Research regarding consumer attitudes about femtocells indicates that users main interst is in improving indoor voice coverage. The study, which involved over 6,000 consumers in China, Germany, Japan, Spain, the UK and the US, also found that nearly 60 per cent of broadband households with mobile phones were interested in acquiring femtocells.
But the survey, undertaken by Park Associates, points towards the improvement in voice coverage as being the most significant finding, in that it remains the single most important criteria by which consumers rate their mobile operator.
"Despite the survey covering mature mobile markets, the results show that consumers' biggest concern remains the most basic one--voice coverage," said Harry Wang, director of mobile product research, Parks Associates. "However, a significant number of users are very excited by the advanced services enabled by femtocells, indicating that the appeal extends widely. Beyond this, heavy users of mobile data were both the most interested in femtocells and the most likely to pay for the service."
Also of note, observed Wang, was that the research findings showed that mobile WiFi users are among the most interested in femtocells, with approximately 83 per cent finding them appealing.
This data, according to Park, contradicted the idea that WiFi alone resolved all indoor coverage issues, with mobile data users of all descriptions so interested in the technology that they were willing to pay the most for femtocell services among all those surveyed.
Park stated that survey participants in China were most aware of femtocell technology and also found it most attractive, with only Japanese consumers being more interested in femtocells providing faster data speeds than better voice coverage.
For more:
- see this Femto Forum press release
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