The cancer center operates without paper or medical charts, so all data and voice connections need a backup pathway, CIO Patricia Skarulis said last week. Her staff has tried just about every kind of networking technology, including leased lines and microwave communications, she noted. It discovered optical wireless three years ago, installing equipment from LightPointe Inc. as a backup link between two buildings.

Last summer, the center deployed its third optical wireless link. This time, however, it used the optical technology as a primary link that is backed up by two T1 land lines, Skarulis said. Optical wireless is 'reliable and higher-speed than the alternatives and cost-effective,' she added.

For example, Skarulis said Sloan-Kettering has found that an optical wireless link pays for itself within seven months compared with the cost of a leased line that offers lower throughput.

An optical wireless connection running at 1Gbit/sec. costs US$50,000 to $60,000, she said, contrasting that with a monthly fee of $10,000 for a leased 100Mbit/sec. fiber-optic cable.

Pat Carragee, director of information systems at the cancer center, said it took two days to install the newest optical wireless gear in the two buildings being linked. The IT staff used rooms with windows instead of doing a more complicated rooftop installation, Carragee said.