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Is Alvarion Teaming up with France Telecom?
Alvarion announced late last year that it expected to garner some large deals over $20 million in value. There had been speculation that Alvarion was close to a deal with France Telecom, which is clearly a Tier 1 PCS carrier.
So in December when Alvarion announced that it had secured a deal with a Tier 1 provider, who was unnamed by Alvarion, speculation soared a bit. If true, it is certainly a big win for Alvarion. But I think it is important to the WiMAX industry as a whole.
Alvarion is a company that has been a solid success in the traditional broadband wireless arena, particularly the fixed/portable segment. It has not previously inked much business with top line cellular carriers with its WiMAX product line. There had been a lot of speculation earlier this past Fall that Alvarion was being scrutinized by Cisco for an acquisition that Cisco ultimately chose Navini for.
In some ways, Alvarion was a more complicated company to digest and was already publicly traded, which may have confused the deal. In any event, if this relationship proves out, I think it could elevate Alvarion to another level of WiMAX provider and give them a chance to launch into the traditional cellular supplier space.
This is a good sign that Tier 1 carriers are considering WiMAX, especially outside the US. And also, the fact that an Alvarion could win business over traditional cellular company suppliers indicates that the industry is seeing value in interoperability and early mover advantages.
Tim Sanders,
tim@thefinalmile.net
www.TheFinalMile.net
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