Pure WiMAX mobile broadband operator Alvarion wins 17 state US contract

Rural mobile broadband operator OpenRange has chosen pure WiMAX vendor Alvarion for a $100m deal across 546 rural communities. Rather than going with one of the larger WiMAX operators like Clearwire and Motorola who have partnership programmes, OpenRange chose the smaller, pure-WiMAX company to provide equipment, services and expertise across it’s 17 state network.

This deal is considered a big win for Alvarion, not just in terms of the money but as a smaller company providing much needed services to areas where the bigger operators are underserving. OpenRange specialises in filling in the gaps where large operators fail to provide coverage for American communities. And while Alvarion is a smaller WiMAX operator, it does have over 250 deployments around the world.

Via: ReThink Wireless

From the release:

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Open Range as they make history building 4G broadband infrastructure in a large footprint to provide personalized broadband services to consumers in un-served and underserved parts of the country,” said Tzvika Friedman, president and CEO of Alvarion. “Open Range’s vision to connect rural America will stimulate local development for many rural communities across the US. Alvarion has a longstanding role enabling the delivery of broadband services to consumers here in the US and abroad. With our full portfolio of end-to-end, turnkey WiMAX solutions and extensive network deployment experience, we are enabling operators around the globe to deliver affordable broadband services to subscribers wherever they may reside.”

“Open Range’s unique business model focuses on delivering wireless high-speed Internet and voice services to un-served and underserved communities,” said Open Range founder and CEO, Bill Beans Jr. “These communities require an innovative partner with experience in delivering a wide array of simple, high quality, cost effective, robust solutions that are scalable and sustainable. Alvarion’s passion and heritage in deploying wireless broadband globally with its expanded advanced capabilities make them an ideal partner for Open Range.”

What we think?

I regard this as great news for mobile competition, and user experience in particular. The larger networks in America can often neglect people who fall outside their broadcast radius - at a time when a lot of companies and interest groups are complaining about the damage being done by exclusive contracts (as between AT&T and Apple), it’s good to see two smaller companies creating this kind of large scale service.