Femtocell

T-Mobile unveils 3G/WiFi docking station (femtocell?)

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:14:07 -0400

In what appears to be an initiative to educate WiFi laptop users into the wonders of 3G mobile broadband, T Mobile has released details of a docking station for its 3G mobile broadband dongles.

Labelled the Mobile Broadband Share Dock, the T-Mobile device allows multiple users (but no more than three at any one time) to connect to the femtocell-like Share Dock using their WiFi-enabled laptops. Users then plug a T-Mobile HSPA dongle into the Share Dock that provides the laptops with the mobile broadband connection.

T-Mobile admitted the dock only worked with its own USB dongles--being SIM-lacked. The company said its Share Dock would be available later this month with the cost dependent upon the user's existing 3G contract.

This move by T-Mobile might be seen as peculiar, but given the huge number of 3G dongles being sold they might (just) have a winner on their hands.

For more on this story:
- go to Reg Hardware

Related articles:
T-Mobile's WiFi vs. femtocell dilemma. T-Mobile story
Orange ignores femtocells and launches 3G/Wi-Fi UMA service. Orange UMA story

Mobile traffic in the home estimated at 40 per cent

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:52:57 -0400

Mobile traffic generated in the home environment was estimated at 40 per cent last year, according to a new report from Informa Telecoms & Media.

The report claims that by 2013 this traffic is expected to reach an overwhelming 58 per cent. The market research firm expects femtocell deployment to help operators offload up to eight per cent of total mobile traffic to fixed networks via end-user broadband lines. "While mobile operators continue to develop their own services and strategies around applications such as music, games, TV and video, there was a realization during 2007 that a far greater opportunity exists in providing unrestricted broadband access to the Internet," said Malik Saadi, principal analyst at Informa. Article

UK femtocell supplier scores with Softbank

Paul Rasmussen — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:48:51 -0400

Japan's maverick cell phone operator, Softbank, will become the first operator to commercially launch 3G femtocells early next year. The company said it will use femtocells from UK-based Ubiquisys and a supporting IMS core from NEC configured with a SIP server to independently control communications from femtocells.

Softbank, which is Japan's third largest mobile operator after NTT DoCoMo and KDDI, has been rapidly gaining market share from these two long-term incumbents by employing radically new pricing policies and innovative marketing initiatives. Commenting on the contract win, Chris Gilbert, CEO of Ubiquisys, said, "The Japanese market has always led the world in mobile technology so it comes as little surprise that Softbank is the first operator to deploy 3G femtocells."

Softbank, which made its entry in the mobile sector by acquiring Vodafone's struggling Japanese subsidiary, has been trialling femtocells for some time having announced earlier this year that it had completed the development of a potentially commercial system.

Whilst the US operator Sprint might justifiably claim to be the first to deploy femtocells, these units were only to support voice services, whereas Softbank will be the first to deploy 3G based devices.

Also of note was NEC's simultaneous announcement that it would invest in the US-based FMC technology specialist Kineto Wireless to strengthen its presence in the 3G femtocell mobile phone market.

For more on this story:
- go to Telecoms.com and EE Times

Related articles:
Nokia Siemens looks to slash femtocell prices. Femtocell story
Femtocell survey identifies top three developers. Femtocell survey

Picocells and femtocells to be part of initial LTE architecture

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:20:03 -0400

It is likely that femtocells and picocells will form an integrated part of the initial rollouts of LTE networks, say analysts at ABI Research. According to senior analyst Nadine Manjaro, LTE deployment is expected to boost shipments and revenues. "In most parts of the world, LTE will be deployed using higher frequency bands. Higher frequencies penetrate structures less effectively than low frequencies, so femtocells and picocells offer an attractive way to compensate for lower indoor signal strength and provide LTE's touted bandwidth. Our forecasts show an upswing in femtocell and picocell penetration that coincides with the expected LTE deployment timeframe." Article

Femtocell design tested for LTE compliance

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:02:03 -0400

With LTE being seen as a major boost to the future success of femtocells, the joint testing of a reference design against the proposed LTE standard should help with its chances.

