Alvarion Looks Beyond WiMax

Israel-based vendor Alvarion Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: ALVR) wants to be more than just a WiMax specialist.

In an interview with Light Reading Mobile following the company's second-quarter earnings call last week, Alvarion president and CEO Eran Gorev shared what new technologies the vendor is developing for future revenue growth. (See Alvarion Reports Q2.)

The vendor currently sells WiMax gear to carriers and enterprise customers, with the carrier segment accounting for about 60 percent of revenues. Beyond that, Alvarion plans to get into what it calls the "mobile coverage and capacity" space.

This new area of business will comprise distributed antenna system (DAS) products for in-building coverage as well as Wi-Fi-based mobile data offload products.

The DAS development is based on technology from Israeli firm Clariton Networks, which Alvarion acquired in February this year. Alvarion has already set up a dedicated DAS business unit within the company.

"We're investing in the introduction and launch later this year of next-generation DAS capabilities," said Gorev, but he did not share further details about the products.

The mobile data-offload products are at an earlier stage of development, according to Gorev, with initial products expected next year.

Another new technology for Alvarion is Long Term Evolution Time Division Duplex (LTE TDD). Gorev said a trial LTE TDD system would be ready by the end of the second quarter and that the vendor was in discussions with operators about trials. (See Alvarion Hearts TD-LTE, Alvarion to Support TD-LTE.)

All of these technology developments are not expected to affect Alvarion's top line this year, but rather it is hoped that they will create a foundation for future growth.

Alvarion needs a credible growth story beyond WiMax and this is evident from the performance of its share price on the Nasdaq stock exchange over the last year. Based on the company's share price of $2.21 one year ago and $1.45 today, Aug. 1, the shares have suffered a 34 percent decline. (See WiMax Delays Drag Down Alvarion .)

With the intent of reversing that price trend, Alvarion has pinned its growth prospects on DAS, Wi-Fi offload and LTE TDD.

— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Light Reading Mobile