Taara
Fast, affordable connectivity using beams of light
About Taara
About Taara

Reimagining the future of connectivity

Nearly 3 billion people remain unconnected to the internet, and billions more struggle with slow, unreliable, or expensive connectivity. Fiber-optic cable can support high speeds, but rolling out an extensive fiber network through urban areas or difficult terrain can be time-consuming and costly. Where fiber fails to reach, operators and service providers often look to wireless technologies using radio frequency. But with global internet traffic projected to grow ~25% annually, radio spectrum alone cannot support the world’s growing data demand.

Taara is working to bring fast, affordable connectivity to the world using a new approach to wireless optical communication (WOC) technology. Taara uses beams of light to deliver high-speed, high-capacity connectivity over long distances. In the same way traditional fiber uses light to carry data through cables in the ground, Taara uses light to transmit information as very narrow, invisible beams. This beam is sent between two small Taara terminals to create a link.

By extending our partner’s fiber optic networks, Taara brings fiber-like speeds to areas where it’s not economically viable, or too difficult to install fiber. These include over rivers and sea straits, across rugged terrains and national parks, or in areas where it is unsafe to dig trenches for cables.

Meet Taara’s founder and the Taara team who are on a mission to bring abundant and affordable internet to the world.
Technology
Technology

The speed of fiber, the flexibility of wireless

Taara’s wireless technology can transmit information at high speeds of up to 20 gigabits per second and distances up to 20 km. Each Taara link consists of two terminals containing mirrors and sensors that point, acquire, and track beams of light, ensuring they remain on target. It’s important that the signal between Taara’s terminals isn't interrupted, so they’re placed up high, on towers, poles, or rooftops. Even if a tower sways due to wind, or a bird flies through the beam’s path, our technology ensures uninterrupted communication. As Taara operates in the light-based optical spectrum, it unlocks 30 times more data capacity than radio frequency.

Network operators and service providers can rapidly deploy and redeploy Taara links to bring connectivity to new areas, provide back-up to existing infrastructure, or deliver one-time bandwidth to crowded events and even cities.

HOW TAARA CAN BE UTILIZED

  • Provide high bandwidth backhaul
  • Urban last-mile extension
  • Bridge challenging terrain
  • Improve network resilience

FEATURES

  • 20 Gbps bidirectional throughput
  • Up to 20 km operating range
  • Energy efficient (40W power consumption per unit)

BENEFITS

  • Low environmental impact
  • Low total cost of ownership
  • Fast, light and easy to deploy and redeploy
  • Secure data transmission

Taara's pointing and tracking system finding optical alignment.
Partners
Partners
Active
Available
Unavailable

Delivering connectivity with partners around the world

The Taara team is currently delivering high speed connectivity to people in more than a dozen countries with partners worldwide. These include the United States, India, Sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, as well as the Pacific Islands, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East.

