- Lightbridge Pro is a photonics-based backhaul solution designed with carrier-grade availability
- The solution pairs Taara’s 20 Gbps full-duplex connection with built-in switching to fiber or RF backup
- Plans remain underway for a tiny Taara chip to launch in 2026
Despite network outages that are all too common, Taara, the Google X Moonshot spin-out that uses free space optics (FSO) to deliver connectivity, is betting that five-nines reliability is still a thing.
In Taara’s case, the “five nines” applies to its just-announced backhaul solution, Lightbridge Pro, a follow-up to its previous Lightbridge terminal.
According to Taara, Lightbridge Pro offers 20 Gbps wireless optical connectivity with 99.999% uptime, giving operators a carrier-grade solution that will endure adverse weather at a lower total cost of ownership.
It builds on the Tarra Lightbridge solution – without the “Pro” designation – that’s already deployed in more than 20 countries by operators like Airtel, Digicel, Liquid Intelligent Technologies and SoftBank. In the U.S., T-Mobile deployed Lightbridge to provide higher capacity backhaul at two large outdoor events: the Albuquerque Balloon Festival and Coachella.
Lightbridge Pro is designed for integration into an operator’s backhaul network and optimized for long-range links over challenging terrain or dense urban environments where city-wide network deployments would be too costly or time-prohibitive to deploy with traditional fiber trenching or spectrum constraints, Taara founder and CEO Mahesh Krishnaswamy told Fierce Network via email.
While primarily a middle mile solution, Lightbridge Pro can be deployed for last mile connectivity to relieve network congestion, he said. It’s also useful for crossing rivers and railroads or otherwise inaccessible terrain.
“It can quickly complement operators’ existing cellular networks and rapidly bring fiber-like speeds to the tower or be used as a backup to existing fiber networks, delivering the speeds of fiber but over the air,” Krishnaswamy said. “The inherent security offered by communications in the optical spectrum means operators can also deploy these in mission-critical communications.”
Weather conditions have always been an issue for FSO and Taara says Lightbridge Pro enables automatic switchover to fiber or RF when adverse atmospheric conditions, such as fog or heavy rain, exist. This kind of switchover can take several seconds per switchover with traditional architectures, but by integrating the switch directly into the system, Lightbridge Pro eliminates that delay, “maintaining carrier-grade continuity at all times,” the company promises.
The Lightbridge Pro will start shipping this summer.
Taara at MWC Barcelona
Last year at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Taara unveiled the next-generation Taara chip, which basically took the core functionality of a Taara Lightbridge terminal – which is about the size of a traffic light – and shrank it down to the size of a fingernail.
At the time, the company said the new chip would be available for a product launch in 2026.
That’s still the plan, but the company isn’t releasing details just yet. “Please stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks,” Krishnaswamy told Fierce.
With MWC 2026 fast approaching and Taara planning to showcase an “expanding portfolio of light-based solutions,” our best guess is the next update will come sooner rather than later.
Read next: What Fierce Network is watching for at MWC 2026: AI, 5G and network transformation