Harris Stratex bags Telsima in $12m deal

After weeks of speculation, backhaul specialist Harris Stratex Networks has finally announced it will acquire US-based WiMAX kit maker Telsima. Under the terms of the deal, Harris will pay $12m in cash over the next 12 months to purchase the WiMAX supplier, which manufactures both 802.16d and 802.16e kit.

“The demand for rich media services is growing at an explosive rate, creating the need for faster and more flexible wireless networking solutions,” Harris Stratex CEO Harald Braun said in a written statement.

The two companies have been working in formal partnership since September 2008, combining Harris’ backhaul expertise with Telsima’s WiMAX access kit. 

Although Telsima is a relatively small WiMAX player, it is a supplier to one of the biggest WiMAX rollouts in the world in the shape of India’s Tata Communications, which has ambitious plans to rollout fixed WiMAX services across India in the 3.3GHz frequency band.

Telsima also secured significant WiMAX deals last year with South Africa’s Neotel and Telecom Slovenia, and has offices in California, India (Bangalore, Gurgaon and Mumbai) and Slovenia. The WiMAX supplier is also reportedly to be on the shortlist of India’s BSNL for mobile WiMAX rollout in the 2.5GHz frequency band.

“Harris Stratex seems to believe that WiMAX has good prospects in developing countries,” says Adlane Fellah, CEO of research firm Maravedis. adding that Harris had originally developed its own BWA product line only to abandon later.