3G Home Femtocells Will Deliver Better Value for Mobile Data Users

The use of low power "femtocells" in the home is set to drive the use of 3G voice and high-speed data services by mobile phone users and deliver increased fixed-mobile substitution (FMS) for operators, according to a new whitepaper published by ip.access.

Femtocells are tiny, low power 3G radio systems that plug into a residential broadband connection to provide a mobile signal directly in the home. A home femtocell delivers its strong signal and fast data rates at very low cost, since the traffic is backhauled to the mobile operator's core network over the existing home broadband link. These cost savings can be passed on to customers in the form of highly attractive "femtozone" tariffs, which extend operators' existing "homezone" tariff propositions by delivering improved coverage indoors, reduced service delivery costs, and seamless handover to the macro network. These targeted femtozone tariffs will make the mobile phone competitive not only with fixed line services, but also with television and PCs for home entertainment and information services - ultimately enabling new business models based on revenue share with web and media partners. A recent McKinsey report highlighted that 35 per cent of mobile TV is watched in the home.

The whitepaper's author, Dr Andy Tiller, VP Marketing for ip.access, believes that femtocells offer a strong proposition to both consumers and operators as a solution to 3G coverage and capacity issues in the home: "Because femtocells gives a faster data speed and better quality of service, they will encourage greater use of data services inside (and outside) the home. This is probably the most important strategic reason for a mobile operator to deploy femtocells in its network, rather than relying on the macro network alone."

The whitepaper is now available for download from the ip.access website (registration required)."

Posted to the site on 21st June 2007