The joint testing has been conducted by picoChip, a U.K.-based femtocell silicon developer; mimoOn, a German-based SDR specialist; and the test equipment vendor Agilent Technologies. The objective behind the test was to verify that the femtocell reference design met the requirements of the LTE standard as measured by the recently developed 3GPP LTE modulation analysis option from Agilent.

picoChip and mimoOn, which have been co-operating on the reference design for the past 12 months, recently announced the availability of what they suggest are the first LTE femtocell and picocell reference designs, the PC8608 Home eNodeB and PC8618 eNodeB respectively. The design is based upon the same hardware platforms as picoChip's WiMAX products.

For more on this story:
- go to EE Times Germany

Related stories:
Qualcomm buys into femtocell developer. Qualcomm story
Femtocells--big market, bigger questions. Editorial on femtocell

T-Mobile pilots femtocells in Germany

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:12:24 -0400

Cologne and Bonn are the two German cities that T-Mobile has selected to test the commercial feasibility of 3G femtocells. The operator will be the first to conduct trials of the technology in Germany, albeit that numerous trials have already taken place elsewhere in Europe.

While T-Mobile demonstrated femtocells at the giant CeBIT exhibition earlier this year, this trial is aimed at testing how consumers react to the plug-and-play characteristics of femtocells. "Having achieved positive feedback from earlier tests, we are now continuing to explore the area of deep indoor coverage," said Guenther Ottendorfer, director of network technology at T-Mobile Deutschland.

In March of this year the T-Mobile Venture Fund said it had made a strategic investment in Ubiquisys, a developer of 3G femtocells, joining Google and original investors Accel Partners, Atlas Venture and Advent Venture Partners. T-Mobile has not said if this latest trial in Germany uses devices provided by Ubiquisys.

For more on this story:
- go to Total Telecom

Related stories:
T-Mobile invests in femtocell maker. Femtocell story
T-Mobile plans femtocell trials. European femtocell story

Operators delay femtocell deployments

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:56:10 -0400

While the enthusiasm for femtocells continues unabated, several of the mobile operators that have lead the charge are having second thoughts due to unresolved technical issues and unclear business cases.

These concerns came to the surface during the Femtocell Europe 2008 conference when SFR said it had delayed selecting a femtocell supplier because of undefined industry standards. The company said that the expected deployment of the technology now would not commence until sometime next year.

SFR, of which Vodafone Group owns 44 per cent, participated in Vodafone's group-level request for proposals for femtocells last year, but it also issued its own RFQ separately. "We're assessing another technology in parallel," said Thierry Berthouloux, network solutions director at SFR. "However, we have decided to extend that assessment period and have put this process on hold to give equipment suppliers time to consolidate roadmaps. There's no point making a decision today."

According to those close to the situation, the issue for the major operators in agreeing to a standard is the need for clarity on 3GPP status and the lack of resource being provided by the larger femtocell vendors to achieve this.

For more on this story:
- go to Unstrung

Related stories:
EMEA trials Femtocells. Motorola femtocell story
Femto Forum looks to agree on 4G/WiMAX integration standards. Femtocell standards story

Strong consumer interest in Femtocells

Paul Rasmussen — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:47:24 -0400

Despite being almost unknown outside of wireless technology circles, European consumers have expressed a strong interest in acquiring a femtocell to boost indoor 3G reception.

According to a survey of 1,800 mobile and internet users in Poland, Spain, Italy, France, UK and Germany, over 40 per cent said they would definitely or probably plan to make a purchase in the next 12 months after the benefits of improved coverage, improved call quality and lower voice call charges were explained.

The survey, sponsored by Motorola, found that Poland had the highest potential rate of early femtocell adopters with 67 per cent planning to purchase a box, followed by Spain with 62 per cent, Italy with 61 per cent, France and the UK both with 34 per cent, and Germany with 33 per cent. Germany's stance is particularly interesting, given that the country already has very good indoor coverage for 3G, perhaps weakening the potential for femtocells.

However, femtocell technology would appear to be evolving in capability, which may lay the groundwork for greater awareness and potential adoption. Motorola found that femtocells were viewed as an extension to the family media environment, with 51 per cent of respondents interested in a 'family plan' that allowed various members of a household to connect to the femtocell.

