Alvarion Focuses on Capacity

I had the opportunity to speak with Eran Gorev, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alvarion, to discuss the recent acquisitions Alvarion made and how it relates to their objectives of supporting broadband wireless.

In our discussion, we talked about the situation with WiMAX, which is at a point where the growth has slowed. I asked him if WiMAX’s properties that lend itself to a migration to TDD LTE are useful, but Eran correctly pointed out that the TDD ecosystems are not here yet. He also pointed out that they have been working on Software Defined Radios (SDRs) and they see that technology will give their new and existing customers a migration plan.

For the carrier markets the need is to go beyond coverage and to deliver capacity. Below is more of our conversation.

CF: Your acquisitions are transforming Alvarion with DAS and WiFi; tell me what you see as the core value statement for Alvarion going forward.

EG: The objective is to be a leading provider of Wireless Broadband solutions. Our acquisitions in DAS and this latest one with Wavion are part of a strategic puzzle the carriers face when looking at supporting the new demand for data by tablets and smart phones. Legacy DAS systems were designed when voice was the dominant service and thus focused on extending in-building coverage for that purpose. Our system is better geared toward data services and adding wireless capacity. Likewise the Wavion acquisition represents solutions for data offload and onload with EPDG. We provide a portfolio of complementary solutions based on our conviction that connectivity, capacity and coverage issues are becoming too complex to be solved by a single technology.

CF: Your personal background includes a lot of integration services with NICE and Amdocs. What do you expect is needed in back OSS development for WiFi to be adopted and deployed, or does the migration to 4G solve this problem?

EG: I think we understand the need for services integration from professional services groups. However, we are not looking to be the integrator. We did some of this in the past, but our goal is to stay focused on providing great technology. 

CF: The use of WiFi with Wavion looks a lot like the initial deployments for WiMAX as a fixed access method, do you expect that Wavion will be used for general offerings or backhaul services?

EG: WiFi is the preferred transfer medium for most data devices. Wavion brings technology that addresses the operators’ need for cellular network offload and it also represents a strategy for supporting vertical markets with 5GHz WiFi solutions.

EG: Right now the carriers are facing the reality that their coverage maps have little to do with the capacity needs. They have to bring capacity to where it’s needed and not just build out everywhere. The use of small cells tactically needs a complement of backhaul solutions. Supporting this build out with broadband wireless is our core value to our customers.

Clearly, Alvarion is focused on a growing market and we wish them well. Thank you Eran Gorev for your time.