AFRICA
“Taara’s wireless optical communications technology has been a game changer for Liquid delivering fiber-like speeds with the flexibility of wireless. I’m excited about the continued potential of Taara’s technology and I believe it will play a key role in driving internet access and opportunity for the people of Africa in the years ahead.”
Strive Masiyiwa
Founder and Executive Chairman
Econet Group & Cassava Technologies
GHANA
“Taara's innovative approach is pivotal in bridging the digital divide in Ghana, enabling us to provide affordable, high-speed internet through Wi-Fi hotspots and Fiber to the Home networks.”
Gregory Eid
Managing Director
Teledata ICT
LATIN AMERICA
“We are thrilled to partner with Taara in deploying their innovative state-of-the-art technology. We can now provide our customers with a more reliable and robust network infrastructure. Their technology has proven to be a game-changer for Liberty Networks, and we look forward to continuing this successful collaboration across Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Ray Collins
SVP of Infrastructure and Corporate Strategy
Liberty Latin America
Team
Team
Mahesh Krishnaswamy
General Manager of Taara
Mahesh leads the Taara team in their mission to deliver fast, affordable connectivity to people everywhere using beams of light. He has been passionate about connectivity since he first used a 28.8 kbps dial-up modem at an internet cafe in Chennai to research graduate schools in the United States. Before founding Taara, Mahesh led the Manufacturing and Supply Chain efforts for Project Loon, which used a network of stratospheric balloons to deliver connectivity to rural and remote areas. Prior to joining Alphabet, Mahesh led product teams at Apple and Motorola. Mahesh holds a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University, and an MBA from Northwestern Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
Devin Brinkley
Engineering Lead
Devin is the engineering lead for Taara. Devin has been active in developing advanced optical communication technologies and products for nearly two decades. He previously led multiple Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) programs, a high production Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement Systems (MILES) program, and the Wireless Optical Communication hardware development on Project Loon.
Thangali Seshadri
Operations Lead
Thangali is Taara’s Operations Lead responsible for supply chain, manufacturing, field deployment and network monitoring. Prior to joining Google in 2019, Thangali was at Apple for 10 years where he was responsible for the production of many Apple products, including the MacBook and MacBook Pro, iPhone, and Apple TV. Prior to Apple, Thangali spent fifteen plus years in the semiconductor equipment industry. Thangali holds a BS Mechanical Engineering degree from Bangalore Institute of Technology, India and an MS Mechanical Engineering degree from Texas Tech University.
Sanjay Nagpal
Go-to-Market Lead
Sanjay is responsible for leading all sales, business development, and channel development activities for Taara. Sanjay has over 30 years of global sales and market development experience in wireless access and backhaul technologies including 2G/3G/4G, microwave & millimeter wave backhaul, and satellite communications. Prior to joining Taara, Sanjay was Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Business Development at Comtech Telecommunications Corp where he helped capture some of the largest commercial and military satcom programs. Sanjay holds a MSEE degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech and an MBA in marketing and finance from The University of Chicago.
Ellie Joo
Senior Program Manager
Ellie joined Taara in 2017, helping operationalize the project in India and Africa while building strategic global partnerships and driving marketing with telcos and internet service providers. Prior to X, Ellie worked at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center, in lean process improvement across the university healthcare system and conducting public health research in the field of hyperbaric medicine. Ellie has a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry at UCLA and a Master of Applied Science in Spatial Analysis for Public Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Jean-Laurent Plateau
Head of Algorithms, Networking & Communications
Jean-Laurent is the Head of Algorithms, Networking & Communications at Taara. He leads the exploration of high-capacity wireless technologies for 5G/6G backhaul, fronthaul, and indoor connectivity. Before joining Taara, Jean-Laurent was head of LTE/5G/RF hardware for Loon LLC, delivering connectivity via stratospheric balloons. Previous to X, as the Lead FPGA Architect, Jean-Laurent was in charge of modem development for Tarana Wireless’s massive MIMO solution. Jean-Laurent received his Engineering Degree in Electronics, with a specialization in telecom, VLSI design and avionics, from the Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile (ENAC), Toulouse, France in 1996.
Sanam Mozaffari
System Integration Hardware Engineer
Sanam is a System Integration Hardware Engineer focusing on photonics integration. Sanam designs infrastructure for the next generation developments ranging from testing individual components within photonic integrated circuits or optomechanical device investigations, to full system prototypes and proof of concepts for the next generation designs. Sanam has a background in biomedical engineering at UC San Diego with experience in bioinstrumentation and retinal prosthesis. Sanam received her PhD from UC Berkeley with a focus in adaptive optics, scanning laser ophthalmoscopy, and optical coherence tomography.
Bhavani Ganesan
Product Manager
Bhavani is a Product Manager at Taara responsible for product planning, definition, and the roadmap of Taara’s OWC product line as well as the Taara Share platform. Previously, Bhavani was an Engineering Lead at Google Station, a Google platform and service to enable partners to provide Wi-Fi hotspot services for SMBs in emerging markets. Prior to Google, Bhavani was Director of Engineering at Netgear, where she developed and expanded the Commercial Wireless Business Group from ground up to a 60 person global team, delivering high-end commercial wireless controllers, wireless access points, and cloud-based wireless management solutions. Bhavani has 20+ years of experience building wireless connectivity products and holds a BS in Computer Science from PSG College of Technology in India.
Bhavesh Mistry
Regional Lead, EMEA
Bhavesh Mistry is the Head of Taara in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Bhavesh has nearly two decades of experience in telecommunications. Prior to joining Taara, Bhavesh co-founded and led Project Link, Google’s first fiber infrastructure project in Africa. Project Link was spun out into an independent company called CSquared, where Bhavesh was the CTO and interim CEO. Bhavesh holds a BSC in Computing from the University of Greenwich, an MSC in Networks and Distributed Systems from the University of Kent, and an MBA from the Edinburgh Business School.
Mustafa Golam
Regional Lead, APAC
Mustafa joined Taara in 2018 with a deep understanding of the APAC connectivity space and a passion for bringing people online. Prior to joining Taara, Mustafa worked in Telenor, Ericsson, MTN Group and NOKIA in emerging markets, in various technical, operation management, governance and leadership roles spanning a decade. Mustafa holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronics degree from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and an executive MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), India.
General Manager of Taara
Engineering Lead
Operations Lead
Go-to-Market Lead
Senior Program Manager
Head of Algorithms, Networking & Communications
System Integration Hardware Engineer
Product Manager
Regional Lead, EMEA
Regional Lead, APAC
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Contact
Contact

Let’s connect

Taara is working with telcos, internet service providers (ISPs), and governments around the world to accelerate the deployment of fast, abundant and affordable connectivity.

Contact us to learn more and get in touch with the team. For press inquires, reach out to press@x.team.