Taara unveils Lightbridge Pro for carrier-grade links
Taara has launched Lightbridge Pro, a wireless optical networking system designed to deliver 20 Gbps full-duplex links with 99.999% uptime by automatically switching between optical transmission and a backup connection.
The product builds on Taara Lightbridge, which transmits data through the air using light between two endpoints. Lightbridge Pro adds integrated switching to an alternative path when conditions disrupt the optical link. Taara is positioning it for carrier-grade use cases, where operators typically require high availability for backhaul and other network connections.
Lightbridge Pro combines a 20 Gbps wireless optical link with integrated switching to fibre or a radio-frequency backup. The system monitors link conditions and moves traffic to the backup path when fog, heavy rain, or other atmospheric conditions reduce optical performance. Taara describes the switchover as automatic and hitless.
Many network designs rely on external switches to move traffic between links, and those transitions can take several seconds. Lightbridge Pro aims to avoid that delay by integrating the switch into the system.
"Operators have been told for years that they have to choose between speed and reliability, or flexibility and performance," said Mahesh Krishnaswamy, Founder and CEO of Taara. "Lightbridge Pro proves that we can deploy fiber-class capacity with carrier-grade reliability, upgrading operators' existing infrastructure in a matter of hours."
Taara emerged from X, Google's Moonshot Factory. It has marketed Lightbridge as an alternative to running fibre in places where digging is slow, expensive, or constrained by terrain or permitting. Wireless optical links can bridge gaps between buildings, towers, and network sites, or serve as temporary connections during restoration work.
Taara says Lightbridge is deployed in more than 20 countries, spanning dense urban areas, remote terrain, and disaster recovery scenarios. The company named T-Mobile, Airtel, Digicel, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, and SoftBank as operators using Lightbridge.
Lightbridge Pro targets larger operators and service providers running city-wide networks and other mission-critical communications infrastructure. Taara also lists mobile backhaul, urban densification, enterprise applications, data centres, and public-sector networks as intended deployment environments.
Network operations
Lightbridge Pro includes in-band management and consolidated monitoring of the multi-band setup through its integrated switch. It also supports Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance, and Security network management on premises or in the cloud.
The system integrates with carrier Operations Support Systems and Business Support Systems, according to Taara. Such integrations are often required by operators managing large, mixed-vendor networks and needing equipment to fit established operational processes.
"At a network level, availability is less about raw throughput and more about how systems behave and adjust to maintain high uptime when conditions change," said Devin Brinkley, SVP of Engineering at Taara. "By integrating switching and native multiband operations directly into Lightbridge Pro, we reduce complexity and cost and eliminate the latency and delays associated with external components. The result is a design evolution from the carrier's perspective to meet their expectations for network resilience and operational continuity."
The system's core value proposition is keeping traffic flowing during short-term disruptions to line-of-sight optical links. Fog can be a particular challenge for free-space optical connections, and heavy rain can also affect performance. Taara's design aims to provide continuity without requiring operators to engineer separate external switching in the field.
Product roadmap
Taara plans to showcase its light-based connectivity portfolio at Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2026. It also plans to announce a photonics-based wireless optical system after the Lightbridge Pro launch. Taara says the new system is designed for greater density, flexibility, and scalability in carrier networks, with an emphasis on distributed urban deployments beyond point-to-point links.
Lightbridge Pro is available for pre-order.