The Airave box is $99.99. To use it with a Sprint plan, the customer must add the “enhanced coverage charge,” which adds $4.99/month to the bill, and either a Single line unlimited calling plan at $10 per month or the multi-line option which is $20 per month, per account.
Sprint’s femtocell uses your own DSL or cable modem connection for backhaul. The advantage (besides better indoor cell connectivity) is that you can place unlimited domestic calls through the box.
Femtocells provide voice and data services inside the home like a WiFi access point, but they use cellular frequencies, not Wi-Fi. Your own DSL or cable modem is used for backhaul. A Sprint gateway picks up your call through the internet.
Made by Samsung, the Airave box, does not need a Sprint signal at the user’s location. Of course, if a residence is outside the range of Sprint’s signal, their cell calls can’t automatically transfer when leaving home.
AT&T is also looking at femtocells, and said it plans to launch its own trial later this year.
T-Mobile’s HotSpot@Home, by contrast, uses a WiFi hotspot for indoor coverage. Cell phones with built-in WiFi provide automatic handoff for T-Mobile using the UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access) standard.
T-Mobile’s HotSpot@Home requires WiFi enabled phones. Sprint’s femtocell technology works with ordinary cell phones because the “hotspot” is a miniature cellular basestation.
Femtocells promises to reduce operating costs of cellular operators by 30-40%, says Frost and Sullivan. For most operators backhaul OPEX can be anywhere between 30 to 40% of operator costs. Femtocells allow operators to impose backhaul costs on the user.
But femtocells have cost, interference and handover issues of their own. Femtocells cost $150-$300 and interference can be generated by using the same (licensed) channel pair as outdoor macrocells. Currently it is not possible for a macro cell to have thousands of femtocells as neighbors. Too much interference.
Operators remain optimistic says Frost and Sullivan. Femtocells may improve cellular performance inside buildings. They expect small scale deployments to occur during the second half of 2009 by a few Tier 1 mobile operators and based on the results of the 2009 launch, other mobile operators may jump in. Sprint’s initiative is the first large-scale femtocell launch.
According to Unstrung , the upcoming LTE standard will need standardized femto equipment. Operators need a clear view of how femtocells will support their equipment, before they can even consider large-scale deployments.
The next plenary meeting of the Femto Forum in September will be crucial for vendors to reach a consensus on some of the details, says Unstung.
Related Dailywireless articles include; AT&T: Femtocells R Us, EdgePoint Femtocell, T-Mobile Expands Hotspot@Home, Ericsson: Wi-Fi is Dead, Dead, Dead, Femto Forum Expands, Sprint; Femocell at Home, Google Invests in Femocell Company, Hotspots for Cellphones and Cable/Sprint Pole Dance.
