The WIMAX industry lost itself a member today as cash-strapped multinational telecom manufacturer Nortel announced that they were abandoning the mobile WiMAX division of their business. Nortel had been working with Israel-based Alvarion to sell Alvarion's WiMAX products and services, including WiMAX access points, and will be ceasing all mobile WiMAX-related aspects of their business (although they will continue to work on fixed-location WiMAX). Nortel and Alvarion formed a partnership last year to integrate Alvarion’s radio access technology with Nortel’s core network and backhaul solutions, and Nortel's mobile WiMAX customers are going to be shifted ovter to Alvarion in Nortel's stead - there's no word on the fate of the 500 Nortel employees who were working on the now defunct mobile WiMAX project.With Nortel's bleak financial situation and the overall economic situation, it is no surprise that they would have to make a cut. Interestingly, though, they are still investing in future technology - their plans for LTE are moving forward at full steam. They are currently in trials with Verizon and T-Mobile International, both of whom are major players in the young LTE industry, and have already won a contract with Hitachi to provide LTE core technology to KDDI in Japan.
Does Nortel's decision bode poorly for the future of WiMAX? To see a company in major financial distress determine that being in the WiMAX business was not prudent but still consider LTE a worthy investment of their limited resources speaks volumes.
