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Vodafone explores femtocell potential?
3G boosters getting closer to homes…

By David Meyer

Published: Monday 28 January 2008

Vodafone is testing femtocell technology, which involves mini base stations being installed in homes and small offices to improve indoor 3G coverage.

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The larger version of this concept is the picocell, which is already an established technology for ensuring 2G/GSM coverage in the corporate setting. However, femtocells are designed to improve 3G mobile-broadband coverage by rerouting data use off the operators' cellular networks and onto wired DSL connections where possible. As mobile-internet usage grows in popularity, such an approach has great appeal for operators worrying about the strain on their 3G network capacity.

An article in The Times newspaper last week claimed Vodafone was "considering products from [femtocell] suppliers such as Ubiquisys". Speaking to silicon.com sister site ZDNet.co.uk, the founder and chief technology officer of Ubiquisys, Will Franks, said he could not confirm or deny the report.

Analyst Andrew Parkin-White, from Analysys, said in a statement Vodafone's femtocell trials "will help to resolve the technical issues associated with large-scale femtocell deployment, and allow the operator to evaluate a number of commercial options for femtocells".

Parkin-White added: "If there is a time to take a serious look at femtocells in the context of an overall evolving 3G architecture, that time is now."

A spokesperson for Vodafone said Vodafone has only said it is "looking into the technology", and had no fixed plans for its deployment. The spokesperson said: "While there are obvious potential advantages, such as enhanced indoor coverage and DSL as backhaul, there are still technical areas we need to make sure are right. We haven't made any announcements as such. As we do with any embryonic technology, we are exploring it."

Femtocell technology has attracted significant interest and investment in the last six months. T-Mobile recently announced its own trials, while Cisco bought an undisclosed stake in the UK femtocell supplier ip.access. Ubiquisys, also a UK company, received an undisclosed investment from Google in July 2007.

The technology can be delivered to customers in standalone units, although the more cost-effective method is likely to be through integration with wireless routers and set-top boxes.