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There are several types of competing technology for the femtocell. Here are some direct competitors from the mobile network operator.
1. Dual mode Wi-Fi phones
These are already commercially available and offered in the UK by BT (BT Fusion) and in France by France Telecom/Orange (Unique).
The system requires customers to use a special dual-mode GSM/WiFi phone which restricts the choice of phones significantly. The WiFi mode can be used both at home and at any BT hotspot when out and about. Calls can be handed over between the hotspot and the macrocellular network. BT Fusion tariff allows four times the number of minutes when used with a hotspot. For example, 100 minutes on GSM = 400 minutes on the home hotspot.
Recent reports suggest that takeup of the service has been relatively limited (around 40,000 users) and the number of users is flat. However this may change with a wider range of handsets becoming available.
France Telecom/Orange have had a much wider takeup of their similar dual-mode WiFi offering. This may be partly due to the heavy penetration of WiFi/DSL modems already sold, and the much larger geographic coverage (and thus potential poor coverage areas) of the country.
Known commercially live services include: - BT Fusion, UK
- T-Mobile, US
- Orange Unik, France and other countries
- Telecom Italia
- Telia Denmark
- Saunalahti, Finland
The dual-mode WiFi architecture is standardised and known as UMA. It is one of the proposed architectures for 3G femtocells, and has been used by several vendors in successful trials, reusing the experience gained. 2. Improved microcellular coverage and capacity
If the service provided by the operator is adequate to meet customers needs, then they may not feel it necessary to install their own complex equipment and risk faults and errors. With many users happy to use only voice and text, there is considerable capacity within the existing mobile networks except in particularly dense tower blocks or remote rural areas.
The real benefit to the user comes where mobile data is used, and where the lower costs of providing this via the mobile network can be passed back to the end user. 3G technology has a roadmap with continuous improvements, including HSPA+ that could be deployed as a software upgrade to existing 3G networks. However, new handsets would be required to take full advantage of the improvements. 3. 3G at lower frequencies such as 850Mhz. Part of the reason that 3G does not operate well indoors is that the global frequency allocated is around 2100MHz. Some countries, notably Australia, have deployed 3G systems at 850MHz (which is close to the 900MHz 2G GSM frequency commonly used). As a result, much longer distances can be reached in rural areas (claimed broadband service of 2Mbit/s at a distance of 120km using an ourdoor antenna), whilst inbuilding penetration is much improved in urban areas. 4. LTE (Long Term Evolution) This is yet another radio interface, based on OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing), which is also used by WiMax. Trial equipment is already demonstrating data rates in excess of 100Mbit/s, and standardisation is proceeding quickly. The first commercial launches are expected in 2-3 years.
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