The company said it had selected Nasdaq-listed Israeli WiMAX vendor Alvarion as its technology partner after the completion of months of technical and commercial trials with several vendors.
Alvarion was also the WiMAX technology of choice in the recently announced plans of OPEL, the Optus/Elders joint venture rolling out services in regional and rural Australia.
The Allegro announcement, coupled with the Federal Government’s backing of the OPEL business plan, suddenly makes Australia one of the biggest backers of the WiMAX standard in the world. And it will shortly be one of the biggest users.
Allegro will build the network utilising licensed 3.4 GHz spectrum, in the process achieving market leadership in the business grade WiMAX broadband market, ahead of the likes of Unwired, Austar and Opel.
The high-speed Allegro WiMAX network will provide converged voice and data services to thousands of businesses in the outer metro and growth corridors across south-east Queensland.
Alvarion’s BreezeMAX will be used for the deployment.
“WiMAX has a key role in establishing a robust, affordable, and efficient broadband network in Australia,” said Allegro chairman Ted Pretty.
“In broadband terms, regional Australia starts closer to the city than people think. In Brisbane it is about 10km away from the CBD. These businesses … can’t wait until 2009 or 2013 to receive advanced services,” he said.
“Alvarion was the one company able to meet our deadlines while maintaining the required quality of service (QoS). We chose Alvarion for its proven WiMAX network and the first base stations are to be delivered imminently,” Mr Pretty said.
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