Green light for 3G support within UMA

The 3GPP standards group has approved a specification update that will see 3G support added to the UMA/GAN standard. This move should help developers of UMA-based 3G dual-mode handsets and femtocell products with their delivery plans to mobile operators considering the commercial deployment of FMC services.

According to Stéphane Téral, an industry analyst with the market research firm Infonetics, the addition of 3G support (lu-interface) is an important step in supporting in-home 3G service delivery. "Operators and vendors alike have recognised the need for standardisation to drive mass-market femtocell network deployments."

Qualcomm and NXP have both made recent announcements about their involvement in the dual-mode UMA handset market, while Motorola, Ubiquisys and Netgear are already working with operators (e.g. O2 and Telia) on testing femtocells.

For more on this story:
- read Internet Comms and 3G.co.uk

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