Separately, Comcast has announced its intention to pursue WiMAX femtocells as a key to its wireless strategy given that the new Clearwire deal calls for 5 MHz of spectrum across the US to be set aside solely for WiMAX femtocells.

For more on this story:
- go to telecoms.com and Light Reading

Related stories:
Qualcomm invests in femtocell maker ip.access. Qualcomm investment story
Nokia Siemens looks to slash femtocell prices. NSN femtocell story
Femtocells--big market, bigger questions. Editorial

SFR to launch Femtocell service within months

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:59:58 -0400

In what is expected to be the first 3G femtocell service in Europe, the #2 operator in France, SFR, is thought to be preparing a soft launch this September most likely using equipment sourced from Ubiquisys.

SFR, which is part-owned by Vodafone, is reported to be relying heavily on the involvement of the fixed-line operator Neuf Cegetel (which it part owns) given its position as the #2 DSL provider in France with 3.3 million subscribers.

This move by SFR to be the pioneer of 3G femtocell services is seen as taking advantage of the advanced state of the French telecoms market. The country has very high-speed broadband services, consumers have adopted home gateways with alacrity, and cell phone users have a good understanding of FMC services--largely thanks to the popularity of France Telecom's Unik service.

For more on this story:
- read Unstrung

Related stories:
T-Mobile plans Femtocell trials. T-Mobile story
Vodafone trials Femtocells in Spain. Vodafone story
Nokia Siemens looks to slash femtocell prices. NSN story

Femtocells--big market, bigger questions

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:59:59 -0400

The analyst community is in overdrive with viewpoints on where the femtocell market is headed. If these industry watchers are to be believed, then vendors of these micro base stations are on the edge of something big.

According to ABI research, the femtocell market is primed to grow from just under US$72 million in 2008 to over US$1.8 billion in 2013--a compound annual growth (CAGR) rate of over 300 per cent. Forward Concepts, another market research firm, claims that global revenues generated by the femtocell equipment vendors are forecast to grow at a CAGR of 126 per cent from 2008 to US$4.9 billion in 2012.

Whatever the discrepancy over the market size, these numbers illustrated the potential opportunity. But both firms also point to some significant issues...

Firstly, ABI warns that the femtocell market should be approached with caution. "Semiconductor vendors will bear the brunt of huge pressures from price declines," said Stuart Carlaw of ABI. "In order to meet those price declines there is actually a paradoxical need to invest huge sums in designing optimised and dedicated silicon for the femtocell market. Questions of technology, air interface, semiconductor approach, multimodality, integration, route to market, business model, and more all remain unresolved."

Forward Concepts forecasts that femtocells will capture a dominant share of the FMC market by 2010, consigning UMA to the dustbin as cellular operators transition to IMS-enabled femtocells. But, it also warns that the most significant technical challenge for femtocell operators will be RF interference which will require proper frequency planning by the operators.

Offering a pragmatic viewpoint, Sid Chiru, business development director for NEC, stresses that femtocells are still very much an embryonic technology, albeit that his company is struggling to cope with European interest.

"The major attribute of femtocells is improving coverage, and there's no doubt that 3G services don't have the depth of coverage that is provided by 2G. Operators can't charge for this additional coverage, but can benefit from it by reducing customer churn and also acquiring new subscribers."

Forgetting the technical hurdles for the moment--such as interop testing and network integration, Chiru maintains that operators in Europe and the U.S. are looking at innovative business models with regard to femtocell deployment.

"We've been talking to operators about a 100 per cent subsidy for femtocells, depending on who the customer is--perhaps those with consistent high usage who the operators don't ever want to see churn. We also believe femtocells will attract new subscribers--the €250 price (an estimated average) for a femtocell will look good compared with the €300 cost, according to Vodafone, of acquiring a new subscriber."

The price for the femtocell will be key to its success, and it's the involvement of the bigger technology vendors, such as Qualcomm--which recently purchased a chunk of the femtocell developer, ip.access--that will have the market muscle and cash to make this happen. -Paul