companies (and SRG) may wish to reconsider their
views on dual-mode cellular/Wi-Fi handsets."
Michael W. Thelander, CEO of Signals Research
Group, LLC., wrote in his report, "Signals Ahead:
@Home with UMA," July 2007.
doUs poTenTiAl
tered the fray. Femtocells, personal 3G base-sta-
tions deployed in subscriber's homes, are poised
to change the dynamic mobile market.
advanced Radio Frequency (RF) systems to seam-
lessly integrate with the existing macro radio
network.
quickly emerged as the device-to-core network
integration technology to support a massive
femtocell deployment.
for managing hundreds of thousands of femtocell
devices in the mobile operator's network.
months, Vodafone, AT&T, Orange, Softbank and
Sprint have all initiated femtocell programs.
Many more operators worldwide have not been
so public, but have plans nonetheless.
the main Achilles heel of the 3rd-generation
high-speed network. With improved coverage,
operators expect to reduce churn and improve
customer satisfaction. Additionally, operators
see 3G femtocells as a tool to increase the take
rate and user satisfaction of new media-rich data
applications like streaming audio and IP-TV.
ment protection is important. Why invest in a
While much anticipated in the UMA community,
T-Mobile has actually exceeded expectations.
The service is distinctive for three key reasons.
network or partner, and subscribers need to
`bring your own broadband.' According to the
latest numbers from Point-Topic, this should
not be a problem in the US more than 50%
of households have broadband (note the UK
is 52%).
just $10/month. This is an unbelievably good
deal and quite aggressive considering a similar
fixed-line service from Vonage costs $25/month.
can use the phone (and service) with Wi-Fi
in the office, making it a low-cost enterprise
plan. Yet most intriguing is that subscribers
traveling outside the US are able to attach to
Wi-Fi anywhere and still be `locally' connected.
A Silicon Valley executive can make a `local'
call home while traveling abroad....an
exceptional benefit.
company has made a major commitment
to dual-mode handset services and began
aggressively marketing and advertising HotSpot
@Home. In fact, T-Mobile's new advertising
character, Jimmy, doesn't go out any more
because his house is a "hot spot." Check it out
at www.jimmyshotspot.com. Sweet.