Nationwide WiMAX Operator Selects Alvarion
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, June 22, 2009 · 
·
· 
Colorado-based Open Range Communications Inc. has selected Alvarion for the nation’s largest Rural Utilities Service (RUS) funded WiMAX deployment.
Open Range plans to begin offering wireless broadband service in the fourth quarter of this year using Alvarion’s WiMAX 802.16e BreezeMAX solution. As part of this contract, expected to be more than $100 million over a five-year implementation, Alvarion will provide radio access equipment, customer devices and systems integration.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with Open Range as they make history building 4G broadband infrastructure in a large footprint to provide personalized broadband services to consumers in un-served and underserved parts of the country,” said Tzvika Friedman, president and CEO of Alvarion. “Open Range’s vision to connect rural America will stimulate local development for many rural communities across the U.S.”
As first reported back in November, Open Range has obtained a $267-million loan from the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Utilities Program (RDUP) to deliver portable, and eventually mobile voice and Internet services, to customers utilizing WiMAX technology. To accomplish the task, Open Range is leasing 2.5 GHz spectrum from satellite provider Globalstar. Within the next five years, Open Range intends to provide service to 546 communities, across 17 states, serving six million people.
Open Range is among a new crop of wireless broadband operators which plan to target rural areas across the United States. DigitalBridge Communications also has committed to Alvarion’s WiMAX solution and is targeting communities with less than 150,000 people. Main Street Broadband plans to serve areas in Florida and Georgia.
Related posts: