nce. Free-Space Optics (FSO) 9.4 Strengths and Weaknesses of FSO The following list summarizes some of the key strengths of FSO: Significantly lower cost for deploying an FSO network on average compared to the buildout of a new fiber optical solution. An FSO network can be implemented in a few days to a week; however, it typically takes several months to a year to install new optical fibers. Bandwidth can easily be scaled with a broad range of head room per link (from 10 Mbps to 1.25 Gbps). FSO bypasses license complexities compared to RF wireless technologies. FSO is network-friendly in the way that it can be engineered to be protocol independent and designed to be compatible with common monitoring and management protocols. However, the weaknesses of FSO are The performance of FSO is very susceptible to weather attenuation, making this technology an alternative rather than primary solution for carrying mission-critical and sensitive data traffic. The general public's discomfort of using laser technology raises skepticism because of the potential hazard introduced by the use of optical wireless transceivers. Very narrow market segment (such as the demand in dense urban areas) makes it very difficult to compete with a fiber-based optical solution in metropolitan areas. 9.5 The Future of FSO Whether a new telecommunications technology will be successful or not relies heavily on certain perspectives. FSO is clearly an emerging technol- ogy that requires the time and effort of both service providers and equip- ment manufacturers to promote as well as to educate their potential customers on this technology. When evaluating the future of FSO, it is a Chapter 9 good idea to analyze it from two perspectives: demand demography and economy. 9.5.1 Demand Demography The demand for enormous bandwidth has always originated from large- enterprise customers and in most cases these customers are situated in densely populated metropolitan cities. Most of these customers might have their own optical fiber network (dark fiber or dim