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Alvarion
First To Demonstrate Working CPE Using Intel WIMAX Chip
BreezeMAX™ 3500 with Intel® PRO/Wireless 5116 Showcased in a Lab Trial
During WiMAX Forum’s Face2Face Event in Malaga, Spain
Tel Aviv, Israel, April 18, 2005 - Alvarion Ltd. the
world’s leading provider of wireless broadband solutions and
specialized mobile networks, today announced the first lab
demonstration of a working WiMAX-ready CPE using the Intel®
PRO/Wireless 5116 broadband interface. Alvarion has now successfully
integrated the PRO/Wireless 5116 into its BreezeMAX™ 3500 CPE, the
culmination of a strategic development effort with Intel, which began
in mid-2003.
Major operators, systems integrators, and other WiMAX Forum members
participating in the event had an opportunity to observe the live
demonstration of the system at the Cetecom laboratory during the
organization’s Face2Face in Malaga, Spain last week. Cetecom is the
first lab selected by the WiMAX Forum to perform certification testing
of WiMAX equipment.
Iberbanda, a Spanish service provider that has already commercially
deployed BreezeMAX in several regions of the country, supplied a
network connection as part of the demonstration.
"Continuing our leadership of the broadband wireless access market, we
are now the first equipment vendor to demonstrate a working WiMAX-ready
CPE using the Intel® PRO/Wireless 5116 broadband interface," said Zvi
Slonimsky, CEO of Alvarion. "With the product slated for commercial
release in the second half of 2005, this milestone represents a
significant step forward for both Alvarion and the industry as we move
to widespread adoption of WiMAX standard products."
Intel® PRO/Wireless 5116 broadband interface is a system-on-chip that
supports WiMAX last-mile connectivity to homes and businesses.
Leveraging the ratified IEEE 802.16-2004 specification, the Intel chip
and Alvarion system provide high-throughput broadband connections over
long distances. WiMAX can be used for a number of applications,
primarily "last mile" broadband connections.
“We have worked with Alvarion since our early days of focusing on
WiMAX,” said Scott Richardson, General Manager Broadband Wireless,
Intel. “The incorporation of our Intel® PRO/Wireless 5116 broadband
interface into their BreezeMAX CPE reflects our mutual commitment to
WiMAX. We will continue to promote this technology together, making
WiMAX a mass market phenomenon,” he added.
Since its launch in June 2004, the WiMAX-ready BreezeMAX 3500 is
operational across the European continent with operators such as
Altitude Telecom in France and Iberbanda in Spain, and with additional
carriers around the world. “Our business model is focused on providing
broadband to rural and urban areas that are currently not served and
have difficulty getting DSL,” said Carlos Morell, CEO of Iberbanda.
“Until now, we have been concentrating our efforts on delivering
critical access to large enterprises– a strategy which has proved to
be highly successful. With WiMAX, we can achieve the proper economics
to serve smaller business customers and residential users, and
BreezeMAX is the key to rolling out broadband services to these types
of users.”
BreezeMAX™ is an OFDM platform with advanced NLOS functionality
designed for operators to offer broadband IP-based data and voice
services, allowing for the easy, cost-effective evolution of networks
to WiMAX standard solutions. Its carrier-class design supports high
quality of service (QoS) and broadband speeds to enable carriers to
offer multi-services to thousands of subscribers in a single cell. |
