GigaBeam Corp. is using a new $2.5 million round of capital to fuel the technology behind a fixed wireless system capable of data speeds as high as 1.25 Gbps.

GigaBeam’s “WiFiber” platform delivers point-to-point links in the 71–76 GHz and 81–86 GHz bands. Later this year, the company plans to deliver products capable of 10 Gbps. The technology uses a tight beam (less than 1 degree) in that FCC-licensed spectrum.

“It’s wireless fiber in the air,” said company Chairman and CEO Louis Slaughter, who claims that GigaBeam’s system can deliver the same reliability of fiber up to one mile. The platform itself is capable of delivering data services to links as far as 10 miles, he added.

Slaughter estimates that the GigaBeam system can be deployed for $1 to $3 per megabit per month. That compares favorably to a traditional T-1, which can run $500 to $1,200 per megabit per month, he said.

Whereas WiFi and WiMax are considered copper alternatives, Slaughter views his WiFiber platform as an alternative to fiber because it can provide connectivity to the metro access network via the cheapest POP (point of presence) in the area. WiFiber, he added, also isn’t hindered by the fiber backhaul issues a technology like WiMax is expected to encounter.

“WiFiber is the final key that’s been missing in the last mile access,” Slaughter claimed, noting it can complement the technology of ILECs, CLECs and cable operators.

GigaBeam, founded a year ago and headquartered in Herndon, Va., moved ahead last July with a beta link in New York City that connected the Trump Hotel near the Lincoln Center to Trump-owned multiple dwelling units on the west side of Manhattan.