The move is . Starent views the future of 4G wireless as LTE, a competing technology to WiMAX, and some of the largest operators, including Verizon and AT&T, have announced plans to migrate their networks to LTE.
Cisco entered the WiMAX business with its $330 million s in 2007. It has a significant with Clearwire.
According to a m, Cisco confirmed it is discontinuing development of WiMAX base stations in favor of focusing on packet core systems and applications. Cisco did not provide independent confirmation to Network World in time for this story, but in the FierceBroadbandWireless story a company spokesperson is quoted as saying:
"After careful review, our mobility strategy is to focus on providing a radio-agnostic IP end-to-end mobile multimedia services network. Cisco will continue to focus on the packet core and to also focus on investment in radio technologies such as femtocells and WiFi. As part of this decision, we have decided to discontinue designing and building new WiMAX base stations. We believe the best way for Cisco to serve our customers is by delivering value at the edge and the core of our customers' networks."
Some analysts say the window of opportunity for mobile WiMAX is closing.
“It’s obvious now that mobile carriers are going to deploy LTE,” says Laurence Swasey, principal of Visant Strategies. “There are no economies of scale with mobile WiMAX. Mobile WiMAX never materialized like many thought it would. Cisco is just staying up top of where the market is going.”
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