The WiMAX standard has just been dealt another blow by a major manufacturer. Nortel has announced that they will be shutting down its Mobile WiMAX business in an attempt to “narrow its focus, better manage its investments and strengthen its broader carrier business” for the long-haul. The announcement follows on Nokia’s decision to discontinue their Nokia N810 Internet Tablet WiMAX Edition, perhaps one of the most popular WiMAX devices currently on market.
While Nortel’s exit from the WiMAX game isn’t going to hamper Sprint and Clearwire’s WiMAX infrastructure rollout in the US, the WiMAX pullout leaves the WiMAX coalition with one less allie in their battle against the upcoming 4G LTE standard. Nortel cut its investment in Sprint’s WiMAX aspirations last year, deciding instead to focus resources on LTE development and partnering their WiMAX business with hardware manufacturer Alvarion. It seems Nortel doesn’t have enough faith in the WiMAX ecosystem to continue funneling development dollars into the wireless broadband technology.
In an effort to continue serving existing customers, Nortel will be working to migrate clients over to partner-firm Alvarion. “Our priority is to minimize the effect on customers,” said Tzvika Friedman, president and CEO, Alvarion. “We will work closely with Nortel to ensure that the transition will be as smooth as possible.”
[Via: CNNMoney]