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Nortel Ends WiMax Solutions Venture with Alvarion

By on January 31, 2009

nortelNortel has announced in a press release that it will end its joint venture with WiMax solutions developer Alvarion as a means to refocus on its core telecommunications network solutions business. Nortel will work directly with customers affected and Alvarion to ensure a smooth transition.

The agreement which was first announced of June of last year, was originally designed to assist Nortel in making inroads towards mobile WiMax network operators by combining its network solutions with Alvarion’s mobile WiMax radio platform, which was meant consolidate costs by integrating hardware, sales, and support under a single entity.

Posted in | Tagged , , , | 5 Responses

Humberto Saabedra is the Editor-in-Chief of AnimeNews.biz, PhoneNews.com and an occasional columnist for Ani.me. He can also be found musing on things at @AnimeNewsdotbiz

5 responses to “Nortel Ends WiMax Solutions Venture with Alvarion”

  1. Don Louie
    Don Louie January 31, 2009 at 4:18 pm |

    Is this good or bad for Wi Max?

  2. Christopher Price
    Christopher Price January 31, 2009 at 6:12 pm |

    Well, it’s certainly not good for WiMAX. But, I think everyone realizes that this isn’t spurred by WiMAX going the HD DVD route.

    Nortel is bankrupt. They don’t have money to invest in new wireless technology… they have no money at all. So, they’ve shored themselves up in LTE while handing the WiMAX business off to Alvarion.

    While it’s never good to hear a company like Nortel just bailed on your technology, a company like Nortel doesn’t have the cash to support new technologies much either. I certainly wouldn’t call this a win for the LTE side of things… if we’re even playing that stupid game at this point.

  3. Don Louie
    Don Louie February 1, 2009 at 8:31 am |

    So did Nokia abandon Wi Max or just pull thier one and only device?

  4. Christopher Price
    Christopher Price February 1, 2009 at 11:15 am |

    Quite simply, we don’t know. Nokia PR won’t respond (which may be due to that the WiMAX team is small, and there isn’t much media relations team there to speak of).

    We do know one of two things is happening, either:

    1) Nokia pulled the N810 WiMAX Edition units so that they could be re-branded with Clear firmware, and sold on both Clear and Clearwire. Or…
    2) Nokia is pulling out of WiMAX R&D.

    We really don’t know if that decision has even been reached yet. Even Nokia would agree however that they haven’t given WiMAX a fair shot at sales until they have the ability to sell on the entire Clear region. So, I suspect the first door is the most likely route at this point, especially since the N810 WiMAX Edition is a finished, tested product.

  5. Don Louie
    Don Louie February 2, 2009 at 3:07 pm |

    Are there any other Wi Max vendors going this route?