Alvarion Technology-Refresh Boosts Wi-Fi, DAS Product Line

October 23, 2012

Alvarion has unveiled a new business strategy and multi-technology wireless broadband product portfolio. The end-to-end portfolio now addresses Wi-Fi access solutions, as well as the other needs of the wireless Internet service provider (WISP) market. Also part of its turnaround business strategy was recapitalizing by selling its patent portfolio for $19 million in earlier this month.

With the WIMAX market in flux, Alvarion has looked to expand its reach into the in-building wireless market. In October of last year, it introduced the BreezeCell flat-architecture, active indoor DAS. Additionally, it has been integrating two companies it purchased in the last year, Clariton Networks and Wavion. Alvarion purchased Clariton, an Israeli company that develops communications equipment and infrastructure to deliver cellular voice and data to homes in May 2011. With the acquisition of Wavion in November 2011, Alvarion picked up the WBSn family of Gigabit outdoor Wi-Fi base stations operating in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz unlicensed bands.

“We always had Wi-Fi but we expanded the portfolio to include a complete end-to-end carrier-grade Wi-Fi family that covers indoor, outdoor and 3G offload,” said Gil Shacham, senior director of marketing, Alvarion.

Today, a wireless vendor must provide multiple technology platforms to be successful in meeting the needs of its customers, Shacham said.

“As a wireless vendor, we recognize that our customers use licensed and non-licensed spectrum. Our business is to deliver solutions that address these diverse telecom needs,” Shacham said. “Therefore, our multi-technology platform (Wi-Fi, WiMAX, cellular) offers a comprehensive, flexible solution that meets our customers’ needs and allows us to expand into new markets where the value of wireless is being recognized.”

The additional small cell product lines allow Alvarion to expand its markets to compete in the education, smart city, public safety/video surveillance, transportation, oil and gas, mining, and hospitality industries, as well as providing public hot spots.

Mike Cowan, president of Wireless Connections, a WISP, said he supported Alvarion’s multi-technology platform and business turnaround efforts. “Streamlining sales and product development for a more efficient go-to market strategy is already beginning to show results,” he said. “Our book of business in the traditional ISP/telco space is showing strong growth in new projects. We are also seeing significant development in alternate markets such as rail, government and military.”