Siklu and Sckipio combined Gfast with mmWave

Closing the digital gap should not be a long time, exhausting and expensive mission. According to the example set this week by the two Israeli companies, Sckipio and Siklu, it can be done fast, in affordable price and with spectacular results. and achueve  and in both Israeli companies, announced a breakthrough in solving the urban digital divide using millimeter wave and Gfast technology.

Together with the Civic organization DigitalC, Ohio, Sckipio and Siklu installed in the Cleveland Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA), the first commercial solution to  connect fiber from the street to a low-income, multi-dwelling unit (MDU). This breakthrough wireless millimeter-Gfast combined solution is delivering real-world aggregate broadband speeds topping 800Mbps – up to 40 times faster than the national U.S. average.

Broadband over Copper Wires

Sckipio develops standards-compliant Gfast modems used to enable ultra-broadband access and mobile backhaul. It deliver high speed to each resident over existing copper phone wires. The company partners with more than 30 companies globally on Gfast and is one of the leading contributors to the ITU-T standard. Siklu develops mmWave wireless connectivity radios operating in the virtually interference free 60GHz-70GHz/80GHz frequency bands. This large swath of available frequency stems from the fact that there is over 24Ghz of available spectrum in these bands.

In this installation, Siklu’s millimeter wave solution was used to bring ultrafast speeds to the building – avoiding the disruption and pollution from digging up streets and installing fiber. Then, within the building, the solution used Sckipio’s Gfast technology to deliver high speed to each resident over existing copper phone wires.

“Our Gfast technology was built to deliver ultra-high-speed broadband to the masses,” said David Baum, CEO of Sckipio. “This installation proves that Gfast is helping to solve the urban digital divide by bringing the Internet to those who had no access or very slow speeds.”

Fiber-like speed without Disruptive Installations

“The ability of our EtherHaul mmWave wireless to deliver up to 10Gbps to the building and Sckipio’s Gfast technology to deliver the broadband access to the individual apartments, is the best-in-class and affordable solution for urban communities,” said Siklu Co-Founder and Chairman Izik Kirshenbaum.

Initial speed tests run after the installation clocked individual unit connectivity at up to 650Mbps down and 160Mbps up, providing fiber-like, aggregate speeds for residents who previously had no internet connectivity. The average U.S. broadband speed hovers around 18Mbps and achieving higher speeds usually requires expensive, time-consuming and disruptive fiber installations or anti-competitive cable agreements.

“Gfast has the potential to compete with fiber and cable installations and serve the underserved urban markets,” said Teresa Mastrangelo, Founder, Broadbandtrends LLC. Gfast provides access over traditional copper wires or coax cables that are already in most apartment buildings. Ultrafast broadband speeds are delivered by connecting to the existing infrastructure with a Gfast unit inside or next to the building. Unlike fiber, Gfast solutions use existing infrastructure, which eliminates the expense from installing fiber all the way.