I’ve been reading a lot about a new personal technology device with the funny name called Femtocell that is being highly touted as a cost effective cell phone signal booster solution. Femtocell is primarily for wireless Smartphone users who live in remote areas and who have poor wireless reception at their homes or businesses. I do find Femtocell technology and its potential exciting, not just as a means to boost proprietary cell signals but for some of its other practical applications potential (convergence) for wireless and broadband consumers. And for the telecommunications industry, Femtocells appear to be a very big deal.
The first question that you may be asking yourself is; what in the world are Femtocells? Femtocells are small devices (about the size of a home router) called towers or base stations that can be easily installed in a home or office. They utilize the wireless service customer’s broadband connections to improve their Smartphone or mobile device coverage and can assist in the convergence of public wireless and proprietary broadband applications. Prices have recently come down into the affordable range for consumers at between $100 and $150 per device and are just recently being offered exclusively from the large wireless carriers (AT&T, Sprint and Verizon) in the U.S. The current volume of units to be sold in 2010 is said to be as high as 1 million and the estimate is said to be between 40 million and 50 million units sold by 2014. This hubbub reminds me of the early days of VOIP deployment, when VOIP technology was about to “take off.” Am I excited about this technology? Yes, although guardedly so, particularly as I read more about Femtocells.
The Femtocell offering has created a lot of skepticism in the press also about current limitations of the crowded wireless bandwidth spectrum and as a result there is some promise for the Femtocell and its ability to help frustrated home users of mobile and wireless smart phone services that were previously difficult to use, primarily because of poor reception. Femtocell technology has some interesting potential, not only in improving bandwidth and reception at a user’s home base, but complementing the home Ethernet connection and better facilitating file sharing between traditional in-house Wi-Fi router technology and mobile bandwidth technology. And the debate over its implementation and sale by the wireless carriers is muddied by angry wireless customers and web bloggers who ask, “why should I pay my mobile phone carrier and extra $150 to improve their network at my home?” It is a good argument and by reading some of the blogs, many customers, particularly those of AT&T wireless are not happy about the prospect of having to boost AT&T’s network on their own dime. In fact, they’re just plain pissed off about it.
Nevertheless, I think we should focus on the potential payoff for the end user of having the new Femtocell? According to Tatara Systems, a leader in SIP-based Femtocell convergence, the major benefits and possible uses for Femtocell technology for end users are as follows:
- Reduced “in home” call charges
- Improved indoor coverage
- Continued use of current handset
- Reduced battery drain
- One consolidated bill
- Multiple users/lines
- Landline support
But there are other applications besides boosting cell signals at home that the Femtocell could help with and I found an informative video from Mobile World Live that features an impressive Femtocell demonstration from a leading manufacturer Airvana. The vodeo shows how individual cell phones can be linked together with Femtocell technology to complete a 16 channel musical rendition of “Do Re Me.” Another part of the demonstration that impressed me is the claim that a Femtocell application user could conceivably go out and take pictures at an event and walk into their residence and have those pictures automatically downloaded into their local LAN and broadband servers. As I saw this, I thought of all of the frustrations I have with manually downloading pictures and video to my desktop, the femtocell is being positioned not just for improving wireless signals, but offering users robust applications and links between their broadband and wireless service connections. This software application would be pretty useful and welcome in my household.
Who are some of the major manufacturers of Femtocells? They are Ubiquisys , ip.access and Airvana.
I am researching Femtocell technology for two main reasons besides being a telecommunications network technology information glutton. Reason number one are the possible reseller opportunities for entrepreneurs like me (down the road). At this writing, there only appears to be availabity from the mobile carriers as it appears that the Femtocell manufacturers want to distribute their product primarily through the wireless carrier marketplace. Reason two for my research is the possibility of huge ROI for smart tech investors who can see the future in these devices. If the sales projection numbers are correct from market researchers like ISUPPLY are for real, this technology could take off, making early investors who choose the industry leading manufacturer or distributor of Femtocells extremely wealthy.
With all of the hoopla surrounding this Femtocell technology, you are bound to be hearing more about the personal wireless cell tower and perhaps experiencing it firsthand in the coming weeks and months. Moreover, Femtocell technogy could help silence some of the nagging issues that Smartphone users are having with public wireless bandwidth capacity and some are even saying that with Femtocell, a good portion of your wireless coverage area troubles could be over.
What do you think about this technology and this topic? Be sure to comment on this article on our blog response section below. Thank your for visiting our telecommunications audit blog.
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April 15th, 2010 at 11:47 am
Thanks for providing all the research, great job of putting it all to together to educate the reader about Femtocell technology. I believe that the growth potential is astronomical, especially in rural areas.