WiMAX continues to lose it’s battles, this time it is to WiFi.
Alvarion, known to be the most extensive customer in WiMAX, has turned its attention to WiFi and is in the talks to sell its now former partner, WiMAX. According to the Globes, the Israeli company plans to sell its WiMAX unit to Fortissimo Capital, a private equity fund which is controlled by Yuval Cohen. There was also an interest in the WiMAX by a firm in India as well as a U.S. investment fund, however Fortissimo Capital is the only active plan as of now.
The news should come as no surprise for Alvarion had announced its plans for WiMAX, including the possibility of a sale last fall. Not to mention, it’s a reminder of how WiMAX, which was once an equal alternative to Long Term Evolution, is now loosing to LTE. Even at it’s height, WiMAX had failed to make the transition into the mobile broadband space, led by Intel and Samsung. For Alvarion, sale of its WiMAX systems grew too slowly to drive expansion. But the actual fall of WiMAX came when it lost the race to remain the provider of 4G technology to LTE, causing Alvarion to lose resources to either escape or upgrade to LTE, leaving two options: DAS or WiFi, to which it chose WiFi.
Analysts hope that Fortissimo could boost the WiMAX unit by merging it with its own Telrad Networks subsidiary. However, this may not work, since Telrad hasn’t been doing too well either. Still, it doesn’t hurt to keep fingers cross.
