Cisco (supplier to Unwired) exits WiMAX market

Stuart Corner
Saturday, 06 March 2010 13:51

IT Industry - Strategy

Cisco is to exit the mobile WiMAX base station market: one that it entered in 2008 with the acquisition of Navini Networks, the supplier of Unwired's pre WiMAX wireless broadband network.

Cisco says it will concentrate on the IP networks that connect WiMAX base stations back into the network (it is a major supplier in this role to the massive WiMAX network being rolled out in the US by Clearwire).

Cisco spokesman Jim Brady, was reported saying: "Cisco's mobile strategy has always been to provide a radio-agnostic approach that focuses on the packet core and IP network, where the company can add differentiated value.

"After a recent review of our WiMax business, we announced a decision to discontinue designing and building new WiMax base stations and modems, and we also announced a support plan for transitioning existing customers." (iTWire has been unable to find any details of these announcements on Cisco's web site).

ABI Research analyst Philip Solis said: "This is good for the WiMAX ecosystem and good for Cisco. This is good for the WiMAX ecosystem because Cisco was not aggressive in marketing its WiMAX base stations that it acquired from Navini [and now] there is one less WiMAX base station vendor - more opportunity for Alvarion, Huawei, Motorola, Samsung, ZTE, and other smaller players."

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