The first generation of Metropolitan Area Networks all consist of high capacity fibre optic cables installed in the business areas of big cities, but a new company Bison Data Corp, has been formed in Buffalo, New York to eliminate the need for the cables and use radio instead. It will be headed by Joseph Wolfson, described as the architect of Metroteller, the first shared electronic banking network in the US, who is investing in Bison with Comptek Research Inc, privately-held Bydatel Corp and a venture capital group led by Rand Capital. The radio data transmission technology to be used has been patented by Bydatel Corp and the new company will market an advanced version of Bydatel’s DataMover product, which uses radio waves to transmit data previously transferred over leased land-based telephone lines. The idea is that users will be able to build their own private regional or metropolitan area networks much more cheaply than by using leased lines. Bison Data will use Comptek’s experience of developing hardware and software systems and its systems integration expertise to refine and upgrade the DataMover technology and Comptek will manufacture and install the network hardware for Bison. The abitious new company is planning to market its system worldwide and forecasts $7m to $8m in first year turnover.
