A decade ago, in 1992, Planex arrived in Argentine market, under the domain of big telecom vendors, as access network, carrier, and value added integrator, upon the alliance with different makers, but with an important bias for Israeli technology.
Telefonica and Telecom Argentina opened the door to Israeli gear and the “small” Planex reached the top among leading copper network maximization providers –it deployed what at the time was the main Latin American system, in the Argentine northeast-, on WLL, on satellite networks (Gilat), and finally, towards 1997, on value added services (Comverse) for cells.
Planex posted sustained growth of 30% a year, but in 2001, the Argentine market collapsed with the crisis, and in 2002, the devaluation of the peso finished it off. While international gear vendors were drastically cutting payrolls, Planex decided to keep its most coveted “treasure”: corporate engineering structure, and go for Latin America. It currently serves operators in over 15 countries region wide.
To that end, it first created Global Technology Services (GTS) based in Miami, to offer professional engineering and consulting services in Latin America to ECI Telecom, Comverse, Gilat, Fujikura and Veraz Networks, among others. Its relation with the technical departments of operators for after-sales services, enabled the firm to become a privileged channel of IT allies.
Planex serves Alvarion¿s broadband wireless systems for Impsat in Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, and Argentina. It offers sales and support of Gilat for Telefonica Latinoamericana. It has mounted the satellite network of Telefonica del Peru, after deploying the system that allowed Telefonica de Argentina to meet coverage goals with pay phones in least inhabitant areas countrywide.
In addition to units in Buenos Aires and Miami, Planex mounted offices in Peru and Guatemala, from where it covers all Central America. It has deployed pre-paid systems and SMS for Millicom in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras; for America Movil in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, for BellSouth in Guatemala, C&W en Panama, Centennial in the Dominican Republic, Odissey in Jamaica, and BTL in Belice.
Jointly with messaging and value added products of Comverse, Planex is moving on with solutions to address protection, security and data management apps for WhiteCell¿s mobile networks. Its new alliance with Sprayette, Latin American direct marketing TV firm, formerly held by Telefonica Media, paves the way for the firm to become one of the main vendors for new mobile media and advertising developments region wide.