Vodafone in the U.K. has revamped its femtocell offering, slashing the price of the unit, embarking on an educational campaign and renaming the product Vodafone Sure Signal.
While the operator hasn't given a reason behind its renewed femtocell effort, speculation is that the company's recent launch of the iPhone and its desire to offload data traffic from its mobile network are the motivators.
Femtocells, or personal base stations, boost mobile coverage indoors but also enable operators to transfer their voice and data traffic onto the fixed-line network since the device plugged into a broadband network.
Last July, Vodafone became the first European operator to sell femtocells under the name Vodafone Access Gateway. It will be interesting to see whether this renewed push spurs femtocell adoption. Operators in general have been criticized when it comes to their lack of marketing the product as well as their pricing. The argument is why should consumers have to pay extra to get the coverage that the operator should provide them in the first place.
Vodafone's Sure Signal now costs a one-off charge of $70 or $7 per month for a year on pricing plans of $35 per month or more.
For more:
- see this telecoms.com article
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