The Microwave Communications Division of Harris Corp. and Stratex Networks Inc., Harris Stratex Networks Inc., announced that it has changed its name to Aviat Networks Inc. Under its new name the company has pledged its commitment to providing advanced IP wireless network solutions, to continue to make progress in radio access networks and work towards the evolution of wireless technology.

The new brand represents a culmination of the company’s transformation from that of a specialised microwave backhaul equipment supplier into a world-class provider of advanced IP wireless network solutions, with a comprehensive portfolio of migration solutions and lifecycle services. Today, Aviat Networks is ideally positioned to help operators successfully evolve their existing networks toward an all-IP broadband future, expand into untapped rural and remote markets, and capitalise on the explosive growth of mobile data traffic around the globe.

Speaking of the launch of the new company, Harald Braun, president and CEO of Aviat Networks said, “Today’s unveiling of Aviat Networks marks a significant milestone in the evolution of our company. The Aviat brand embodies our commitment to quality and innovative products, highly individualised services, operational excellence and industry leadership.”

He continued, “In markets around the world, advancements in wireless network capacity have often been constrained because carriers are grappling with operational network limitations and cost-related challenges that historically haven’t been sufficiently addressed by telecom equipment vendors. Instead of ‘handshake’ assurances that do little to mitigate the perceived risk of IP migration, operators need practical and innovative solutions that help them bridge seamlessly from the legacy network of today to the network that will fuel their success in the future.”

Broadband is increasingly regarded as an essential utility for economic growth and social and political stability. Fuelled by new business models and government incentive programs, operators are deploying and expanding into the rural and underdeveloped areas of Africa, Asia, Middle East, and the Americas. Braun explained, “But it’s not without challenges given significant differences in the local government, economy, demographics, terrain and existing network infrastructure, including limited spectrum availability. Building networks in these environments takes skill, understanding and experience, as well as working closely by the side of our customers all the way.”

From fixed networks to broadband mobility, from TDM to all Ethernet/IP, from public to private, from planning to managed services, from the core to the edge – Aviat Networks is and intends to continue to help operators create, expand and manage the best networks for their markets and their bottom lines.

Talking to Microwave Journal, Shaun McFall, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Aviat Networks emphasised the company’s intentions to take the opportunity to move forward, saying, “We have carried the label of a legacy supplier in the past but what we want to concentrate on now is what we have been working on for a number of years, which is IP networking in the wireless base. We are going to continue that work with our goal being for Aviat Networks to become synonymous with IP networking in wireless – both in backhaul and radio access.”

He expanded, “We are continuing to make progress in radio access networks with our WiMAX technology, especially in areas such as India and parts of Africa as well as some underdeveloped regional and rural areas in the United States. So, we are really looking at this entire access, transport and backhaul spectrum from a wireless perspective using IP technology.”

Focussing on technology McFall commented, “We are trying to push the capacity barrier up. One of the advantages of microwave has been the cost relative to optical fibre but the way that the demand for capacity has been increasing has led many people to think, ‘is my only choice optical fibre because the capacity needs are so high?’. The way we can meet that challenge is to continue to evolve wireless technology so that we can continue to offer a solution at higher capacity levels and keep putting off the decision when customers need to cut to fibre, with the higher costs that entails. Our value proposition continues to be to offer cost competitive, performance capable solutions.”

The advent of new Smartphone technology and the deployment of 3rd Generation Mobile Data technologies have resulted in an explosion in demand for mobile data. Aviat Networks offers a wireless backhaul solution that supports all key migration features as well as scalable capacity sufficient to support the needs of LTE networks. Braun explained, “Our wireless solutions enable operators to transform their network to solve the current capacity crunch, provide a smooth migration path to LTE, as well as protect existing investments and service commitments supported by their existing network. Operators in other parts of the world also rely on our solution to efficiently extend their 2G and 3G networks to provide national coverage in the most demanding environments.”

McFall stated, “There is a great deal of talk about mobile broadband data and as things evolve beyond 3G technologies towards LTE the expectation is that bandwidth will continue to rapidly increase and we believe that this offers a prime opportunity for a company like us. We are going to continue to stamp our mark in this area where we have the ability to be successful, especially in the backhaul part of the mobile network.”

He also stressed the significance of the company’s important technology decision to converge onto just one product platform: “By taking all of our R&D investment and focusing it on fewer product platforms we can really begin to make that technology more capable and accelerate time to market, which is one of our advantages. We are agile and responsive and offer technological innovation.”

On Aviat Networks’ position in the market McFall stated, “As we look down the road towards what is a very uncertain evolution of networks we are able to establish a rapport with customers who generally recognise us as a company that keeps moving forward and builds for the future.”

Note: Along with the name change, the company’s ticker symbol has changed to AVNW and its common stock will continue to trade on NASDAQ.