectivity. Expansion takes only a few weeks, compared to what can sometimes be years for fiber-optic rollouts.
As the first specialist company for wireless data networks, COMPART was involved in the development and testing of Terragraph technology—and yes, it is as exciting as Facebook describes. The deployment speed is legendary, and the costs are unbelievably low. Furthermore, the quality of the networks is extremely high, with up to 99.995% availability thanks to mesh technology.
In addition to significantly accelerated deployment, the costs are on an entirely different scale. Overall, the cost per home connection, including residential area networking (micro-backbone), will be less than €1,000.
With a budget for FTTH-level broadband expansion often reaching €10 million for just a few hundred users, the use of Terragraph technology could provide comparable gigabit access to approximately 10,000 users.
Highly innovative technologies are always viewed with skepticism at first—what is the best way to ensure you don't miss out on the opportunities? You test this incredible technical solution.
COMPART is happy to provide expert advice on all things Terragraph!
