Cisco exiting WiMAX RAN?
Jim Duffy, Network World, 3/5/2010
Reports have surfaced that Cisco is exiting the WiMAX radio access networks business following its $2.9 billion acquisition of Starent Networks.
The move is not a surprise. Starent views the future of 4G wireless as LTE, a competing technology to WiMAX, and some of the largest operators, including Verizon and AT&T, have announced plans to migrate their networks to LTE.
According to a story in FierceBroadbandWireless.com, Cisco confirmed it is discontinuing development of WiMAX base stations in favor of focusing on packet core systems and applications. Cisco did not provide independent confirmation to Network World in time for this story, but in the FierceBroadbandWireless story a company spokesperson is quoted as saying:
“After careful review, our mobility strategy is to focus on providing a radio-agnostic IP end-to-end mobile multimedia services network. Cisco will continue to focus on the packet core and to also focus on investment in radio technologies such as femtocells and WiFi. As part of this decision, we have decided to discontinue designing and building new WiMAX base stations. We believe the best way for Cisco to serve our customers is by delivering value at the edge and the core of our customers’ networks.”
Some analysts say the window of opportunity for mobile WiMAX is closing.
“It’s obvious now that mobile carriers are going to deploy LTE,” says Laurence Swasey, principal of Visant Strategies. “There are no economies of scale with mobile WiMAX. Mobile WiMAX never materialized like many thought it would. Cisco is just staying up top of where the market is going.”
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- Cisco predicts wireless data explosion Marguerite Reardon, CNET News, 2/9/2010 If wireless operators thought they had seen a deluge of data traffic from the iPhone,...
- Cisco, NEC team up on LTE networks By Stephen Lawson, IDG News Service, 8/30/2011 The deal could help NEC sell more base stations and Cisco more back-end...
In: Mobile Technology · Tagged with: 4G, AT&T, Cisco, LTE, Verizon, WiFi, WiMax
on March 7, 2010 at 2:05 am
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