Israeli Fixed Wireless equipment provider Alvarion had a really nice day – it had two of its major customers Speakeasy and mPower turned on their Pre-WiMAX networks today. While the future of WiMAX is still up in the air – no one knows who is really going to make any money – sucking up to Intel has helped Alvarion position itself for a good second half of 2005. That’s after a modestly disappointing first quarter 2005.

On a GAAP basis, revenue for the first quarter reached a record of $57.2 million, up 2% sequentially from $55.9 million and up 28% from $44.7 million in the first quarter of 2004. Net income was $0.4 million, or $0.01 per share for the quarter, compared with a net loss of $6.8 million or $0.12 cents loss per share in the fourth quarter of 2004 and net income of $1.4 million, or $0.02 per share in the first quarter of 2004.

IRG Research believes that OEM relationships with Siemens, Alcatel, and Lucent will help the company as fixed WiMAX rollouts happen across the planet. “We believe low-cost customer premise equipment (CPE) introductions, a ramp in Intel-based WiMAX equipment sales, improved broadband wireless access traction in the EMEA region, and initial sales of new interWAVE GSM products will all contribute to a solid 2H05,” the investment bank says.