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.
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