Femtocells: Why Now?

Indoor coverage has been an industry problem for year and vendors have unsuccessfully tried to develop relevant technology solutions for the home. Most services to date involved micro or pico base stations and did not really have the price points to support residential users. Alternative approaches tried most recently involve dual mode devices based on Wi-Fi. While technically compelling, these solutions depend on adoption of new (and expensive) handsets.  
 
A number of factors are coming together to enable femtocell based solutions:
• The high adoption of broadband connections allows the service providers to leverage the IP backhaul to reduce the backhaul costs for additional usage.
• Advances in embedded technologies make it possible to offer a home base station at an acceptable price point approaching $100 over time
• Users are now accustomed to the idea of having a home gateway – thanks to prevalent products like TiVo, Vonage, Slingbox, Wi-Fi AP, as well as DSL/cable modems.
• As 3G adoption increases, indoor coverage becomes a challenge even in otherwise good 2G coverage regions such as Europe and Asia.
• Operators who have trialed cell-site based home zone type services have seen the potential to leverage home zones for improved customer retention.
• New low power GSM spectrum has enabled new players to participate in mobile offerings based on licensed band femtocells.