Femtocells: Do we have it?

Very exciting technology, some problems I can see in SA though high bandwidth costs and quality of service on the bandwidth to the femtocell.

So it will be very interesting to see which network comes up with a solution that makes the technology viable in SA. Vodacom or MTN ??
 
Ok, so now that Verizon, Sprint and AT&T are launching their femtocell products, when will Vodacom and MTN follow suit?

This could be the answer for many people that I know of (including myself) battling with bad reception for years.
 
Borg said:
Ok, so now that Verizon, Sprint and AT&T are launching their femtocell products, when will Vodacom and MTN follow suit?

This could be the answer for many people that I know of (including myself) battling with bad reception for years.
Click to expand...

One of the primary reasons you often have bad coverage (or low throughput) is that there is not backhaul available to connect a tower to the network.

So this will still be a consideration.

These smaller cells will most likely be used a lot in office blocks where penetration is a problem.
 
Cool tech, not so sure if I like the idea of sponsoring calls from neighbours over my fixed line (ADSL etc.).

As I understand it it's not going to help you if you have poor 3G reception it's mainly there to improve reception for calling by utilising your personal data line.
 
Netgear have also introduced a Femtocell product, epsecially great if you have a cell dead zone, not sure who pays for the DSL voice traffic for your cell phone

Definition of a femtocell: originally known as an Access Point Base Station—is a small cellular base station, typically designed for use in residential or small business environments.
 
I am currently reviewing femtocell technology, but I am struggling to see the commercial aspect. Who would benefit most? Can somebody perhaps help me with some case studies? Something more than just hype?
 
AT&T 3G MicroCell

Has anyone heard about this device before?

AT&T 3G MicroCell - http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/why/3gmicrocell/

It’s basically a femtocell (home base station) - http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/02/06/atts_3g_microcell_to_patch_iphone_dead_zones.html

Not sure if Vodacom would bring something like this into South Africa. Or if this device would actually work on our 3G networks. It would be an alternative to 3G cell extenders and boosters.

It looks interesting.

http://theappleblog.com/2009/10/02/review-att-3g-microcell/

http://paulstamatiou.com/review-att-3g-microcell

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/27/how-would-you-change-atandts-3g-microcell/
 
Interesting...I wonder when Vodacom will start selling these? Or installing them in customers homes who have bad coverage.
 
Surely this would work out very expensive? Am I understanding correctly that it takes a Telkom landline as backhaul and then puts out a GSM/3G signal in your house to connect to? So then surely if you make calls and use data you going to pay a lot? Telkom going to charge you and Vodacom?
 
I was under the impression that the femtocell connects to an existing GSM or UMTS coverage and just extends it to the area around the femtocell. I could be completely wrong.
 
nuyork said:
I was under the impression that the femtocell connects to an existing GSM or UMTS coverage and just extends it to the area around the femtocell. I could be completely wrong.
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My impression was that it connects over fixed line, which is what the article I posted describes. Who knows, maybe you get different versions?
 
vodacom3g said:
We're busy evaluating the technology. Still early days but it should form part of the network architecture at some point.
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Time to revive this thread...

This morning I need to advise a client on how to improve the cellular reception in their offices. As luck would have it, they drop a lot of money with you guys.

Do you have this technology available yet or do I suggest they look at the traditional cellular repeaters?
 
As far as I know...no, we do not have it. When I was in the UK a few months ago, my friend who I stayed with got himself a Vodafone femtocell....they brand it as a booster or something. Anyway, you plug it into your ADSL router and it spits out a 3G signal at a certain range. So you need a 3G handset or it wont work. You can only load 5 numbers that will then be able to connect to your booster. If the number aint loaded...it aint gonna fly.

They Also recommend a uncapped data plan from your broadband provider and a connection speed of a minimum of 10mbits I think. I dont think we are quite there yet.
 
I don't know of any service provider in SA who have femtos. There are a few minor hassles with femtos that creates major issues on the service provider side.

1) They operate in licensed spectrum. Meaning that it brings up legal issues of may you as consumer actually own a device capable of transmitting in a service provider's spectrum? Let's say you bought a femto from Vodac, but it can operate on MTN's spectrum, and you change over from Vodac to MTN. You change your femto over to MTN's frequencies, and voila, you've got good MTN coverage. Sadly, your transmitter is now transmitting on MTN's licenses spectrum, and is as such illegal. You're also causing interference on their band, degrading your neighbours' signal quality (probably not much, but the problem stands).

2) Last time I checked they were expensive. They were in the range or R1500+, for a device that you might probably not own due to the spectrum issues.

3) Backhaul. Who's going to pay for the backhaul over the Telkom line? (For those not knowing the technology, it is backhauled over fixed line, not over GSM or 3G). I certainly wouldn't want to pay double, and I can't see it making buisiness sense for Vodac to pay for the backhaul. Makes more sense to wait until the consumer base in the area justifies a new tower.

@portcullis - sorry for hijacking your question, would be interesting to see what Vodac currently thinks about femtos.
 
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