T-Mobile cosies up to femtocells…

Mobile operator T-Mobile is to kick off trials of femtocell technology in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK in the second quarter of this year. It may also push out a limited deployment of the tech before the year's out.

The CTO of T-Mobile UK, Emin Gurdenli, told silicon.com the technology has "a lot of potential".

"If it actually does succeed and deliver on the promise then it will be a breakthrough," he said.

Femtocells are small cellular base stations that make us of DSL to boost signal coverage indoors. Analysts have talked up their potential as a way of ramping up 3G network coverage without the crippling costs associated with doubling or tripling network base stations.

Despite making mention of a possible femtocell deployment this year, Gurdenli warned it is still early days. "We have to have completed the development of the concept - not just the technology - including the business models and so on," he said. "A proper food chain has to be established before this thing rolls out in large numbers. But I'm personally optimistic."

T-Mobile's recent network sharing agreement with 3 is also aimed at improving the quality and coverage of high bandwidth networks - while also reducing costs.

When transition of the two networks is completed in two years' time, Gurdenli said coverage will stand at 97 per cent - "literally like having the 3G network footprint the same as 2G".

When it comes to femtocells, "standardisation and automation" will be key, according to Gurdenli - who said proprietary hardware is just "not viable". The tech must also be "plug and play", he said. "It's got to be safe in the hands of the customers - it's got to be like a handset."

He added: "It's very exciting, it's very interesting but it's a little bit early days. I think there's a lot of promise. We'll see how that develops."

Looking beyond 3G, Gurdenli envisages there will be room for more than one technology - rather than it being a case of LTE (long term evolution)/4G crushing the hopes of WiMax.

He told silicon.com: "I don't believe in monopolistic approaches in life. We have to acknowledge that especially in the future - particularly with the UK's approach to spectrum regulation - we should expect more technologies to emerge delivering similar services."