Radioframe gets $26M in funding for femtocells

RadioFrame Networks closed on a $28 million round of Series F financing, bringing it total funding to more than $100 million since 2001.

The vendor, which is backed by such diverse companies as Ericsson Venture, Ignition Partners, VantagePoint Venture Partners and newcomer Plainfield Asset Management, makes picocell and femtocell solutions for operators worldwide. The company has a marketing deal with Nokia Siemens Networks.

In an interview with FierceWireless, RadioFrame CEO Jeff Brown said the company believes the home market is a huge opportunity for femtocells and that's why the company decided to make its own silicon for the femtocell. "We decided we needed a solution for the home and we needed to be able to make it for $100," Brown said. The only way the company could do this was to design low-cost chipsets. Key to RadioFrame's femtocell strategy is having both 2G and 3G GSM solutions. The next-generation silicon will have both LTE and WiMAX.

Brown envisions the femtocell will soon be as commonplace as the handset and thinks they will have a similar distribution channel.

For more:
- See this press release

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