SPRING 2008
UMA ToDAY
07
It's no secret that major players are making femtocell moves. In November,
Motorola announced it has begun trialing its solution with a major European
operator. The Femto Forum announced that several operators, including Telefonica/
O2, Rogers Wireless, Bouygues Telecom, Bharti Airtel and PCCW in Hong Kong have
joined the organization.
"In Europe, 30 to 40 percent of the cellular traffic is generated from inside
the home," commented Vincent Poulbere, principal analyst with Ovum. Femtocells
provide a more efficient way for operators to manage traffic generated indoors,
compared to the outdoor macrocells of the public cellular infrastructure. Ovum
forecasts that 12 million femtocells will be deployed in Western Europe in 2010 rising
to 17 million in 2011.
In North America, Sprint has taken an early lead with its limited availability
femtocell service called Airave. After a one-time fee of $50 for the femtocell, the
Airave service offers subscribers unlimited in-home calling for just $15/month.
"We've got to remember that for the carrier, the most inhospitable situation for
them is inside the home," said Stuart Carlaw, wireless research director for ABI
Research. Carlaw says the sweet spot for these types of services is $20 and below.
"Femtocells definitely have the edge at the moment. In general, there is a lot
of momentum behind the femtocell solution. It's in a little bit of a hype-cycle,"
Carlaw said.
Amidst this industry excitement and optimism, it is clear the mobile market holds
high hopes for femtocells. However, a number of key technical challenges must first
be addressed before the femtocell market can experience significant commercial
success. One such challenge is to define and standardize an approach for integrating
femtocells back into mobile core service networks; or device-to-core network
connectivity.
It is important for the femtocell
community to come together around
technology standards. Standards
will help accelerate the market, thus
driving femtocell volumes up and
ultimately lowering costs.
Simon Saunders, chairman of the Femto Forum