Ericsson maintains its resistance to 3G femtocells
This time Ericsson is saying that the chips are too expensive, so they won’t build a 3G femtocell before 2009. But analysts believe the real reason for Ericsson’s resistance is the fact that femtocells threaten the vendor’s core macro cellular infrastructure business. “Ericsson welcomes the femtocell about as much as IBM welcomed the PC,” says Heavy Reading senior analyst Patrick Donegan.
Why is Google interested in femtocells?
In the recently completed US 700 MHz spectrum auction, Google achieved its goal of enforcing open access on the C Block without having to buy a licence (Verizon eventually won the C Block at more than the $4.6 billion minimum required to trigger the open-access condition). Google was, apparently, delighted. So if Google doesn’t want to own spectrum and operate a network, why did they invest in Ubiquisys? The answer could have something to do with femtozone services. The value of Google’s mobile services could be enhanced if the apps become aware when the user is at home.
Femto noise expected at CTIA in Las Vegas next week
“While last year’s show was all about educating the market about femtocells, this year’s show should reveal some real products and concepts.”
AirWalk to introduce EdgePoint CDMA femto at CTIA
The EdgePoint femtocell combines a base station transceiver, base station controller, and network interfaces into a single unit, and can be configured for either 1xEV-DO Rev. A or 1xRTT. It has a range of about 250 feet.
Youngwoo Telecom Developed HSDPA Femtocell
Intriguing headline from Korea. Haven’t investigated further on account of the need to “Join Member first and get registered for paid subscription”, but I think this is a picture of the device.
Super-femtocells for enterprises
In-Stat has an interesting twist on the femto vs. pico debate for enterprises. They are sceptical about the idea of using multiple femtocells in an enterprise environment, but believe the cost of picocells needs to be reduced to enable wider enterprise deployment. Enter the “super femtocell”, which is basically a self-configuring picocell that can be purchased at an electronics store and installed by the end user.
ip.access wins another award
ip.access has been recognised with another award win – this time a UK Technology Innovation and Growth award from investment research firm Library House. The award is for UK spin-out of the year.
Why femtocells need to be bandwidth efficient
A Telco 2.0 study recently pointed out how many UK subscribers of 8 Mbps broadband actually get less than 1 Mbps in practice. Uplink speeds are typically a fraction of the downlink, creating a backhaul bottleneck for femtocells in the home. If the femtocell uses precious uplink bandwidth inefficiently, subscribers will have a 
poor experience.
A recent ip.access Issue Note explores this issue further, explaining how the choice of femtocell architecture can have a dramatic effect on the end user experience.
Interestingly, the Telco 2.0 study also points out that 50% of Vodafone’s data traffic is transmitted from 10% of its cell sites, suggesting that capacity hotspots are becoming an issue for mobile data networks.
The ups & downs of UMA
Informa says the mixed messages from mobile operators about the success of early UMA services has left device vendors uncommitted. “The still-limited range of UMA handsets available, their poor battery life and their lack of support of 3G networks will continue to postpone the takeoff of UMA services.”
In-Flight Calling Launches on Emirates
Emirates airline says they’re the first commercial airline to allow in-flight calls (the recently launched Air France service currently offers only SMS and data). The AeroMobile system is powered by ip.access nanoGSM picocells.
Qantas also says it will introduce the AeroMobile service from the end of this year, but only for SMS and data.
WiMAX has indoor coverage issues
Australia’s Buzz Broadband has closed its WiMAX network, with the CEO labelling the technology as a “disaster”. Problems with indoor coverage were cited as one reason for the failure. Roll on WiMAX femtocells (but will there be any operators to sell them to?).
Filed under: Market updates | Tagged: Airwalk, CTIA, Emirates, Ericsson, Femtocell, femtocells, Google, in-flight GSM, In-Stat, ip.access, Qantas, Telco 2.0, Ubiquisys, UMA, WiMAX, Youngwoo
