Alvarion CEO Quits

Alvarion Ltd.'s woes continued today as its CEO and a board member both announced their resignations. Hezi Lapid has resigned as president and CEO but will stay on until a successor is found. In addition, board member Robin Hacke has announced her resignation with immediate effect. In December 2012 the CFO also quit. (See Alvarion CFO Resigns.) The news comes as Alvarion, once the leading independent provider of WiMax infrastructure, attempts to save itself with a more focused strategy. The company recently agreed the sale of its "carrier licensed division" (wireless access infrastructure supporting the 4G standard LTE TDD) to Telrad Networks Ltd. in a deal valued at up to US$12.1 million and announced it will focus on Carrier Wi-Fi and wireless broadband access technology designed for unlicensed spectrum. (See this press release about the sale and Alvarion Wins Carrier Wi-Fi Deal in Japan.) The company hopes that sale and the focus on what it believes are "growth markets" will help it get back into the black: It announced a net loss of nearly $17 million and revenues of just $8.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2012. (See Alvarion Loses $17M in Q4.) In the meantime it's trying to keep its head above water. It announced, on April 2, a stock reverse split on a 1:10 basis, meaning that shareholders now hold 1 share for every 10 they held before that date. The company did this because its share price was languishing way below the $1 threshold for continued listing on the Nasdaq exchange: Following the reverse split, the stock has been trading at between $3.57 and $4.03. The new CEO will need nerves of steel, a will to win, the charisma to enthuse the vendor's staff and possibly a big slice of luck if Alvarion is to survive as an independent wireless access equipment vendor in the coming years. — Ray Le Maistre, Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading