WHAT IS WIMAX OEM?

OEM is Original Equipment Manufacturer.
OEM is the company that originally manufactured the product. When a company purchases products or components from another company and resells the products or components with the purchasing company's name or logo on them (usually, but not always as part of a product), the company that resells the product is called the OEM.

Nowdays a big players who wanted to join the WiMax business they don't want to start it from the first, for the telecommunications equipment manufacturers best way is just buy a small company which is growing fast or do agreement OEM with a big company who is doing this business successfully. That's why now every big companies doing this business even never done before access network system.
For example such as Sprint-Nextel and Motorola, Nokia corporations now started to doing WiMax business already.


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Nortel announced cooperation with LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company in mobile WiMAX, although it is not clear what stage development has reached. In addition, Nortel is also cooperating with Airspan in fixed WiMAX. The chances that Nortel will acquire Alvarion are therefore not great. Motorola plans to reach the mobile WiMAX market with its own product, and development is in full swing. Ericsson has a strategic cooperation agreement with Airspan, as well as its own expertise in wireless communications. It is therefore reasonable to assume that it will want to develop its own mobile WiMAX system. At the same time, it is not clear what stage its development has reached, so the possibility of Ericsson acquiring Alvarion cannot be ruled out.

Alcatel, which has an OEM agreement with Alvarion in fixed WiMAX, has announced that it plans to develop its own mobile WiMAX system. Siemens is ostensibly the best candidate for becoming the lawful wedded husband of Alvarion, particularly because its infrastructure lacks the radio component (the communications element transmitted through the air). At the same time, Siemens’s current financial situation is quite poor, and the company is closing facilities and projects. It is not clear whether it can spend $450 million on acquiring a company.

Nokia (NYSE, LSE, HEX: NOK), with which Alvarion has been negotiating an OEM agreement in mobile WiMAX for a long time, does not appear to be a likely candidate to acquire Alvarion, mostly because Nokia acquires very few companies. On the other hand, Nokia is entering the WiMAX market relatively late, so it cannot be altogether ruled out that it might want to acquire Alvarion. The chances, however, are not great.

The main consideration in favor of one of the major companies acquiring Alvarion is the latter’s leading technology, which has already proven itself in fixed WiMAX. Alvarion does not yet have a mobile WiMAX system (the standard has not yet been closed, and therefore none of the manufacturers has mobile WiMAX yet), but development is going ahead at full speed. Since Alvarion already has good technology for fixed WiMAX, market sources believe that it has an advantage over the others in developing a mobile WiMAX system.

It is very possible that some of the major communications equipment vendors that have not yet begun development will prefer acquiring a company with a solid technological basis to starting development of a system from scratch. It appears that the decisive question in this matter is how fast the equipment players can develop their own WiMAX system, and how much it will cost to do so, compared with the cost of acquiring Alvarion.

Alvarion's OEM Partnerships

Alvarion OEM Partner - Alcatel

Alcatel designs, develops and builds innovative and competitive communications networks, enabling carriers, service providers and enterprises to deliver any type of content, such as voice, data and multimedia, to any type of consumer, anywhere in the world. With sales of Euro 25 billion in 2001 and 99,000 employees, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. Alcatel utilizes Alvarion's BreezeACCESS 3.5 GHz products in its solution for wireless service providers. Under the private label Alcatel 7385 Wireless IP, Alcatel is able to provide turnkey wireless access solutions for its carrier class customers centered on Alvarion's products. For more information on Alcatel 7385 Wireless IP Solution, visit Alcatel BWA Solutions.

Alvarion OEM Partner - Lucent

Lucent Technologies designs and delivers the systems, services and software that drive next-generation communications networks. Backed by Bell Labs research and development, Lucent uses its strengths in mobility, optical, software, data and voice networking technologies, as well as services, to create new revenue-generating opportunities for its customers, while enabling them to quickly deploy and better manage their networks. Lucent's customer base includes communications service providers, governments and enterprises worldwide. For more information on Lucent Technologies, which has headquarters in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, visit http://www.lucent.com.

Alvarion OEM Partner - Datang Telecom

Datang Telecom is a leading Chinese telecommunication equipment manufacturer. With over 20 regional offices established throughout China, Datang develops and markets both mobile and radio telecommunication products. Established in 1993, Datang Telecom is traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (stock code: 600198). Datang has marketed Alvarion's broadband wireless access products since 1999. For more information on Datang, visit http://www.datang.com.

Alvarion OEM Partner - Siemens

Siemens Information and Communication Networks (IC Networks) is a leading provider of network technology for enterprises, carriers and service providers. Its comprehensive portfolio provides complete solutions from a single source for the infrastructure of the Next Generation Network — optimized for a prompt return on investment and to open up new business opportunities for customers. In fiscal 2001 (year-end 30 September) IC Networks employed 51,000 people worldwide and posted sales of EUR 12.9 billion. Further information is available at: http://www.siemens.com.