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Taara’s current Lightbridges are about the size of a traffic light, but its new chips should deliver smaller designs. [Image: Taara / X]
A free-space optical (FSO) communication initiative launched by Alphabet’s X (formerly Google X) has announced it is moving forward as a standalone commercial entity. Taara, a company focused on bridging connectivity gaps using light as an alternative to fiber optic infrastructure, is graduating from the Moonshot unit it was part of at Google’s corporate parent Alphabet and scaling its technology in partnership with some of the world’s largest telecom providers.
Toward greater connectivity
Universal digital connectivity remains a distant prospect, especially in less-developed countries, where only 36% of the population is online, and deploying fiber optic cables can be costly or logistically unfeasible. Taara aims to provide high-speed connections using FSO technology to reach some of the estimated 2.6 billion people worldwide who still lack internet access.
Taara’s first-generation technology, known as Taara Lightbridge, uses narrow laser beams—much like a fiber optic link without the fiber—to transmit across distances of up to 20 km. The company reports that its terminals can deliver data at fiber-like speeds as high as 20 Gbps, with deployments already in place in Kenya, India and Fiji.
The company is also advancing its technology with silicon photonics–based beam steering, replacing mechanical tracking systems with chip-integrated solutions. According to Taara, this shift allows for a dramatic reduction in hardware size—from a traffic-light-sized setup to the size of a fingernail—while improving reliability and scalability.
FSO technology has long faced challenges such as alignment drift and atmospheric interference, which can degrade signal quality. Taara addresses these limitations through automated beam alignment and real-time tracking, maintaining carrier-grade availability (>99.9%) under various weather conditions, including haze and light rain.
The future of telecom
Taara aims to provide high-speed connections using FSO technology to reach some of the estimated 2.6 billion people worldwide who still lack internet access.
Interest in FSO technology is growing as both an alternative and a complement to fiber. Companies such as Cailabs and Mynaric are developing advanced optical wireless solutions for terrestrial and satellite communications, with a goal to meet the growing demand for high-speed, low-latency connectivity. Analysts suggest that FSO could be an important part of future telecom infrastructure, particularly in regions where fiber rollout is slowed by regulatory, financial or geographical barriers.
As global internet usage continues to rise—driven by 5G, cloud computing and data-heavy applications—optical wireless solutions like Taara’s offer a scalable, high-speed alternative to traditional networks. Their rapid deployment, resilience and ability to integrate with existing fiber infrastructure make them a compelling option for expanding broadband access worldwide.