"WiMAX
has a key role in establishing a robust, affordable, and efficient
broadband network in Australia," said Ted Pretty, Chairman of Allegro,
"Businesses in regional Australia cannot afford to wait any longer to
receive advanced broadband services. Alvarion was the one company able
to meet our deadlines for true WiMAX infrastructure while maintaining
the required quality of service (QoS). Furthermore, Alvarion's WiMAX
leadership and knowledge were clearly evidenced by the commercial trials
we held with several top tier vendors over the past four months."
Allegro's first-to-market deployment with
business grade service confirms that WiMAX is the best broadband
infrastructure for leveraging fiber backhaul. Allegro will seek to gain
wholesale access to the backhaul fiber and other network elements of the
Optus Elders consortium (OPEL). These networks were awarded nearly a
billion dollars by the Federal Government as part of the Federal
Government's visionary Broadband Connect project for regional Australia.
Allegro joint Managing Director David
Waldie said: "We are impressed with the performance of Alvarion's
solution. It enables us to deliver up to 12 Mbps throughput at 20 km,
and as the standard evolves, speed is expected to increase markedly. We
are excited about the opportunities Alvarion's ecosystem can offer us."
"Being chosen by a leading wireless ISP
further demonstrates Australia's commitment to WiMAX." said Tzvika
Friedman president and CEO of Alvarion. "We are pleased to be selected
by Allegro Networks for their first commercial WiMAX deployment,
offering them the benefits of our OPEN WiMAX ecosystem, which allows
service providers to choose from the best combination of vendors and
partners."
The Federal Government's aspirations to
broadband Australia with wireless and fiber technologies has been given
an unexpected and privately funded kick start, with Allegro Networks
building its own network, utilizing the licensed 3.4 GHz spectrum.
