Alvarion Launches Carrier-Grade WiMAX Platform

Alvarion Ltd. Wednesday released its carrier-class BreezeMAX WiMAX platform for metropolitan area networks and claimed that commercial deployments of its wireless broadband products will start later this year.

The company released the platform even though certified 802.16 (WiMAX) products are still a year away. It said in a statement, however, that the platform is 802.16-compliant and will work with certified equipment when it is available.

BreezeMAX is based on 802.16/ETSIU HiperMAN standards and profiles from the WiMAX Forum, the company said. The initial BreezeMAX platform, the BreezeMAX 3500, operates in the 3.5GHz frequency band. The company said that the system has been tested in Europe and Asia and some of the operators that have been testing the platform will launch the system commercially starting in the third quarter of this year.

The company described the BreezeMAX platform as modular and scalable that will enable coverage in both urban and rural areas. It also includes customer premises equipment for both enterprises and residential users.